It’s funny how time away from something familiar can influence how you think about it. I’m experiencing some of that this week as we begin the Northern swing of the Bassmaster Elite Series on the St. Lawrence River.
It’s been a long break and I haven’t fished that much because of family vacation and ICAST. It actually feels like starting a new season, instead of finishing this one.
That’s how I’m approaching it. I’m not going to pay too much attention to the points and where I’m sitting. I want to do as well as possible in each of the three remaining regular season events, but my main goal will be making the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
I think the biggest challenge of being off for a couple of months is just getting back into the fishing mode. Being on the water from daylight until dark for practice and then fishing a tournament is physically and mentally demanding.
It seems like when you’re doing it a lot your body just gets used to it, but after a break like we’ve had, it takes some adjustment.
On the upside, we’re going to two top smallmouth fisheries, the St. Lawrence River and Lake St. Clair. Growing up, we didn’t catch a lot of smallmouth, so I think I’m looking forward to this more as a fisherman than as a tournament angler.
They’re fun to fish for, and it’s nice to put that flipping stick down for a while and do other things. The more I fish with a spinning rod, the more confident I get. Some of the tournaments have made me pick up a spinning rod and that has made me become a more versatile and effective angler.
In between the smallmouth fisheries, we’ll be heading to Chesapeake Bay – a new venue for me. I always like going to places I’ve never been because it’s like you get a clean slate to work with.
When you go to places you’ve previously fished, during practice you’re thinking of how the tournament was won last and how you think you should catch them. When you go to a place you’ve never been, I think you can fish more relaxed because you’re not chasing ghosts of where you’ve caught them in the past.
I have been to the St. Lawrence once before, but I didn’t see even 15 percent of the fishery, so I’ m looking forward to seeing more of it this time. This river has some of the best smallmouth fishing in the nation and I don’t want to jinx myself, but this is a place where you can catch a bunch of good ones.
At some of the places we go, it’s tough to get a limit, so if you just catch fish, you’re going to do okay. But here you can catch 50 a day.
That kind of potential makes it exciting to fish an area like this. The challenging part is that everybody’s going to catch fish, so you’re going to have to catch a higher quality of fish to do well.
For me, a big part of that depends on being prepared for a different style of fishing than we’ve seen for most of the previous Elite events this season. One good thing I did during the break was consider this our halftime, and I reorganized my tackle just like I would at the beginning of a year.
I tightened up everything on the boat and took care of some maintenance items that make me more prepared.
I also added some rods/reels and tackle to better prepare for these smallmouth. I just started thinking of how a smallmouth acts, and I got ready for them.
The last time the Elites were at the St. Lawrence, everybody in the Top 5 was dropshotting, so you can count on that being one of the main deals. I know I’ll be throwing one, and I’m excited to try the new YUM Warning Shot and Kill Shot baits up there.
The rest of the time, I think your normal smallmouth stuff will work. I think if you’re throwing a jerkbait, spinnerbait, tube, dropshot and maybe a crankbait you’re going to have it covered.
I’ll tell you that, while I’m excited about the great smallmouth fishing I’m heading into, I’m also enjoying the change in climate. Back home in Oklahoma, we’ve been suffering from scorching heat and you can cut the humidity with a knife, so it’s nice to head up North for some more comfortable weather.
Hopefully, I’ll find some nice smallmouth to go with it.