It has finally sunk in that my first Bassmaster Elite Series season is over and in the books, and I am already thinking about next year’s schedule. Before I get into that, though, I decided to fish a big event on Wheeler Lake this week so I have been practicing for it on very short notice. This week I was blessed with an invitation to fish the Toyota Texas Bass Classic next week on Lake Conroe. I am excited about the field that is assembled for that event.
I really like the looks of the 2013 Elite Series schedule! We will be going to some world class fisheries, and a few fisheries that will be new challenges. Similar to this year, several new fisheries are thrown into the mix that I am really excited about. We also have another crack at a couple of the places that were a blast in 2012!
There are two lakes in particular that I am really looking forward to: Falcon Lake and Lake St. Clair. They could possibly be the best largemouth and smallmouth lakes in the country. We are also returning to two fisheries where the fish catching was exceptional in 2012 – Bull Shoals and the Mississippi River.
I will get to return to a little bit of my history again by going to West Point. I won a Cabela’s Bassmaster Federation Nation Southern Divisional there. We will also go to the Sabine River which will be a complete unknown for me. What I learned this year on the Elites should help with that event next year.
As great as all those events will be, the most exciting thing about next year’s schedule for me is the Bassmaster Classic. I am a very mellow, laid back guy but the thought of going to Grand Lake and competing for the title of World Champion really gets me charged up
I’ve been to several Classics over the years, and the thought of competing is simply amazing. The Bassmaster Classic is what we all dream of winning as kids. I’ve worked the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo the past two years and seen the excitement the fans have. I hope I will be able to control the excitement and focus on putting together a game plan to win. There really is no second place in that event so I will certainly have the opportunity to exercise my motto…and I might just be getting close to the 10,000 hour mark by then!
Dare to fail.