This is bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, down by one run.
Going into the final Elite Series event this week in La Crosse, Wisc., I’m in 41st place in the points, so I can’t stumble at all.
I’m two places out of the Bassmaster Classic, so there’s a lot going through my mind. There’s a lot riding on this, with a chance of falling out of the Angler of the Year Championship. After this week, the Top 50 go on to fish the AOY and points count there as well.
I’d like to do well in La Crosse and secure my Classic spot, but if I can do really well I’ll get way up into the points standings so I’m not scratching, clawing and bitting to stay where I’m at in the AOY championship.
There’s only 50 points to jockey in that final event, but points still count. I could have a decent event this week in La Crosse and make it into the Classic, but then go to the AOY Championship and still drop out if I have a bad event there.
The pressure is really high. You’re supposed to just go out there, just relax and fish, but it’s tough with this much stuff going through your mind.
Back in the day, when you used to fish little weekend tournaments, you were on some good fish in practice and you really wanted to win a big tournament at home. But then, you step up to the level of competition we fish against and sink a bunch of money into it all year long. It comes down to one tournament that determines whether your season was a decent season or a bust.
If I have a bad event here, my season is over. A good event here puts me in better position going into the AOY. I’ll still have to keep fighting in the next event, but it wouldn’t be so bad.
I’m looking forward to getting after it this week because this section of the Mississippi River offers a lot of the shallow scenarios that I like to fish. We’ve fished here twice, but both times in June, and it was a postspawn scenario.
There’s a lot of vegetation here and a lot of current, so as long as the water levels are about the same, I don’t see that it’s going to be really different. The fish will use some different areas just because it is a lot later in the season, but they have to feed because they only have a couple of months before the water freezes.
It will just be a matter of getting on an area with some winning fish on them. Here, catching fish won’t be the problem. The may only be a pound to a pound and a half separating the Top 12 cut from the Top 50 cut.
It’s going to be a nail-biter. It’s going to super close and that just adds to the pressure. If you have a bad first day and you get behind, it is so hard to come back from that because a 4-pounder here is big and the odds are that you’re not going to catch five of them.
If you catch one or two 4-pounders a day, you’re going to be way up in the standings. There’s just not a lot of big fish, so you can’t make a big comeback on Day 2 or Day 3 to improve your position.
You have to stay mentally strong here, moreso than any other tournament throughout the year. If you fall back and get comfortable catching 2 1/4- and 2 1/2-pound fish and everyone else is catching 2 3/4-pounders and the occasional 3, you’re going to find yourself 30 places back.
It can happen so easily. You can get in a groove if you’re catching 2’s and 2 1/4’s and think you’re doing something but come in 80th place.
That being said, you may only be a pound and a half out of the cut, but it’s hard to make up here.
This will probably be the most competitive tournament of the year because you have guys like me scratching and clawing to make the Classic cut. There’s probably 10 of us that are within a point of each other.
Then you have the guys at the top battling it out for Angler of the Year. On the other end of the spectrum, you have guys that are fighting to get up in the standings and requalify for the Elite Series.
You’re going to have to find several different patterns because you could have a good Day 1 and then find three to four boats in the area where you caught them the day before. You can’t expect them to leave because you don’t know what they’re fighting for.
You could be in 20th place and another guy fishing the same area might be in 70th. You can’t expect him to leave it to you because he’s trying to fight for points to requalify. He may not need many, but he needs them.
You put a lot of boats in one area on this fishery and you start splitting up fish. There are just not that many quality fish to go around, so that might push you to another area.
To have a chance at doing well, you gotta have a Plan A, B, C and D. You gotta have a lot in your back pocket going into this event.
Taking all this into consideration, I’m kind of backed into a corner, but really I wouldn’t say my back’s against the wall.
I’ll have to bring my A-game every day. But I love fishing this kind of event. I guess the added pressure brings out my best performance.