Typically I head into an Elite Series season with the Angler of the Year title as my undisputed number one goal. But 2016 has been a different kind of year for me. Once they announced that the 2017 Bassmaster Classic would be held at Lake Conroe in Texas, making sure that I don’t miss that tournament has been all I can think about. I wouldn’t say that I’ve fished conservatively, nor am I worrying myself to death, but I’ll be the first to admit that I look at the points on occasion.
With my goal accomplished, I’ve been able to relax a bit in the latter half of the season. The break between Cayuga and the Potomac came at the perfect time to get ready for the stretch drive, and it also gave me an opportunity for a nice getaway to Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota, where the Angler of the Year Championship will be held this week.
I’d heard tales of the massive population of smallmouths Mille Lacs before my fiancée and I went there, but you never know what to believe until you experience it yourself. Now that I’ve been there I can confirm – the stories are true. I don’t know that it’ll take 25 pounds a day to win, like some people are saying, but you’ll need at least 20 to be in the hunt.
For me, that’s an ideal situation. I love the slugfests and if you look at my track record in big weight events it’s obvious why that’s the case. When you’re on a fishery where you’re struggling to get bites, you have to be concerned with survival. If you’re on a body of water where just catching a limit is not a problem, it gives you the freedom to fish for five big ones. If you stub your toe a bit and misjudge them, you still typically have time to salvage your day. I don’t think my strength is making reluctant fish bite (unless they’re on a bed). Where I’m at my best is when I can keep moving and try to find the largest and most aggressive schools.
Earlier in my career, a fishery like Mille Lacs might have intimidated me. Coming from Texas, where I can put my Power Tackle baitcasting rods to the test every day, I didn’t know what to make of northern smallmouths. Now that I’ve been to St. Clair, the Thousand Islands, Erie and other northern fisheries, I’ve learned to love them, and I’m not at all scared to use a spinning rod. The beauty of Mille Lacs is that it’s so productive that the field should be able to catch good limits just about anywhere from top to bottom. Seriously, we’ll be able to catch schooling fish as well as fish that we see cruising and those that we find deep on our electronics. I’m trying to remember how many different ways that Jennifer and I caught them last month and I can think of at least 10 off the top of my head. It’s going to be wide open.
Surprisingly, we also caught some quality largemouths. I know that the smallmouths will be dominant and you’ll have to chase them most if not all of the time, but it’s nice to have even one more option. I hope that the people who live up there recognize what an incredibly dynamic fishery they have in their backyard.
I’m fortunate to have fished a lot of world class lakes like Falcon, Amistad, Toledo Bend and Fork while they’ve been pumping out monster bags and huge individual fish. It’s possible that a Texan like me could never leave our home state and still have angling adventures to last a lifetime, but now that I’ve fished all over the country I’ve come to appreciate other waters and other styles of fishing. You can take me out of Texas, but no matter where I go, I hope there’s a slugfest about to happen.