Toledo Bend is getting all kinds of wicked right now. By the time I finished practice on Wednesday, I was almost being blown off the deck by the wind, which was supposed to be gusting over 30 miles per hour. I know that where I was, I was seeing white caps.
In practice, the fishing has been tough, but we’ll see if that changes when competition starts. I’d really like to get some momentum again after my disappointing finish at the GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
I remember walking into a room in the baseball stadium during the Classic. It’s kind of a holding area where B.A.S.S. feeds us, and the media all wait around for interviews after you come in. There’s sort of an unstated rule that most guys get to eat before the media comes in, and I remember grabbing a plate of food and walking over to a table to see my mom, Carol, there. She was covering the tournament and the Expo as a writer (her stuff is really good, so check it out), and it was cool to see her there.
My mom has always been there in fishing. Growing up in California, we’d take trips and go into the mountains to fish for trout. She was the one who helped me break into competitive bass fishing. When I didn’t make the cut, my mom was the first person to come talk to me, and she was the first person to remind me to stay positive.
Missing the cut is not what you hope for when you fish the Bassmaster Classic, but I actually spent most of Sunday having fun. I got to go to the Expo with my wife Lesley and meet fans, and that’s always cool. You meet little kids—kids who are the age I was when I started fishing—and you meet grownups who love to fish and offer their support regardless of what place I finish in.
That’s done. Now, I’m at Toledo Bend and I’m in the middle of what has, so far, been a pretty tough season, and it’s easy to feel discouraged. But I’m not too down and out. I’ve started slowly in the past and ended up finishing with a good season. In 2013, I started the standings in the 80s and won AOY. Right now, it’s about fishing aggressively and staying positive.
On the way back to the ramp on Wednesday, waves were washing over the deck of my boat, the wind was whipping around my rain gear, I was missing a bite here and there and still had a pretty long haul back to dry land. But you know what? I got there.
If Toledo Bend is anything like the season as a whole, it’s going to start off a little rough, but if I learned anything in Houston, it’s that anything can change by Sunday.