Watch out for John Garrett during Classic week. It wouldn’t be terribly surprising if he gutted out a victory in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
The mild-mannered Elite pro from Union City, Tenn., isn’t one to make bold assertions, but after simply enjoying his first Classic years ago, he’s feeling much more comfortable about his second appearance.
“Competing with these guys for a couple years, I kind of feel like maybe I belong,” Garrett, 29, said. “It’s not about me having a good time — I’m going to just because I’m there. Now it’s about winning the tournament.
“It’s about me wanting to go there and outcompete the best 55 guys for the year, them fishing at the top of their game.”
Garrett has been on the top of his game lately. He performed well in the 2023 Elite Qualifiers and won last year at the Harris Chain en route to finishing eighth in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. This year, after being one bite away from wining at the St. Johns River and a second-place finish at Lake Okeechobee, Garrett leads the AOY standings.
As most, he’s put a target on the Ray Scott trophy.
“On paper, it’s probably your best odds to win,” he said. “You’re one in 56 guys. It’s only three days not four. It’s the best chance to win. It’s probably the hardest to win, but there’s a chance.”
It was nine years ago when the Bethel University junior won the College Bracket on his home waters of Kentucky Lake. He was hopeful heading to the 2017 Lake Conroe Classic, yet realistic.
“The first one I was 20, and I really wanted to enjoy it,” Garrett said. “I knew going into it I wasn’t prepared as an angler to have a chance to win, but I fished as hard as I could.”
One might think he tucked tail out of Texas after finishing 42nd, but he actually left with added enthusiasm and a greater hope for a future in tournament fishing.
“Fishing that Classic was eye-opening on how awesome it was. Loved it,” he said. “I always thought how it would probably be cool to be a professional angler, but that was eye-opening in the aspect I would love to do this.”
The hoopla and rubbing elbows with big-name pros on the biggest stage was one thing, but Jordan Lee coming from the college ranks to win his first of two Classics poured fuel on Garrett’s fire.
“I think (a career fishing) became more realistic than I thought it was,” he said. “I think I locked into Jordan Lee winning that tournament. He was a college representative, and I had just won the college. I’m literally in the same steps as Jordan Lee. It gave me hope that it was maybe realistic.”
How Garrett is preparing for the second Classic might seem a bit unorthodox, but since it isn’t broke, he doesn’t think it needs fixing.
“I don’t do a lot of studying. I don’t do a lot of homework,” he said. “I don’t want to flood my mind with things that probably aren’t going to happen.
“I like to go to each body of water and have a clean graph and a clean mind, and just run around and fish what I feel I need to fish in the moment. That’s the way I’ve had success the past couple years in the Opens and Elites.”
A rather organized person, Garrett had all his tackle prepped before Friday’s first day of practice, his first time on Lake Ray Roberts. Pre-practicing can help in knowing how to get around, Garrett said, but it can send an angler down the wrong path.
“I’ve never pre-practiced a tournament in my life,” he said. “The past couple years have been going pretty good, so I’m not going to change anything I do.”
It’s been working. Garrett had never seen Lake Okeechobee until the last Elite, where he started 63rd, but he figured things out with 23-pound bags the last two days to climb to second. After winning the Harris Chain Elite in 2024, Garrett made his first visit to the St. Johns River. With limited practice time, he stuck to Rodman Reservoir and finished 60th.
“So I had only seen between the ramp and Rodman,” he said. “I had never seen the St. Johns, never been to Crescent, never been to George, Astor any of that stuff.”
This year, Garrett found a loaded shellbar in the river near Astor and had a cranking good time. On Day 3, he weighed the Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag of 31-6 to climb into contention. Only three fish for 12-10 on Championship Sunday left him fourth, just 2-14 back of the winning weight.
He’s hoping to continue his successes from fishing “in the moment.”
“So I’m going to take the Classic like I have the past few tournaments,” he said, “just when I get on the water work as hard as I can and not have any preconceived notions.”
Garrett said he might watch footage of the 2021 Ray Roberts Classic to get some ideas, but he’s cognizant that tournament was in June with high water. He has a handle on what bass should be doing in North Texas this time of year.
“They’re still prespawn, but they’re moving into spawning areas,” Garrett said. “I think they’ll be staging, back of pockets, somewhere around the spawning areas. I think you’ll see a good mix of forward facing and non-forward facing bass. Some will get caught up on a log or a tree or something on the bank, and also some just out front of that.”
“I think the water temperature is going to be a really big deal. If we get above that 60-degree temperature, I think it’s going to be a really spawn-heavy tournament, whether it’s visual or non-visual. I think we’ll see a lot of fish get caught bed fishing, but I have a gut feeling it’s going to be just prespawn.”
Going with his gut could again end up gigantic for Garrett.
