Well, so much for the "slow" offseason. It's time for me to get back to work with my other duties as a full-time bass pro. I rose before daylight one day last week, waited to see the kids off to school, jumped into my Toyota Tundra and began my three and a half week journey to Missouri and Texas.
This is the season when I spend time working with the press and doing promotions for my sponsors. I drove 14 hours that first day, stopped by Bass Pro Shops to tape a video for their new Web site before arriving later that evening at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake. I spent the next few days working with some of the top fishing/boating editors and writers in the country at the Tracker Marine Media event. Tracker rolls out the red carpet for the press folks and invites some of their pros to Big Cedar for photo shoots and interviews.
Other Nitro pro staffers at the event were Rick Clunn, Jason Williamson, Edwin Evers, Brian Snowden, Dennis Tietje, Tommy Martin, Charlie Campbell and walleye pro Gary Parsons. We spent the first night at a nice dinner in which Tracker product specialists went over the new boat lineup, offering a snapshot of what the writers will see on the water the next day. I'm excited about the innovations Tracker has brought to the market in recent years and am proud to represent the company through my fishing and promotional work. Many of the stories and cover photos of Nitro and Tracker boats you will see in magazines over the next year will have been shot at this event.
We rose early each morning to get on the water to catch the soft, morning light that photographers love most. It's a grueling pace, as each hour is spent with a different media person who has a laundry list of things they need to get done with me. I've developed some great relationships with some of these guys over the years and know how each one works, so little time is wasted and everyone benefits.
The next two days offered more promotional work with a different slant. This time it was for Anheuser Bush on Table Rock with fellow Elite pro Denny Brauer. Busch held a sweepstakes contest in which the winners got guided fishing trips with Denny and me. I really enjoy these kinds of things because I get to spend the day fishing and helping others catch fish. It definitely beats sitting in an office! Early Sunday morning, I was on the water with a professional photographer to shoot a new Toyota advertisement that will run this season. After the photography work, I drove to Texas to film TV shows for Bass Pro Shops and the Strike King Pro Team Journal.
The rest of this week will be spent working with more writers and photographers at a Strike King Media event. Although these things take me away from home and my family, they're necessary and can be rewarding. Remember, it's all about the attitude.