I’m taking a minute to write this after the Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River tournament — my second Elite Series win, in my 200th Bassmaster event fished. I’m supposed to be getting ready to practice on Lake Okeechobee for this event, but I wanted to put this together.
I was going to write a whole thing about my season prep, and I guess I’ll touch on that a minute. I received my new Xpress XR21 — a brand-new model for Xpress Boats — and had just enough time to get it rigged up with my Minn Kota and Humminbird gear, break in my Yamaha 250SHO, get it to Signs Designs in Tennessee to get wrapped and ready for the season.
Xpress put a lot of thought into the XR21. It’s got great storage, a great ride and is fast — which is always a good thing. They added quite a few “creature comforts” to the boat and placed them so they are easily accessible for the angler. I’m very happy with the way this boat turned out.
While the XR21 was getting set up, I packed all of my tackle into the truck and camper and loaded my Lakewood Billfolds with all my Zoom soft plastics to hit the road. We enjoy being on the road with our bass family and were looking forward to getting the tournament season started.
Little did I know it would start like this.
I really just wanted to get the season started off well, and when I was in third place after the first day, I felt good with the start. Then I took the lead after Day 2, kept it on Day 3 thought I’d let it slip through my hands after losing my fifth fish three different times on Day 4 — only we squeaked by with the win.
I caught all of my fish on my signature Flippin’ and Swim Jigs from Lure Parts Online. The Flippin’ Jig trailer was a Zoom Super Chunk, and the Swim Jig trailer was a Zoom Super Speed Craw. The jigs were Bill Lowen signature, the skirts were my Bill Lowen Blue Craw skirts and the trailers were Black Sapphire. I used Ark Invoker Tour Flippin’ Rods and Gravity G7 Reels. The swim jig was thrown on 30-pound-test Seaguar TactX braid, and the Flippin’ Jig was rigged on 22-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon line.
I did catch the 6-13 on Sunday punching a mat that had moved into my area with the tide. I was using a 1-ounce Ark Tungsten Flippin’ weight, a Punch Skirt and Zoom Z Craw, and that fish made all of the difference in the day.
I can’t explain how it felt to hear Dave Mercer scream “10 pounds, 4 ounces…” knowing that I needed 10-1 to beat my Seaguar teammate Jay Przekurat for the win … then it all kind of went silent. I looked up to see Jen, Nevaeh, Fischer and our friends Keith and Joycelyn from Trails End Outdoors Campground and Neveah’s boyfriend Aiden and his dad Scott celebrating, and I just lost it. I don’t even really know what I said onstage; it was all a blur.
My phone blew up and so did Jen’s. We just haven’t had enough time to respond to all of the messages. We talked to our family and friends as much as we could to say thank you to everyone while we were on the way to have dinner with Ben Kennedy, our new Pro Team Manager at Yamaha. Then we caught some sleep before heading here to Okeechobee.
I’ve got a busy schedule here with the next Elite Series and a couple of other events, and I’m not sure I will have time to let the win sink in. It will at some point. I am so grateful for the opportunity to raise another blue trophy and for the way this kicks off the year.
Thank you all for watching, cheering and the support. It’s an honor.
