Ever since my son, Jensen, was born, my wife and I have enjoyed celebrating Christmas by having both sides of our family over to our house. I’ll cook dinner, other relatives will bring food and we’ll all just sit around and have a nice meal. Then we watch all the kids open presents.
Jensen turned 3 in September, so probably the coolest part of this year was seeing him actually understand Santa. That part was fun for him, but he really likes seeing everyone, so having the family together was great.
In a way, that’s kind of how I look forward to reuniting with my Bassmaster Elite family once the new season begins. It’s funny, we spend six months competing and enjoying the camaraderie, but then, after August, we don’t see one another much.
It will be nice to get back to that part of my year. It’s something I’ve really come to appreciate, and I’m eager to get the 2026 season going.
I’m always excited for a new season, and my year-end schedule helps build the anticipation. I usually take December off from all fishing-related activities. That gives me enough of a break to start missing it.
When January 2 rolls around, all the focus shifts to the Elite season. I start getting all my tackle organized, and it’s go time.
At this point, my boat’s rigged, and it’s gonna get wrapped soon. I’m fortunate I work with some great companies that believe in me, and I believe in their products. I pretty much have the same core group I had last year, so that makes it easy to seamlessly transition into a new season.
The biggest task I’m currently working on is my tackle separation. I still fish at home throughout the year, so I have to split my tackle between the Elite Series and my West Coast events.
Once I leave my home at the beginning of a season, my truck and boat don’t come back to California until the season ends. That requires a lot of organization and forethought, because I can’t just drive back home and pick up something I forgot.
I have a baseline of what comes with me on the road, but I want to make sure I have enough tackle to fish with at home.
That’s the biggest difference for a western angler; I can’t just fill the truck with what I’ll need the first two events in Alabama. I have to make sure I have everything I’ll need for tournaments in several different states.
As far as tournament preparation, I haven’t pre-practiced for any of the water bodies on the 2026 schedule. Half of them I’ve been to, but I might do some pre-practice during the year for some later events.
I didn’t do much pre-practice last year, and I feel like I did better that way. I might try to keep that going and just show up with an open mind.
Like every year, my No. 1 goal is always to make the Bassmaster Classic. This year, I need to work harder than I ever have because the competition is better than ever. I’ll need to maintain a strong work ethic, and I’m ready to do just that.
