There’s a lot on my mind as I kick off the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series season in Florida. The most important thing isn’t forward-facing sonar, the St. Johns River tidal flow or even which baits I intend to use.
At the top of my list is settling into a flow state of mind. What I mean by a flow state is making decisions on the water that lead to success without forcing anything.
You may have heard professional athletes talk about being in a flow state that allows them to respond naturally and not overthink everything.
When I look back at the top 10 finishes I’ve had in the Angler of the Year standings, those seasons just flowed naturally. I never felt like I had to force any decision. It was almost as if I couldn’t do anything wrong.
The key to another run at the AOY title will be activating my flow state during the first two events of the season on the St. Johns River and Lake Okeechobee. Some of my best finishes in Florida have come almost effortlessly.
If I feel like I have to force a bite or a pattern when I launch on practice days at either of those events, I may be in trouble for the rest of the Elite season. I’m counting on the failures and successes I’ve experienced over 14 years of professional bass fishing to help me enter my flow state.
The flow state didn’t come readily to me during my earliest seasons on the Elite Series. I’m not saying the younger Elite anglers on tour can’t experience the flow state. But it’s easier to attain when you’ve run the professional tournament gauntlet for more than a decade.
Those notoriously finicky Florida bass have many Elite pros talking about surviving the first two tournaments. You can’t be stubborn when it comes to bass fishing, especially in Florida. If you don’t let the conditions be your guide, you’re destined to fail.
To be honest, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts in March. I keep dreaming of hoisting the Classic trophy in front of a home crowd under a shower of confetti.
This has distracted me a bit from the Florida tournaments, but I’m OK with that. I’m not fishing those events with predetermined ideas. I’m going in cold and relying on experience.
I hope to fish those tournaments pretty much on autopilot and roll with whatever the bass and the conditions throw at me. That mindset should allow me to enter the flow state and perform well.
Professional bass fishing is a mind game. We can’t control the weather and what our competitors bring to the scales. But we can control things like organizing tackle and other forms of tournament preparation. These essential chores free your mind and help you do what comes naturally.
Preparation combined with experience gives you the confidence to relax, to become more aware of your surroundings and to go with the flow. When I pick up a frog, a flippin’ stick or a swim jig in Florida, I have no doubts those baits will work. It’s up to me to cast them into water that holds bass. The many past tournaments I’ve fished in Florida should help me find productive areas.
I consider Florida as a warmup for the Classic, which is bass fishing’s biggest show. My goal is to leave the Sunshine State with two top 25 finishes. If do that, my flow state’s faucet will be wide open leading into the Classic. Winning the Classic is my ultimate goal.
