Before I fished the Bassmaster Opens in 2024, I made my living for 20 years or so by fishing FLW and MLF. When I qualified for the Progress Bassmaster Elite Series, I experienced the same range of emotions that hit me when I first began fishing professionally.
Did I really belong on the Elite Series? Could I hold my own against such a strong field of anglers? But after blastoff at the first event on the St. Johns River, it was just bass fishing again. It was me against the fish.
After my first three Elite Series events, I feel good about being 14th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Especially since I’ve fished two places I’d never been to — the St. Johns and Pasquotank Rivers. I didn’t know anything about them.
Many of the Elite guys had fished the St. Johns before, so they had a huge leg up on me. I avoided a disaster by finishing 51st.
Next on the schedule was Lake Okeechobee. I had been there five or six times since 2010 and felt confident about sacking bass there. My confidence collapsed when I launched in practice and visited places where I’d caught them in the past.
Because of the hurricane and the grass being sprayed, it was unbelievable how much it had changed. The last time I was there, the water was clear and the lake was lush with all kinds of aquatic vegetation. This time it was a mudhole, except for the canal and the Kissimmee River, which is where everyone fished.
On the first day of practice, I ran up and down the lake to places where I had caught them in the past. I didn’t even recognize those areas. I eventually found a little backwater on the lower end of the lake where I saw a couple of nice bass swimming around.
I pitched a Yamamoto Senko to an isolated patch of lily pads and caught a 7-pounder. I got a few other bites in there, but it wasn’t that great.
I fished a bunch of other places over the next few practice days. I only caught a few keepers here and there, so I checked on the 7-pounder spot before heading in. I pitched a Senko without a hook to the same patch of pads and the big bass bit it again.
I went straight to those pads on the first tournament morning, pitched a Senko to them and — donk — caught that 7-pounder. That was the first time in my career I had the same fish bite three times in a four-day spawn. It’s rare for a female to stick around a bed that long.
That bass made my tournament. I slowed down, caught another kicker and a few other nice ones. I weighed in 20 pounds the first day and was in the Top 10. The big limit carried me to a 28th-place finish. I left Okeechobee with some much-needed momentum.
Of all the events on this year’s Elite Series schedule, the Pasquotank River scared me the most. It’s just so big and proved to be one of the roughest places I’ve ever boated on in my life. That made it even more scary.
In practice I found a small tributary 40 miles away and got a few bites from mainly spawning bass by flipping a Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog. I lost the first fish I hooked — a 6-pounder. I felt like I could catch 12 or 13 pounds there, which would be a good day.
When I got there on the first tournament morning, the water was 2 feet lower than it had been in practice. I figured out real quick that the bass were still in the same places, but they had slid out a little deeper.
I went to work with an Evergreen JackHammer matched with a Yamamoto Zako and retrieved it next to the stumps and laydowns the bass had been spawning on when the water was higher. I put my head down, kept fishing and weighed in just under 16 pounds. That put me in the top 20.
I went back there the next day and caught a 6-pounder. But I only sacked 11 pounds and fell to 28th place. The area had dried up.
On the third day the wind changed directions. I decided to run to a small tributary I’d never been to before. I had wanted to fish it in practice, but the Pasquotank is so huge I didn’t have time to go there.
I caught bass there with a JackHammer the same way I had fished the day before. I sacked my biggest bag of the tournament, 17 pounds, 11 ounces. It was an awesome feeling to just go fishing and not worry about it. I finished in 14th place which pulled me up to 14th in the AOY standings.
I’ve had an absolute blast so far this year fishing the Elite Series. This is the coolest thing I’ve experienced as a bass pro. The other tournament circuits I’ve fished had great parts, but the Elite Series is the best. Awesome people, huge crowds, a huge fan base and a huge platform to be a part of.
