Winning the 2026 Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier at Norfork Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops has started to sink in, and I think I will be able to fully absorb the accomplishment once the Elite Qualifier slate wraps up at Lake Guntersville. But right now, the job still isn’t done, and I still need one more good tournament to qualify for the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series.
However, I did punch my ticket to the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic, and that part won’t sink in until I take my first ride around the arena on Day 1. I had been joking all year long that I wanted to make the Classic just because it was at Lake Hartwell. It is always possible fishing the Opens, but it is never probable. So, to do it is amazing.
I was maybe a couple weeks old when Takahiro Omori won at Lake Wylie, but going back and watching that is one of my favorite Classic memories. It really got me passionate about tournament fishing and trying to make the Classic one day.
Norfork was a lake that fished like Lake Norman and other lakes around the house. It is one of those places where you can catch a big one off one place, and then not get another bite within a quarter-mile of the spot the rest of the week. It is all based on gut, current and conditions. You have to figure it out as the day goes on and trust what you are thinking and feeling. That is something we do around the house most days.
I had a good practice heading into Day 1, and part of that was a result of what I call the “Deer Pattern.” The last day of practice, I got out there 30 minutes later than I probably could have. I started running around and of the 15 pockets I ran by, 13 or 14 of them had another boat in them doing the same thing I wanted to do. I definitely planned on doing that during the tournament, and with how much pressure there was, I knew it was going to get difficult quickly.
I pulled into a pocket and there were 15 deer in there. They were running everywhere. I knew no one had fished there that morning, and I got two or three bites in that pocket. I knew looking for deer could point me to bass just because I knew someone hadn’t been in there to spook them off yet. I weighed a couple bass in pockets I saw deer the first two days. It was a cool little thing a lot of people might not have noticed.
My plan coming into the tournament — I wanted to throw a topwater plopper the first couple of hours. Once the sun came up, I pitched my jig around and looked for cruisers along the bank. I had to rotate through stuff to see how they were acting that day.
Day 1 went pretty much to plan. I expected my bites to come earlier. I think I had 10 or 12 pounds early on, then I went looking for a kicker and caught it. How I did it was how I thought me, or someone else, could catch a big bag in this tournament. Coming back to weigh-in with 16 pounds, 7 ounces, I knew I would be in the top five and knew I could be leading. But in a no-scope event on a highland reservoir in the fall, you never know what could be leading. You have to just catch what you can and see where it puts you.
I was pretty confident about the rest of the tournament because I knew I would have to scrap a lot of what I did the first day and just go fishing. I wasn’t betting on catching another bass on any place I caught one on Day 1. I just went fishing and caught 14-0 and had the bites to have a really big bag. I lost the two better bites I had.
I finished Day 2 in the lead, and I knew I had a chance to catch a big bag after seeing the bass I lost and seeing Colby Bryant bring back 19-11 to jump into second. In my mind, I knew Colby probably couldn’t repeat that same success on that same place because of how it was fishing, but at the same time I had never been to Arkansas and anything is possible.
It was cool to see him crack that big bag, but it would have been cooler if he wasn’t right on my heels.
The final day was by far the most difficult day we had that week. It was slick calm. So much so, it looked like you could walk on it. It didn’t even look like water with how calm it was. Midway through the day, I figured something out along a bluff wall. I had fished it all week, and I decided it was the perfect day to give it a try. I caught three of my better ones off that stretch, and it was one of my best decisions of the week.
I caught 12 pounds, but I definitely felt like I left the door open. I came into the weigh-in thinking someone might have got me.
I’m not sure if Norfork gave me momentum heading into Toledo Bend Reservoir, but it definitely gave me some extra drive to not give up a good start. I started with the lead in EQ points, and I didn’t want to let it go to waste. That said, Day 1 at Toledo was a long day. I had two bass most of the day, and I thought to myself, “I am not giving this up.” I scrapped everything I did in practice, prayed to God and then landed on them the last two hours.
This is my first year fishing the Opens, and I absolutely didn’t think I would be in this position. Obviously, I had some faith in myself or I wouldn’t be trying it, but it has been pretty crazy. I did well locally, but it is a big jump to the Opens. I did fish in college with Lander University, which helped some, but I really went into a lot of these places with no idea and sometimes no forward-facing sonar.
It really is crazy to me that I’m leading this deal right now. I’ve never been to Guntersville. I’m not even sure I’ve driven over it, but I have a general understanding of how the TVA lakes work. It is going to be about finding something I like and sticking with it.
