It has taken several weeks for my win at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN to sink in. Up to this point, I had never won a big tournament like this. I’ve got the trophy sitting by the door when I walk in the living room. Walking by it every day, I’m reminded it wasn’t something I just dreamt, and that I am, in fact, going to compete in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. It is so surreal.
All of us in the fishing world are like dogs that chase cars but can never catch them. Then, a dog finally catches the car and doesn’t know what to do with it. That was me; I finally got a win and don’t know what to do with it. It’s an incredible experience.
I did not have the slightest inkling I could ever win a tournament on a smallmouth-dominated lake with largemouth. I knew I was going up there to fish for largemouth, and in 2024 I got a really good check doing it. My whole goal was to cash a check and finish out the year on a high note by double-qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers. Of course, you want to go into every event with confidence, but the longer people do this, the more you get a feeling which tournaments could go your way. I didn’t think I had that feeling at Leech Lake. A Top 10 would have exceeded my expectations.
Earlier in the year, I really felt like I had a shot at winning on Kentucky Lake. Sharing my current seam with a less-than-happy local on the bank threw a wrench in my two-hour window to fish on Day 3. I believe I had a legit shot to win, but things happen for a reason, no matter the circumstance. However, it was frustrating to come in with three bass on the final day and finish seventh. It stung. Leech Lake made up for that tournament and my second-place Santee Cooper Lakes finish in 2024.
In 2024, I had two primary areas at Leech, and my best area from that tournament was where I started my practice. I pulled in there, and in the first five minutes, I had one over 3 pounds crush my frog. As soon as that happened, I left. I saw what I needed to see.
The first day of the tournament was canceled due to high winds, and the first day we got to fish was kind of windy too. But the smallmouth guys caught them, and I got to see what I was up against. I started in my primary area and had a limit by 7:30 a.m. When I got over the 18-pound mark at 9:30, I thought I would have a good chance to make the Top 10 and get close to 20 pounds. I only made one pass through that area on Day 1 and ended the day with more than 19 pounds.
I did not expect to be as far down as 21st in the standings though. Running in, I was fired up about the possibility of getting a Bassmaster LIVE camera, and I was counting my chickens before they hatched. Last year, 19 1/2 pounds was seventh place after Day 1. So, I thought I might be in the top five, and I was very wrong.
Smallmouth lakes normally stay pretty consistent. I was only a couple pounds back, but I told my family there wasn’t any reason to worry about making the trip over. I was still just shooting for a Top 10, and when I got to that 19-pound mark again at 9 a.m. on Day 2, I figured I had accomplished that goal.
The win was never in my mind until I started running in. I saw how rough the waves were when I got out the pocket I was fishing. I thought to myself, “If it was like this all day, I don’t know if the smallmouth guys could have caught them that well.” I got beaten to death coming in. It took me forever to get back.
I was boat 169 that second day, late enough to where I didn’t have to sweat it out too long, thankfully. The moment I really had a shot at something was when I walked up on stage and no one was in the hot seat. Tournament director Hank Weldon said, “We waited on you to fill up the hot seat.” That’s when I thought there was a chance.
The rest of the weigh-in, I was on my hands and knees begging the dude working beside the stage for water. I was chugging water, trying not to throw up.
One thing my dad taught me was to never sit on the hot seat and tell yourself you were going to win. You always want to be cautious, because it is always the last guy that gets you. People get crushed when it happens. But, when the final competitor to weigh in only had four bass, I knew I had finally won one of these. I have dreamed about what that feeling would be like, and to feel it in that moment was a crazy feeling.
When I get to Knoxville in March, I will probably be like a starstruck kid. I’m going to walk up on stage, and I’m not going to know what to say. But I will tell you all, though: if I win, I am putting Dave Mercer on my shoulders and running around the stage with him.
