I made a lot of great memories during the Christmas season. It was a good little break that allowed me to spend time with my wife and daughter, visit both sides of the family and get everyone what they wanted for Christmas.
My little girl’s too young to really know what she wants for Christmas, but she liked everything we got her. Her favorite is the kid-size basketball hoop. She plays with that a lot, and she likes to slam dunk.
Between Christmas and New Years, we cooked a bunch of good food and enjoyed everyone’s company. That was a good mental reset for me, because it allowed me a break from the preparation and planning for next year.
It was a good time to get the mind right before the clock started ticking Jan. 1. Once the calendar flipped over, it was time to make that mental shift into tournament mode.
As of the last week in January, everything is rigged, everything is working, everything is ready but the boat is not wrapped. I fished a tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir the previous week. I knew how brutal the conditions were going to be so I decided to wait until after that event.
I should have the boat and truck wrapped by the first week of February, and it’ll mostly look the same as last year. I’ll have the Mossy Oak Bottomland with a little bit of black in there and most of the same logos I had in 2024, along with a few new ones.
I’ll be running an XPress boat again, but I’m really excited about the new XR21 model. Bill Lowen, Caleb Sumrall and I will all be fishing this new boat, and the design is really impressive.
XPress greatly reduced the weight, reconfigured the decking and added all new seats and compartments, including a recessed trolling motor mount and a bigger gas tank. They made this new model faster and lighter, so I can’t wait to put it to work on the Elite Series.
As far as equipment, I’m still running Johnson Outdoors products, and I’m very impressed with the new Humminbird MEGA Live 2. This technology will play a big role at every tournament I fish.
I have made a switch to all 6th Sense fishing rods, and I’m finding they have a rod for every type of fishing I’ll see on the Elite Series. That’s why I’ve been doing so much offseason fishing. I’m getting a feel for what I like to throw.
Also, I’ll be using all BKK hooks this year. Not everyone knows this, but all 6th Sense Lures are made with BKK hooks. That’s why you can fish them right out of the package without any modifications.
Looking at the 2025 Bassmaster season, I’m definitely looking forward to the Classic at Lake Ray Roberts and the Elite at Lake Fork. Both are right in my wheelhouse, and I’ve won major tournaments on both lakes.
Of course, I’m not looking past the first event at the St. Johns River. I’m almost there, in terms of preparation, but that fishery is very familiar to me. I know what I want to do, so I’m going to work hard to start off this new season the right way.
