The 2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair was such a special tournament. It meant a lot to me. I had no indication I could win that thing before the tournament began. I was just hoping to get a good enough finish to stay in the Progressive Bassmater Angler of the Year running. To then lead the tournament wire-to-wire was unbelievable.
I did not see it coming at all, but it was such a blessing. It was one of those tournaments you couldn’t get out of the way of. Everybody told me that when I was younger, and I didn’t really believe it. I didn’t get to experience it that much at Lake Fork either. But at St. Clair, I felt it. When you know, you know. It just happened and there wasn’t anything I could do to get out of the way of it.
It was so fun because each day, I got wiser to what the bass were doing, and I had to adapt to catch these smallmouth. There were so many nuances I had to do to get the fish to bite. They were so hard to get to bite. The bass were always there, but they were so hard to get to bite that at any point I could’ve gone out there and not caught a limit. I was lucky enough to cull a good amount every day.
My main area was close to the mouth of the St. Clair River, and that water was a little colder than other places on the lake. I felt like a lot of the smallmouth would congregate close to the current that comes out of the river. There were sand spots and little grass veins these bass sit in, and that’s what I was finding. Every day, I would catch them 100 yards away from where I caught them the previous day.
The biggest accomplishment of the tournament was out-fishing my competitors. Three-quarters of the field was within a mile of me. For a little bit, you could walk across the boats in the little stretch of grass where I was fishing. One of the reasons I felt like I was able to out-fish people was recognizing every bass was different. Each bass would act extremely differently. It was all timing. You had to see how the bass was hunting, but there are certain times when they would get next to a piece of cover, and you have a better chance of getting them to bite. Little stuff like that I felt like put me ahead — zoning into one bass and figuring out how to catch it.
Day 2 was nerve-wracking. I was still leading it, but Tucker Smith came in with 26 pounds, and he said he caught them out in the lake. So, I thought he was going to be set for the rest of the tournament. The next day, he fell off a little and I caught 24 pounds. That’s when I really thought I had a true chance to win.
Starting Championship Sunday with a 6-pounder was huge for me. I was really nervous, because I didn’t know how much I would need to win, and I obviously don’t want to screw it up. I threw out there, and one shot up towards my bait. I felt the rod load up, and I set the hook and the bass didn’t even move. It came up to the surface, and I knew it was a giant. Once I got it in my hands, I was freaking out.
It was the fish that gave me the win, in my mind. All I had to catch after that was 16 to 18 pounds to seal the deal.
I’ve won an Elite Series event each of my first two years on tour, but looking at next year, I’m not sure which fishery will give me the best chance. I’m a very odd angler in my opinion. I’m just a guy who fishes. I don’t have a time of year when I shine or a specialty where I always do well.
Next year, we have new rules too, and the strategy I had is gone. I’ll have to change how I pre-practice and practice. I’ll have to come up with a new and better strategy for next year.
