A number of things give Dean Rojas a bright, shiny outlook for the 2018 Bassmaster Elite Series – namely a fully healed wrist and a new boat, motor and title sponsor.
Last year, Rojas’ streak of fishing nine consecutive Classics – among the longest – ended when he finished 67th in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year point standings. Rojas wouldn’t put any blame on his injury, but he wasn’t 100 percent during the season. He was told that full recovery from the surgery he underwent around Thanksgiving of 2016 would take a year.
“The surgeon went in and cleaned it up,” Rojas said. “It got better and better throughout last season. It was scary at this time last year – I was going into the first event and I could barely cast. It’s a different scenario going into 2018.”
Rojas said he injured the wrist several years ago, then in 2016 the weight of taking a bag of fish, filled with water, off his boat tweaked it. It was so bad he had to cast left-handed at BASSfest on Lake Texoma, although he finished eighth there.
While a specific action injured it, his doctor believes fishing contributed. Rojas went to a hand and wrist specialist in Scottsdale, Ariz., who’s worked on a number of professional golfers, as well as angler Byron Velvick.
“He asked me, ‘How many casts do you make a day? ‘Oh, 700, 800 to 900 a day.’ ‘How long you been doing this?’ ‘I said 19 years,’” Rojas said. “He goes, ‘Yep.’ He said it was no different than a golfer who makes hundreds and hundreds of swings a day.”
Making small incisions, the surgeon repaired Rojas’ inflamed tendons in his right wrist and cleaned up scar tissue.
“Today, the wrist is great,” said Rojas, who wouldn’t assign any blame on the injury to his 2017 fishing performance although it sure sounds like it played some role. “No, no, no. It had nothing to do with that at all. It didn’t really matter. I just had to wrap it and support it. Now I can go all day without even having to support it.”
On the business front, Rojas lost his main sponsor Gander Mountain, which filed for bankruptcy. He then made three-year boat and motor deals with Blazer and Suzuki, respectively.
“Both companies are very excited to be at this realm, especially at this high level,” Rojas said. “Blazer wanted to break into B.A.S.S. They were both looking to make a move, and I’m excited to be with them. There’s a lot of positive energy.”
Suzuki’s team of Elites is comprised of Rojas, Brandon Card, Chad Pipkens, Clifford Pirch, Gerald Spohrer and Adrian Avena.
“They’ve got great motors, they’ve got great people working there and they’re headed in the right direction,” Rojas said of the company long-known for its motorcycles. “Visiting their headquarters in California, it is all about the motorcycles, but the outboard guys say the bike guys can talk all they want, the stuff that makes the money is the outboard engines.”
Rojas will be breaking in that motor this week and will have it and his boat all ready to go when practice starts Monday for the season opening Bassmaster Elite at Lake Martin presented by Econo Lodge. The most difficult task ahead, he said, was offloading tackle from his jam-packed truck to the boat.
“It’s a little harder for me because I have to pack all my stuff from Arizona,” he said. “I bring a lot of extra stuff out here because of the way I roll. My truck and boat stay out here, so I had to pack for the whole season.
“What helps me is I have a list of all the lakes we’re going to in my garage. Every time I look at a box, I check the list and say, ‘Do I need it? Do I need it?’”
He wishes Lake Hartwell and the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods was on his list, but he sure feels better about doing well enough in the 2018 Elite season and starting a new Classic streak with his 16th qualification to the championship.
Jocumsen lands 10 in Open practice
Monday as he practiced for the Bass Pro Shops Eastern Open #1 on the Kissimmee Chain, former Elite Carl Jocumsen said he got a bit excited when he landed the 10-pounder pictured.
The Australian said it equaled his personal best at 10.22 pounds and 28 inches long.
“She put up an amazing fight and had me shaking by the end of it,” Jocumsen wrote. “Hope she comes back on game day.”
That fish would certainly go a long way in competition that began Thursday and runs through Saturday. The Daily Limit wanted to know more and jokingly asked Carl how the catch went down, including exactly where and what he caught it on, lol.
The Aussie obliged, sort of.
“Yeah,” he started, “it was in the water, and on a lure!”
He ended with his own laugh for good measure, but then shared, “When I hooked her she made a huge jump, and I knew it was a giant. She fought super hard and ran me around the boat a few times.
“To catch a true 10 in Florida in a real lake is a dream fish for me.”
Congrats Carl, and we hope it does show up for you on game day.
Bona fide 10-pounder tips college scales
Speaking of 10s, this one was caught in the college event last week.
The team of Hunter DeSplinter (holding the 10) and Conner Choate (with a 7-pounder) were at first a little intimidated with the expansiveness of Toledo Bend Reservoir. That’s understandable as they’d come 1,000 miles from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville to fish the season opening Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Central Tour presented by Bass Pro Shops.
But they stole the show. With the help of a 10-pounder, UWP tackled Toledo and won the fog-shortened event, not only qualifying for the college championship, their main goal, but also making their mark on the lunker programs in both Texas and Louisiana.
“At 10 a.m., I hooked into the 10-pounder. I had never seen a fish so big. It jumped at the boat; I for sure thought I was going to lose it, but we didn’t,” DeSplinter said for this report.
East Texas Baptist amazed by Amazon
Just two weeks before competing in the college event on Toledo Bend, members of the East Texas Baptist University bass fishing team were in Brazil on mission to work and spread the gospel.
The TAME (Tiger Athletic Mission Experience) trip saw the students do things like build a water well for indigenous families along the Rio Negro. Their ministry included “conducting door-to door evangelism, helping in the medical and dental clinic, assisting with the eye glass ministry, and running vacation Bible school” in nine villages. They also slipped in some fishing, like for the famous peacock in the river.
“This trip has been amazing. The way God moves in the people and in the missionaries is something special. This has been a humbling experience for me and one that I will never forget,” said sophomore Brett Clark, who’d probably rather forget his team’s 53rd-place finish in the college event.
See more of the ETBU trip here.
Thinking outside the tacklebox
Alton Jones Jr. was thinking outside the box – the normal angler’s tackle box – and that took him inside a toolbox.
The sophomore Elite angler, who was set to shoot some video for a sponsor, wanted a YouTube idea for the other part of the day, so he came up with a plan to see if he could catch a bass on a wrench. Yeah, a wrench.
On his video, Alton Jr. shows how he went about connecting a hook to an 8-millimeter wrench, and then thought of transforming an even smaller one for the old “finesse wrench” technique. Viewers can see what happens when he takes them on the water for “Catching bass with a WRENCH.”
What’s in the future for B.A.S.S.?
Dave Precht looked back to offer an idea of what we might be able to expect for the future of bass fishing. The 50th anniversary of B.A.S.S. is upon us, and Precht was a rather new editor in charge of putting together content for the 20-year celebration in 1988.
Anglers were surveyed for the theme of the “past, present and future of bass fishing.” While many thoughts backlashed, a number of predictions were spot on, like that of first tournament director Harold Sharp. Check it out in Precht’s “The B.A.S.S. prophecies.”
Butler raising money, awareness for kids dreams
Because he’s fulfilling his dream of fishing the Classic, Ryan Butler wants to help others less fortunate live their dreams. The winner of the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off is raising funds for the Catch-A-Dream Foundation that has granted more than 620 hunting and fishing trips to kids and their families. You can support Butler’s efforts by going to his Catch-A-Dream donation page.