To appreciate just how far Carl Jocumsen has come in his four-year Bassmaster Elite Series campaign is worth retelling how it nearly ended in the final hours.
Jocumsen was on the bubble entering the final day of the 2014 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open. At noon, his chosen spots on the Arkansas River turned overly muddy, the livewell was empty and a trolling motor battery unexpectedly turned cold.
The mental side was equally as daunting. The Australian’s sports visa was nearing the expiration date. Not qualifying meant leaving behind his American dream, never to get another chance.
He snapped back with just enough weight to make the final cut, earning him the distinction as Australia’s first Elite Series pro. How the story ends reads like the comeback of a seasoned pro.
Jocumsen put away the heavyweight tackle and ditched the flipping and pitching pattern that worked until then. Out came the ultralight gear on which he learned as a youth to catch the bass-like barramundi in Australia. Everything he did that afternoon went against the textbook of river fishing.
“There is no way in my entire life that I will ever have more pressure on me as I did on that day,” he said.
That’s the hard truth after what happened two years before at the Central Open season finale. He was on the bubble again before falling out, after the math used to determine qualifiers moved others ahead of him.
Between the tough luck of 2012 and the triumph of 2014 came the turning point. In 2013, Jocumsen fished all three Open tours for a total of nine events. The more events, the better the chances of breaking into the Elite Serie, he thought.
“Looking back, not making it was the best thing,” he recalled. “It gave me a better perspective between failure and success.”
A glimmer of success came at the final Central Open on Ross Barnett Reservoir. After going through 2013 without a check, he cashed in with a fourth-place finish.
“It was a good way to end the season because it gave me the motivation I needed going into the final year,” he said.
Nearly financially broke and with time running out, Jocumsen dedicated the year to his quest. There would be no down time, only going from one Open fishery to the next.
Jocumsen sweated through the barbell and grueling workout regime of CrossFit. He rented homes with kitchens to cook healthy meals. When not prepping tackle, he read books written by masters of other sports to learn their mental coping skills.
Going to such extremes is a far cry from 2011, when Jocumsen fished his first Opens as a co-angler. He towed his boat to each event, staying afterward to retrace the winning pattern.
It was all part of a dream and a plan to do what no other Australian has achieved. Now, he hopes to pave the way for fellow countrymen to follow in his footsteps.