I grew up in Fort Valley, Georgia. Thatâs in whatâs called Middle Georgia.
My dad, Van. He was as good as you can get. He fished and won numerous B.A.S.S. Nation titles in Georgia and qualified for the 1982 Bassmaster Classic as a club angler. He worked four days a week and then fished the other three days. He fished about 150 days a year, and I got to fish with him a lot.
Not really at all. What I like more is the travel and the different places we get to go fishing. I try to go fishing for whatever else is available wherever we go, especially trout. I just like to go fishing.
Being versatile. The more and different lakes we go to, the more I learn how to fish them all. That makes me better. Most everybody knows me for a swimbait, of course. Itâs just plain fun to fish. Usually the bite is in clear water, you get to see the fish come up behind it, and itâs like fishing a topwater.
I donât like drop shot or finesse fishing in general. I just donât like using light line. I like really big lures that catch big fish.
For bass fishing itâs definitely Clear Lake in California. Thatâs where I won the Elite Series event my rookie season (with a weight of 122 pounds, 14 ounces). But overall itâs the Florida Keys. You canât beat the scenery and the fishing.
Fishing too slow instead of making fish react to the lure. Reaction strikes can make bass bite when the fishing is tough. Unfortunately, the weekends are when most average guys go fishing. You can also cover more water and thatâs also important when you have little time to spend on the water.
Not really! Iâm an engineer by trade and everything is calculated, planned out.
Of course it does! There are so many great anglers fishing the Elite Series that lots of times it comes down to being in the right place at the right time.
I want to win a Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and a Classic title. Thereâs not much more for me left to do. Iâve fished seven Classics and so far I havenât been in position to lose one. But I havenât had my chance to win it, either, and I hope that comes soon.
When you have two kids there are distractions everywhere (laughs). Seriously, I usually try and avoid anything that messes with my mind. Dock talk and all that. I just try and stay away from any negative influences.
I live in Auburn and itâs what I started wearing back in the buddy tournament days. There is way more than one hat, too. I lay them out on the truck dashboard until the sun fades them to a dull orange. I learned that from David Fritts. Itâs also a great conversation starter. Wherever we go in the world we see somebody who either yells âWar Eagle,â or in the worse case, âRoll Tide.â
Have you looked at whatâs on the shelves? Itâs flat out designed to catch fishermen and not so much the fish. I just like to tinker with tackle to make it different. Sometimes action or color really matters. Lately Iâve been working on jig skirts, and itâs amazing how effective the colors are that I designed.
Thatâs tough because I fish all the lakes and rivers coming up really well. But if thereâs one itâs probably Lake St. Clair.
We like to go to the Florida Keys. We can snorkel, fish, explore and take in all the touristy things in Key West. We try and get down there for a week at least once each year.
A Senko. Iâve got to have those in the boat at all times. Iâll always have a weightless worm like that in the rod box.
Side-scan sonar. I have an engineering degree and a lot of my electives were in acoustics and vibrations. About 15 years ago I spent hundreds of hours researching how to build my own side scan. The only problem was the transducers were going to cost me about $20,000. Thatâs long ago, and now itâs on a bass boat. It makes us so much more efficient with shallow water sonar.
We bought a big RV before we bought a house. We just love to travel so much and itâs nice to just bring everything with you. Our kids, now 6 and 8 years old, grew up traveling. Itâs been a great learning experience for them.
We are on the road eight months out of the year. The hardest part is the kids now being in school. They are so far ahead of their peers from growing up with the travel. They can get out whenever we need to, but they still must keep up with the homework.
An engineer since thatâs what I went to school to do and did for a while. But that would be a last resort. I just love to fish so much.