For me, watching him win the Classic was just such an incredible moment. The year before, I watched him finish last. To turn things around like that, it really set in motion the idea of what I wanted to do with my life, and that was win the Bassmaster Classic trophy. Itâs taken me a lot longer than others to get to a point where I have a chance, but I just wasnât financially stable enough. And then the few times I made it to the B.A.S.S. Nation Regionals, I didnât fare so well. I was in a learning process and I didnât find the right fish. It just wasnât my time.
When I saw the schedule for the Central Opens (in 2017), I thought this would be another good shot for me to get access to the Classic ⦠I was really excited about Grand Lake because Iâve fished there for many years. Sure enough, last day, if I catch a limit I win that tournament. Going into the 2018 season when I didnât get the funding I needed to go fish the Elite Series, I made the decision I was going to do everything I could to win an Open in 2018. I got to Ross Barnett, and I finished 77th. It was a bad tournament for me. And after that, I was ticked off at the world and I didnât want to talk with anybody ⦠When I got to the Arkansas River for the second Open, I had a chip on my shoulder. I didnât know how good the fish I found were until after the first day, but I was in the right area. I knew if the pressure stayed off the fish, I had a shot. It worked out and I won the tournament. That was a turning point for me, because it helped me believe again that I could compete.
I find Iâm better off if I donât see many people in the area. If I know whatâs there and what Iâm capable of doing, I feel like I have a shot, especially if I only have to have one bait in my hand. Thatâs my style of fishing, and it just happened to work out that way on the Arkansas River last year. I couldnât imagine any better scenario for me coming into (the first Elite Series event in Florida). The fish are backed off, theyâre not spawning. But thereâs a pile of big fish somewhere and I have to go find them, and guys better watch out if I do. I may not win, but I feel like my chances of finishing in the Top 10 are high.
One of my good friends, he had an Xpress X19, and he ran it a long time. I had never set foot in an X21 until I bought my boat … I bought that boat because I knew the capabilities of the X19. The first real big test for me with the X21 was at a regional at Lake of the Ozarks. Itâs well known for big waves, and the first day of the tournament, the wind was blowing like a sustained 37 mph. We had some really rough water we had to cross to get back to the boat ramp that day. I told my co-angler to hang on because I really couldnât afford to slow down. After running through those waves at about 50 miles per hour, it proved to me that I had chosen the right boat. Xpress is a long-lived, family-owned company, and I couldnât have asked for a better combination of components. For me to do what I like to do, and thatâs get up where other guys canât go, itâs perfect ⦠I fished a 17-foot aluminum boat when I started in smaller tournaments 12 years ago, and I learned then I could get a boat like that into those tight, small places. The bigger aluminum boat lets me run big water while still having shallow-water capability.
I do. Iâve fished Beaver Lake and Table Rock and Bull Shoals, all those clear water lakes. When I can fish shallow, I like to flip. But if I can throw big baits to deep fish, Iâm going to get after it. Thatâs something thatâs in my wheelhouse even though a lot of people donât realize that. Where Iâve had to fish the past 12 years, with the B.A.S.S. Nation tournaments and Anglers in Action, you have to be able to do some of everything.
One of my strengths is map study ⦠I got that advice years ago. If you read the maps, youâre not completely blind when you go onto any body of water. Google Earth is one of the most-used tools on my phone. I look at maps on there for hours. My wife told me the other day she wished I wouldnât pre-fish, and just wait for the day of the tournament. Her reasoning is that Iâve had good results in tournaments where I just go fishing and have to figure them out that day. But at a place like the St. Johns River, Iâve got to be able to know where I can and cannot go, with the manatees and all. Iâll have to go through the paces on that one.
When Iâm at home, Iâll spend time in the same bait shop Iâve worked in the past eight years. I still enjoy all that interaction. When Iâm on the road, Iâm going to be on the maps, and Iâm going to be studying the next venue. It will benefit me down the road. The time I have finding those little, out-of-the-way places, is time well spent for me.
I donât like to be on the water the day before a tournament. To me, any time I hook a fish that day, I feel like itâs a fish that cost me money. So being in the Elite Series, Iâll have to learn how to utilize that time without picking up a rod. It may be making a run to see how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B. Thatâs something Iâve never done in the past. But that said, in that Arkansas River tournament I won last year, if I donât go out on the last day of pre-fishing, I probably wouldnât have found the fish that helped me win. So I guess it goes both ways.