In this unique gallery, I wanted to dig into some pictures that likely didn’t appear in our on-the-water galleries during Bassmaster Elite events over the past few years. Some did, some did not.
My mentor, friend and future Bass Fishing Hall of Famer Steve Bowman detests bird images that appear in fishing galleries — or at least he makes us believe that. Of course, that means I try to slip in one or two each time, just to “poke the bear.” (Insert sinister laughing here.) I’ve heard from Bowman more than a few times about my bad habit to “bird watch” when I should be focusing on the angler, but sometimes you have to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves.
And who doesn’t like birds? I recently spent some time going through my entire photo collection since 2017, and the following gallery includes some of my favorite bird encounters while covering the Bassmaster Elite Series, 2017-2019.
Cherokee, 2017. A group of honkers signaling their presence next to a marker on Cherokee Lake in East Tennessee.