Going into the Bassmaster Classic, I’m not going to be able to escape the obvious attention of being the defending champion. Some people might ask if I think that’s going to be a distraction, but honestly, the answer is no.
I’m proud to have had the opportunity to hold that trophy and represent all that it means to our sport. And you better believe I’m going to be doing my best to be the one who’s holding it again at the end of this year’s competition.
As for all the hype and attention that comes with such a huge honor, I’m going to handle it the same way I handle any tournament — I mentally separate what I’m doing from what’s going on around me.
It’s kind of hard to explain, but that’s how it’s always been. When my feet hit the carpet of that boat, everything else doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what happened five minutes before or what happened last week.
It doesn’t phase me.
Off the boat, yeah, maybe the excitement and activities associated with the Classic might distract me a little. But when I’m on the boat I’m focused on the job at hand.
Interviews with the media, interacting with fans, sponsor-related activities — those are all important parts of the Classic, but when we take off on Day 1, I’ll block it all out.
I’ll leave everything at the dock and just fish for that week.
To me, it would mean a lot more defending my title on my home waters of Lake Hartwell. But on another lake, I feel like there’s not as much pressure on me — and that’s a double benefit.
I’m not expecting to win, but I feel like I can win. That means I can take encouragement from the optimism, but I don’t feel the pressure that I’d feel on my home waters.
The one thing I can say is that the Classic is very different than a regular season Bassmaster Elite Series tournament when you’re fishing for points. In a regular season event, there comes a time when you have to realize you probably aren’t on enough fish to win and you have to back up and punt.
But at the Classic, it’s a totally different mindset. You’re fishing for the five biggest fish in the lake. There are no points — only your best sack every day.
In the Bassmaster Classic, you never back up and punt.
In a way, it takes the pressure off, but it’s still the Classic and you’re performing on our industry’s biggest stage. You’re not worrying about catching fish to survive, you’re worrying about catching the fish to win. But that’s what makes it so hard — everyone is doing the same thing.
And speaking of everyone, I really enjoy having all the anglers and their families in one place for a week. You know, we travel the country all year long, but we never really see one another — except for a few minutes in the weigh-in line.
During this one week, we’re all in the same hotel, and we can enjoy visiting and catching up.
This will be my seventh Classic. To the guys who’ll be fishing it for the first time, I’d say that this event can be overwhelming. It’s a really fun week, it’s a busy week and there’s a lot more to it than the competition.
It seems like every year it keeps getting better. More lights, cameras and more excitement.
I may only have a few minutes in the arena, but when I come through that curtain and the crowd explodes, that’s a feeling that I can’t explain. It’s a feeling you start to appreciate more and more the older you get.
In my first few Classics, if I didn’t catch them, I didn’t really think as much about the applause and the cheering. But you figure out that people don’t really care if you catch them or not; they’re there to root for you and that’s the whole deal.
To see the crowd’s reaction and to see how much support you have, it’s a pretty great feeling.
The entire week is a great feeling, and I think the key to enjoying the Classic is that you have to go into that week with the mindset that you’re going to be busy, you’re going to be tired and you’re not going to get much sleep.
You may not feel like doing that last interview or attending that last sponsor event, but you have to because this is a special time and a tremendous opportunity to make the memories that will last for the rest of your life.
I treat every Classic like it could be my last. I try to enjoy every minute of it.
My advice: Take it all in. Enjoy every dinner, tell your best stories at every interview and smile like you mean it with every handshake.
You don’t want to look back and realized you missed any part of the greatest show in bass fishing.