After finishing second in 2021 and third in 2022, it felt like the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year award might never come my way. I’d had my shots, but I couldn’t get over the hump. There’s only one AOY each year – close doesn’t count. That’s why winning the 2024 title feels like such an immense relief. Last month at the St. Lawrence River was incredibly stressful, and then all of a sudden, it’s over.
It’s still a little bit hard to believe. Now my name is inscribed on a list with people like KVD, Roland Martin and Rick Clunn. The fact that I came back from some adversity at the St. Lawrence, and the fact that my brother won the whole tournament, makes it extra special.
There were times during the season when it looked a little bleak – particularly after Wheeler Lake when I finished 57th. Trey McKinney had seemed unstoppable through two days there, but he self-reported a rules violation and lost a day’s catch. That kept the tour open.
As we entered the Northern Swing, I just wanted to have a chance going into the last event. I thought I needed a Top 10 at Lake Champlain, which is far from a sure thing. Whatever advantage I once had there seems to be decreasing, but a runner-up finish put me in good position to make a charge at the last event.
The St. Lawrence is also getting tougher, and I got a late start coming from the postponed final day at Champlain. I got two full days of practice and then stayed up until 12:30 getting everything rigged up, which left me with only 3 1/2 hours of sleep.
I knew where some good fish were located, and 23-2 on the first day had me in the hunt, but only in 15th place. On Day 2, I started off with a livewell problem. Something was stuck in them, and I couldn’t figure it out. I started in a now well-known spot in the river, but there were already two boats there creaming them. I was kind of left in no-man’s-land. It spun me out after two hours, plus the 90 minutes it took to get there. I was behind the eight ball the rest of the day. I ran out to the lake and continued to struggle before heading all the way to Duck. They just weren’t biting for me, and after some late stops in the river I was lucky to get up to 20-11. That dropped me to 31st place.
I couldn’t afford another day like that, but fortunately for me the prior AOY leader Justin Hamner missed the cut. Meanwhile, Jacob Foutz, the other main contender, had banked entirely on the lake. When the wind blew on Day 3 he was left with almost nothing to fish.
I knew the wind was going to keep me from going to the lake – especially because once there I expected it would still take a lot of time to catch a good limit – so I elected to start on a main river spot I’ve been fishing for 10 years. You may have heard a little about it. It’s a 200 yard spot, but I had to get on the 100 feet that makes up the juice. The goal was to keep my destiny in my own hands by making the cut to Day 4.
It worked out as planned. I saw Foutz running around a bunch and had a pretty good feeling that he was struggling. Meanwhile, when I got to about 27 pounds I felt I had it locked up. I eventually culled up to 29-5, tying the B.A.S.S. smallmouth record. That made it sweet, but even better was the fact that I made it into the Top 10 pretty easily – with the trophy in my possession.
I recognize that I’m the first AOY to come from a country other than the United States, and I guess that’s important, but what really matters is that relief of getting it done. I feel like it will not only enhance my career, but enable me to take more chances in the future.
Now the process starts all over again – we have a fairly lengthy offseason, but it’ll be here before you know it. The ultimate goal is to make it two big trophies in a row.
