It’s nice to be home for a month or so after a string of decent Bassmaster Elite Series events. With only two tournaments left, I’m 17th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
With the final Elite tournaments on Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River, I like my chances of qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic. That would give me an opportunity to compete in bass fishing’s biggest event near home at Lake Ray Roberts, Texas.
I won’t have much time to relax during my summer break. I have loads of things to catch up on. At the top of the to-do list is working on my backyard shop build.
I mentioned this project in a previous column. It has been an enormous undertaking. My shop is large enough to hold our 48-foot podcast RV, two boats and two trucks. The big thing I’m working on now is turning a portion of the shop into a workout area.
Being 39 years old and a 13-year Elite Series veteran, I’m beginning to feel the stress of the physically demanding Elite Series schedule. That was especially evident after fishing in 100-degree heat at the last two events.
This sport is much more demanding than most people realize. It’s amazing that Rick Clunn and our other older pros are still at it.
My wife Trait travels with me and is my business partner. She is physically fitness minded and demanded that we do everything we can to stay in shape. We’ll have a pull-up bar, dumbbells, barbells and a workout bench. I’m also installing a 10-foot x 50-foot stretch of gym turf.
The turf will be great for things like a weight sled to strengthen my back and core. That’s critical when you’re pounding through tall waves on big waters like Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River.
Installing the 600-pound roll of turf has been quite a workout in itself. I’ve had to shove the turf around while troweling the adhesive onto the floor. Because the fitness area is readily accessible in our shop it should provide a strong incentive to get after it.
Staying in tournament shape means you also need to go fishing to maintain muscle memory for accurate casting. It also keeps your mind sharp.
Earlier this week, I hopped in a boat with Jeremy Lambert, a good friend of mine. We fished a Tuesday night workingman’s tournament on Eagle Mountain Lake. It was nice to be on the water with 25 or so local boats in a well-run, three-hour tournament.
It was nothing like fishing a high-stakes, high-stress Elite Series tournament. I was relaxed and didn’t jam the throttle down while running my Nitro from spot to spot. It reminded me of just how much fun this sport is and why I love it.
With the water temperature in the 90s, we concentrated on offshore brushpiles. Summertime brushpile fishing is all about hitting your target and going with larger than normal lures to catch bass that are feeding on big shad and bluegill.
We utilized my favorite summertime techniques, which include throwing an 8-inch Bass Mafia Big Larry Flutter Spoon and an 8-inch shaky head worm. We won the tournament with two bass that totaled 12 pounds.
Whether you’re fishing a Tuesday night derby or an Elite Series tournament, you cannot force anything. It helps if you remind yourself to have fun. Do that and the rest will take care of itself.
