After coming close twice earlier in the year, I was fortunate to earn my first Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Lake Champlain. To be honest, I was pretty discouraged by the runner-up at Lake Seminole followed by a third-place finish at Lake Murray – I felt like I’d had some good chances and wasn’t sure when I’d be in position to strike again.
I felt like I had a good chance to contend again at Lake Champlain. I have a lot of tournament experience fishing for smallmouth in Japan, and I’d done well up north in the Opens last year. It may surprise you to learn this, but I wasn’t all-in on smallmouth heading into it. I was willing to fish for either species, but as practice began I narrowed my focus.
I looked for clear-water areas that had a lot of bait in them, and I found some solid concentrations of smallmouth – good enough that I was pretty sure I could catch at least 20 pounds a day. In fact, I would’ve been very disappointed with anything less than that.
I put myself in position on Day 1 by catching 21 pounds, 5 ounces to land in 10th place, less than 2 pounds off the lead in a tightly-packed field. It wasn’t that easy, though. At about 11 o’clock I had trolling motor problems – the bolts broke, and I thought I was going to lose the rest of the day. Once I got that squared away, though, my nerves never fired up again. On Day 2 I caught the biggest bag of the tournament thus far, 23-14, and took a slim lead. I grew the lead the next day and closed the door on Day 4. I know I’m young, but it felt like it was a long time in coming.
I know that forward-facing sonar has been a topic of much discussion lately. I’ve been using it for about four years, practicing as much as I can, and it played a big role in my success. But it’s not the only way I can catch fish. In particular, I think I’m a pretty good sight fisherman.
Sonar is also not the only piece of equipment that contributes to my success. I have special rods and reels from Daiwa tailored to specific techniques and situations. I won at Lake Champlain by just over an ounce per fish, and those little differences in equipment add up over time. I can tell when everything is clicking.
I carried that momentum through to the St. Lawrence River Elite, where I finished third again. It was a great experience, as I caught more than 100 pounds of smallmouth. It was bittersweet not to win another tournament and also to miss out on the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year award by the slimmest of margins.
I am headed back to Japan now, hungry to get better and to claim some more hardware next year. After narrowly missing out on the rookie title, I really want to win a Bassmaster Classic and the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year award.
I thank all of you for following along in the initial stages of my Elite Series journey. Everyone has been so supportive in my first year. I’m working on my English to be able to communicate better, and next year I intend to show off a few tricks and tactics that I haven’t revealed yet.
