It’s the offseason, and I’m in the mode where I’m juggling all of the family and sponsor commitments that keep me busy this time of the year. It can get so busy that my old friend Mark Jeffreys of The Bass Zone named it “The Silly Season.”
Before I get into that though, let me start by offering congratulations to the nine Bassmaster Opens EQ anglers who qualified for the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series. To make it through that nine-event gauntlet and come out as one of those anglers who qualified was no easy task, and you all should be proud.
Most importantly, I want to congratulate my longtime friend and new roommate John Garrett for qualifying for the 2024 Elite Series. “Little John,” as we all call him, has been trying for several years to make the Elite field and barely missed qualifying the past couple seasons because of issues that cost him a day of fishing here or there. John is a great kid, or young man I should say. I’m looking forward to traveling with him this year and continuing to work with him as he begins what I hope — and expect to be — is a long career in this game.
Aside from being someone I’ve worked with all the way back to his youth years, through his days at Bethel College and into his Opens time, we are also teammates with Lew’s, Strike King, Seaguar, Skeeter, Yamaha and Hypertech, so we’ll have a lot in common with each other throughout the season. I’m happy for him and proud of him too; he’s going to be one to watch.
I spent some time at the Pitman Creek Dealer Show recently working there for Lew’s and Strike King. I was impressed with what they’ve done with that show, the dealer fishing tournament and the way they take care of their dealers. The show’s traffic flow was pretty good too, and it was a good show.
I’m getting ready for a series of filming days now. I’ve got some filming to do for my Mark Menendez Bass TV show that airs on WPSD TV Channel 6 here in Paducah and gets posted to my Mark Menendez Bass TV YouTube channel after it airs on broadcast.
It was my father-in-law’s birthday late last month, so the whole family gathered to celebrate him. Melissa and I also celebrated our second anniversary on Oct. 23. I can’t believe how fast the two years have gone by because it seems like just yesterday we were getting the wedding together. I couldn’t imagine where my life would be now without her and the whole family who have made our lives so much richer.
I’m on my way back from Texas where I did some vlog filming for Tackle Warehouse. I took the chance to do some pre-practice for our Texas tournaments in 2024 to get a jump on the schedule for next year.
You’d think life would slow down some once the season ends, but it seems to pick up steam and take on a pace of its own. I love it! It’s a very important part of my job — the offeason is — it’s where a tremendous amount of real impact is made for sponsors.
