I got nothing. Nada. Zilch. I thought I would take the win at the Bassmaster Classic, and shockingly I did not.
I didn’t lose, but I was at the bottom. I did manage to beat my boss Will Flowers and Chris Mitchell (@bassgifs) which makes me feel slightly better.
Have I forgotten how to play Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing? Maybe I have become too obsessed with my tournament research spreadsheet and the data it has from previous tournament results. I brag about this spreadsheet and the power it holds, and it has lost all of its mojo. Katie G, one of the newest hires at B.A.S.S., was practically forced to play Fantasy Fishing the day before the tournament started (maybe it was me, maybe it wasn’t), and she ended up leading in our employee group for most of the Classic. She ended up 11th on the final day. Rebecca J, another B.A.S.S. newbie, came in second at the Classic, right behind Bassmaster LIVE’s Tommy Sanders.
Everyone has their own selection system, and everyone else in the office has a system that is working except me. I’m throwing out the spreadsheet for this one. I used to pick based on facial hair, what college football team the anglers cheered for — or like my friend and co-worker April Phillips picks – do they have kind eyes? For the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes, I’m going back to my old way – a tiny amount of fishing information and a whole lot of flipping through Bassmaster.com photo galleries.
I don’t know much about the Santee Cooper Lakes. From pictures I’ve seen, I think it has a lot of trees in it like we see in Toledo Bend or Lake Fork? Guys who fish slower or are good jig anglers will probably succeed there. Does that sound like I know what I’m talking about? I know nothing of that. My buddy John W. told me that and then had to explain it to me.
BUCKET A: MULLINS
One of the best beards on the tour. I was on the fence with Stetson Blaylock, Drew Cook and Cory Johnston. I might change it. Sometimes I feel like me picking an angler puts a curse on hisevent. With the momentum David Mullins currently has for Bassmaster Angler of the Year, I might switch him, just to avoid that jinx. Because his AOY chances hang totally in the balance of this Fantasy team selection.
BUCKET B: BENTON
Since Patrick Walters shaved his mustache, he’s off my team. (Still love you PWalt). I went back and forth with Drew Benton and Jacob Powroznik, but since Jacob Powroznik will not read the emails I send him about social media things, I will not pick him. Am I petty? If Ronnie Moore is the king of Fantasy, then I am the queen of petty.
BUCKET C: HERREN
This bucket was tough. I mean the facial hair in this group is unfair to the rest of the field. The Feider ‘stache, Swindle’s beard has never looked better, Livesay looks like a state trooper and Sumrall is, well, Sumrall. I ended up picking Matt Herren – great goatee and again, my friend John said he was a good slow angler. Isn’t all fishing slow? Or maybe it just seems slow because I spend most of my time undoing backlash or waiting for someone to tie on a lure for me.
BUCKET D: KELLEY
If I picked my team off beards you’d think I would pick Brock Mosley in this bucket, and I would, but I’m sticking to my own rule that I have to pick a rookie every event, so I’m going to use my rookie pick for this bucket — Jonathan Kelley. Plus, Shane LeHew shaved his beard off so …
BUCKET E: JOCUMSEN
I’m again torn between Carl Jocumsen and Hunter Shryock. Right now, I have Jocumsen, but I might switch it.
Drain the Lake
In my last column, I mentioned that I wasn’t last in our staff group for Mercury Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge because Kerri B. hadn’t selected a full team. Somebody else might have let her go the whole season and not told her, but I couldn’t do it. I broke the news to her at the Classic, albeit after the event started. In my defense, it was the first time I saw her. Now she’ll probably take over the lead in the group. I wish her the best.
• Austin Felix
• Bill Lowen
• Carl Jocumsen
• David Mullins
• Drew Cook
• Clark Wendlandt
• Derek Hudnall
• Jonathan Kelley
