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As I finish my final preparations to start the 2016 season on the Bassmaster Elite Series, it’s easy to think back on the past two decades and feel like I’m at a new beginning. It’s been 15 years since I graduated from Eastern Washington University and moved to Northern California to try to make it as a bass pro, and 10 years since I won the 2006 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Toho.
It’s funny how things can come full circle.
I’ve floated around all over the country in that time, but I’m back fishing B.A.S.S., I got married shortly after New Year’s, and everything feels new. Change is good, and I’m excited about the coming season.
I have to admit, I worked harder and put more pressure on myself qualifying for the Elites than I’ve done since I started this whole bass-pro lifestyle way back in 2001. At the end of the 2014 season, I had decided to put in a concentrated effort to qualify for the Elites, so I registered to fish every one of the 2015 Bass Pro Shops Opens.
Yep, every one. All nine of them. I was all in.
I live in Spokane, Wash., so you can only imagine what my travel schedule looked like, hopping from the Pacific Northwest to the six FLW Tour events I fished, and then from there to three Open divisions scattered around the country (or wherever I’d stored my boat). I was constantly stressed out making airline connections to make it to the event, constantly waking up in a different hotel, constantly losing the battle to keep up with laundry and emails.
I’d go into every tournament morning thinking to myself, “Man, I really need to make this work out.” I can’t say it was the most enjoyable season, but, here I am. Finally.
Looking ahead to a diverse schedule
I barely know anything about most of the fisheries on the 2016 Elite Schedule. Actually, I’ve been to three of them: I won an FLW Tour event on the Potomac River, I’m somewhat familiar with Wheeler Lake, and I fished Toledo Bend one time back in 2001. What do I know about the St. John’s River, where we open the 2016 season? Well, I know that I have a hotel reserved in Palatka, Fla., and that’s it. I’ve never even laid eyes on any of the other fisheries, and I’m really excited about that.
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There are a couple of reasons for that. First, I feel like I’m at my best when I’m fishing with an open mind and just taking whatever the lake and the fish are giving me on any given day. Over the course of the past 10 years, it had become challenging to stay fresh and open to changes because we fished the same venues a lot, and at similar times of the year. You tend to rule things out that might actually be productive, just because your past history tells you that fish are supposed to behave a certain way at Kentucky Lake in June.
You can get “tunnel-visioned” and not even realize you’re doing it.
It’ll be the total opposite this year. Looking at the schedule, I’d have to say that I’m most excited about the Bull Shoals/Norfork Lake event, partly because I like the Ozarks lakes, but more so because of the unique format of the tournament. There will be a lot more variables at that event because of the two-lake format, and a guy will have to change on the fly to be successful.
Growing up in the Northwest fishing for everything from salmon to walleye – and fishing the diverse places I have all over the country – it lends itself to having to learn how to be proficient at everything. True, you can catch fish almost everywhere on a drop-shot or a jig, but if you want to consistently make cuts and cash Top 20 checks, you have a heckuva lot better chance if you’re prepared for the diversity of the schedule.
I look at Bull Shoals/Norfork and places like Winyah Bay and the Mississippi River in Wisconsin (the two of which couldn’t possibly be any more different), and feel like the schedule just fits my style.
I’m excited to measure my talents against a new group of anglers, too. It’s not like I haven’t fished against Skeet and Ike and Kevin before, but it’ll be interesting to compete against all of these guys every day for an entire season.
I paid my way through college by fishing, so it’s really all I know. Having said that, every season is different. But this one promises to be one of the most interesting in my career. I’m glad to be here.