While itching to get back to competition, many Bassmaster Elite Series anglers quarantined due to COVID-19 have found there’s no place like home.
The final day of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk was two months ago, and it’s been three months since the full field fished the St. Johns River Elite. While social distancing to prevent the disease’s spread has presented hardship, a number of Elites report some positives in their long wait.
“We’ve had tons of silver linings as far as the pandemic of the century is concerned,” said ever-optimistic Chad Pipkens, holed up in Lansing, Mich., with wife Melanie and newborn Emerie. “It couldn’t have been better timing for us.”
Along with increased time to bond with his baby girl, Pipkens was able to get a lot of work done moving into a new home, which Elites Chris Zaldain and Drew Cook also did during the break. The Pipkens had a home built with a huge garage, aka mancave, and he was able to do things like build shelves and paint. They were able to move into it, then Pipkens fixed up their old house and rented it.
“It’s been crazy, but the timing has been perfect,” he said. “I don’t know how it would have got done otherwise. We would have had to cram all that into a week, and that just would have been tough. I’d probably be going crazy. If we would have got stuck in the other house with the baby, it would have been harder — couldn’t have worked, can’t paint.”
So Pipkens, who worked in construction and had a painting company before his fishing career, completed a ton of projects and still got plenty of family time.
“I’ve been spending every morning and night with the baby, and that’s been amazing,” he said. “It’s a cool time, with her growing every day.”
With Michigan’s no-motor restrictions for a while, Pipkens is just getting back to fishing and hopes it won’t take long to get his mojo back. He was 29th in the three-day St. Johns event and wishes he could get a redo on the Classic, where he was a disappointing 48th.
In the same boat is Cliff Prince, who was 39th at Guntersville after taking fourth on the St. Johns out of his hometown of Palatka, Fla. During the break, Prince and wife, Kelley, have kept a small circle that includes both their parents, and he’s about finished his to-do list around the homestead.
“Shoot man, I tell you what, I’m about ‘honey do-ed’ out,” Prince said. “I have done things that I’ve been wanting to do, plus some. I built a decent-sized bait shop, big enough to store all my plastics, crankbaits and all that stuff, when I come back to kind of help me keep everything organized. That’s been on my list ever since I built this barn 15 years ago.”
While the list is nearly done, Prince has found time to turkey hunt and do some salt water fishing.
“I’d rather be fishing, but we’ve done so much as a family the last month, it’s been a joy, honestly,” he said. “It’s been real stressful not being able to fish and figure out what we’re going to do the rest of the season, but other than that, it’s been nice.”
Down the road in Orlando, Jesse Tacoronte is experiencing a boom for his Enigma Fishing company. With many tackle shops across the country closed, his customer direct business has sales of rods and reels up 70 percent from January through April of last year.
“I kicked up and doubled my marketing effort, so there is a silver lining,” Tacoronte said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everybody’s support in the fishing world.”
He also noted that the fishing business world seems to be growing, another bonus.
“There’s a pond on every corner in Florida,” he said. “There’s literally people fishing as families. The other day, I saw eight chairs lined up, from grandma all the way down to the grandkids. It was awesome. There’s a lot of positives that come out of staying together fishing.”
Brothers Chris and Cory Johnston are fully experiencing something they haven’t in years — Canada’s spring turkey season. With new cameras, the Johnston Brothers Outdoors crew also has been honing video skills on turkey hunts while waiting for Bassmaster to resume.
“Normally, I don’t get much time to turkey hunt anymore,” said Chris, with yelps in the background. “I’ve had a chance to get out and get my two birds. I’ve been able to take out some friends and family, some have got their first birds. We’ve missed a couple times, and I get to razz them a little bit.”
Both Johnstons have also done some stream trout fishing, so they’ve made the most of their time.
“From that point of view, it’s been good. There’s some stuff to keep us busy,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be fishing the Elites. That kind of pays the bills. Being able to hunt and fish, there is upside.”
Scott Canterbury, the 2019 Bassmster Angler of the Year, said he’s made a few improvements on things but had done most of his major projects in the offseason before the shutdown.
“It hadn’t all been bad. I want to be fishing tournaments,” he said. “We’re usually traveling during the spring. My wife being at home and my daughter being out of the school, we have got to spend some good family time together, be on the lake, stuff that we normally don’t get to do. I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m ready to get back.”
Canterbury said he’s missed going out to eat, but his grill skills are getting perfected.
“Actually, we’re probably eating better,” he said. “People are starting to go stir crazy staying around the house all the time. I’ve probably gained weight. One of the things I’m looking forward to is when everything opens back up, go sit in a Mexican restaurant and eat two or three buckets of chips.”
While the time off might be tough on Canterbury’s waistline, it’s been hard on Cody Hollen’s heart as his father, Richard, died. Planning to stay in the Southeast for the Elites, Hollen flew home when everything closed.
“Two days after the Classic, my dad passed away, so it’s been hard because we haven’t been able to do anything,” Hollen said, noting a funeral has not yet been held, and it’s been a difficult time for the big extended family. “Being able to be home and spend time with family has been the biggest thing. Don’t get me wrong, I want to be out fishing, but this stuff that’s happened in the family, it’s been nice to be home and be here for my stepmom.”