Many people assume that professional anglers are on the water nearly 365 days a year. Maybe that’s true for some of my peers, but increasingly that’s not the case for me. Since the Bassmaster Elite Series season ended at the end of August I’ve only spent five or six days on the water, including one local tournament.
So the flip side of that is you might assume we have an “offseason” to relax and recuperate. Again, maybe some do, but the only offseason I experience is that time away from the water. Personally I don’t experience much downtime. Instead, I have to prioritize a lot of other obligations.
Much of that is family. Of course that starts with Tiffanie and our daughter, Kora, but it also extends to other family members here in Idaho. Once we leave in January or February, we won’t see many or most of them until we return in the fall, so it’s critical to get in quality time with them in a relatively unhurried situation.
It’s also a great time to work on the business side of the sport, which includes things like contracts for the upcoming season, product development and content creation. One of my mantras is to always continue to elevate my game, so I look for ways to improve upon what I’m already doing. That also extends to the fishing side of things – I’ll look back on what was generally a very successful 2022 tournament campaign and try to figure out where I could have done better.
One other priority that moved to the front of the line was restocking our freezer. By the time we returned home we were low on elk meat and venison. Carl and I drove straight to Idaho from the Mississippi River tournament, armed with both Idaho and Montana tags, and we spent a fair amount of September in the woods. We were both fortunate to shoot an elk with a bow, and that means when we head out on the road early this year our camper’s freezer will be full to the brim with that wild game.
So do I miss fishing? Absolutely. I’d love to be on the water near home, even with 2 feet of snow in the yard. Some offseasons I do get to fish a bit more – it’s just that with several house projects going on and some new “daddy duties,” there are other things that bring me joy. There are only 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year, so we all have to prioritize.
Additionally, I recognize that stepping away from the boat temporarily isn’t always a bad thing, especially after a crazy busy season like the one we just enjoyed. As long as you do the requisite homework and preparation, sometimes clearing your mind actually makes you better. I’m still immersed in the fishing mindset – rigging my boat and tinkering with tackle as much as time allows – I’m just not actually out there doing it.
Perhaps if I took a full year off it would cause a problem in terms of my performance, but a few months is not an issue. It’s like riding a bike: When I first get out there I may be a bit wobbly but then then muscle memory will kick in and everything will be back to normal.
I won’t go into that first tournament of the year cold. Instead I’ll spend some time fishing before practice starts, and by the time we launch for practice at the season opener on Okeechobee I should be pretty dialed in to the process.
Even after more than a decade of doing this I’m still surprised at how quickly the “offseason” passes by, but every year I continue to dial in my time management and my ability to prioritize just a little bit more.
