As the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series season wraps up with our final two events in August, I’m sitting in a good position in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points. That really frees me up to fish the way I want without having to worry about making the Bassmaster Classic.
There’s not as much pressure, so I’ll have a lot more flexibility. I’ve been thinking I can go take a swing at one of these tournaments. I can take some risks, take some chances and try to win it.
The other consideration is making sure my AOY average remains as high as possible so I can stay on the Elites as long as I can. That’s really an important part of the big picture, because you have to think about the long-term effects of taking a risk.
Maybe I have a bad tournament and drop 20 to 30 spots in the Angler of the Year. That’s something that might bite me one day.
Taking all of this into consideration, I think I’m just going to keep fishing the same way I have all year. It’s been working, so there’s no need to change it now.
If the opportunity presents itself to go take the kind of risk I might not have taken earlier in the year, yeah, I’ll take it. But overall, I think I’ll continue doing what has worked so far.
I will say that having built a strong AOY position through the first seven events, I have a sense of confidence that will help me particularly in the last event at La Crosse. I know a lot of the field has significant experience on this fishery, and I don’t.
I’ve never been to the Upper Mississippi River. I’ve only done my normal research on it, so not knowing much about the fishery before going into it, I’m thankful for that cushion in the AOY points.
Looking at these last two events, I believe my experience on a diverse array of western fisheries will give me some level of insight into preparing my game plans. I still have to fish the conditions at each of these events, but being able to draw upon my past years of West Coast fishing should help me.
For example, the smallmouth on Lake St. Clair act very similar to the desert lakes like Havasu and Mohave. They’re nomadic bait chasers, so there’s a lot of forward-facing sonar tactics. Drop shots and the jighead minnow will, for sure, be big players on St. Clair, and those are two techniques I’m very familiar with.
I have a feeling the Mississippi River might go back to my Clear Lake/California Delta roots — a lot of power fishing, topwater frogging, heavy cover and stuff like that. Hopefully that’s the case because it will give me a sense of comfort and make me feel I know the place a little bit before I get there.
Even with this familiarity, I still plan on taking each event day by day. That’s how I’ve always fished. I’ve prioritized consistency, so I just try to catch what I’m on.
If that’s the winning bag, cool. If it’s a check, cool. If it’s a bad finish, it is what it is. I don’t try to make something out of nothing. If the opportunity’s not there, I’m not going to go take a risk and try to swing for the fence.
If I’m on 18 pounds of smallmouth on St. Clair, I’m gonna go try and catch 18 pounds. If I’m on 22, I’m gonna go try and catch 22. That mindset is what has always led to consistency throughout my career.
