Prior to the initial Bassmaster Elite Series tournament of the year on Florida’s St. Johns River, I spent a week fishing several Sunshine State bass waters, including the Stick Marsh and lakes Placid and Yale. I only fished maybe one full day because I had to break in the Mercury and dial in my electronics and everything else on this season’s new Nitro.
This is absolutely essential so I can perform at my best while competing. My tackle was such a disaster that it took two days to get everything rigged and organized.
I invested a good bit of my time on the water learning how to use Garmin’s Perspective Mode. It’s basically a live, forward view of the bottom. This mode has been around since the introduction of LiveScope, but I’ve never really used it.
Perspective mode is a very good tool when you’re fishing shallow, especially during the spawn because you can see the beds and the bass on your graph. I still don’t feel comfortable with it, but I’m hoping I’ve learned enough take advantage of perspective mode at the St. Johns and Lake Okeechobee.
Spawners you can see with your eyes in shallow water get picked off quickly in Elite Series tournaments. Those guys don’t miss much. But when bass bed 3 and 4 feet deep in Okeechobee’s tannic water, you can’t see them, even with the aid of polarized sunglasses.
However, you can see those fish with Perspective Mode. I believe Scott Martin won a Bassmaster Open fishing for bedding bass with this technology.
When LiveScope first came out, professional anglers had to adopt forward-facing sonar to avoid being left behind. I believe this will also be true of the Perspective Mode.
This season I’m 100% hungrier than I’ve ever been. I constantly strive to learn more so I can someday hoist a blue or brown trophy.
It’s crazy to think this is already my third season as an Elite Series angler. I’m dealing with the same preseason jitters I felt in my rookie year. My nerves usually settle down when I launch my boat on the first official practice day.
I’m excited to announce that Monster Energy is my new title sponsor. I’ve literally been wanting to get with them since I competed in snowboarding and skateboarding events as a kid. I began reaching out to them when I was 17.
I also signed a contract with Waterland Fishing Sunglasses. I began talking with them in my rookie season, but I held off because I didn’t want to take on so many sponsors that I couldn’t deliver for every one of them. I’m in a better position this year to benefit more sponsors.
I truly believe in every sponsor listed on my truck, boat and tournament jersey. I work to keep them happy with the content I create on YouTube and other social media outlets.
Up until this year, I’ve done my social media content pretty much by myself, which is enormously time consuming. You wouldn’t believe how long it takes to make a good 30-minute video.
This year, I hired my brother Colin to edit my tournament videos. That should allow me to at least double my content. I’ll be adding practice videos that will show the good, bad and ugly that inevitably happens when I tackle a body of water.
