Every day, I think about winning the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by SEVIIN, and I can’t believe I pulled it off. The video from that tournament is on my YouTube page, and rewatching the events from those three days makes the hair on my arms stand straight up.
I live in Tennessee, but I’m originally from Rhode Island. So, winning my first tournament in the Northeast and having my whole family there was the icing on the cake. It got me all choked up to see them out there at weigh-in. There was no other way I would want to have my first win.
I’ve got the trophy at Talkin’ Tackle outside of Chattanooga, and it has been really cool to see so many customers come in to hold the trophy and look at it. It has been awesome to be there working when people come in to see it. It is the best trophy I have ever received.
It was certainly a different kind of tournament. All the anglers knew the winning bags were going to come from that flat. Fishing so close to so many different people was kind of cool. People would clap as you would land a bass. It was nice to see everyone coming together and not starting any arguments.
Reflecting on the tournament over the last several weeks, there are several moments that stand out. The first was knowing to show up to my primary area at the right time on Day 1. I had perfect timing all three days, especially on Day 1. If I had waited another 10 or 15 minutes, I don’t think I would have caught those bass. That spot was just off the side of a big community hole, and I decided to show up a little earlier to low tide than a lot of people. Within five minutes, I had 20 pounds. After 10 minutes, there were 15 boats there. It was just me and another boat there when it all went down.
After Day 2, I had a 2-pound lead, but the final day was going to be completely different. It was the first time during the tournament where we had a high tide the entire day. Even with the lead, I was nervous idling out because high tide was the time I struggled badly. I wanted one or two good ones on my first spot, but that didn’t happen.
On the final day, I really struggled until about 10 a.m. I decided to abandon my primary area and move to a spot I hadn’t yet fished in the tournament. I saw a high spot way up on top of the flat, and when I close my eyes at night, I can still see the current coming over that high spot. As soon as I saw that spot, I jumped off a big one and then caught four big ones in a row in a five-minute span. After a lull, I circled back to that high spot, and I caught my fifth big one that jumped me up to 21 pounds. That was when I lost it a little bit.
A ChatterBait is one of my favorite baits when it comes to tournament fishing and grass. I have gotten really good about not losing fish on a ChatterBait, but when you get into that 5- and 6-pound class of bass, they are so good at throwing the bait. And that’s all you think about when you hook a big one. That’s all that was going through my mind when I caught that final bass. I had already watched a 6-pounder do that earlier in the day, and this bass bit it at the very end of my cast.
When I got it by the side of the boat, it makes a crazy tailwalk jump and nine times out of 10 that bait would come out of the mouth right there. Once it hit the water, I was able to grab it, and I couldn’t believe it. I knew it was a 5-pounder, and I did a couple of fist pumps. I knew I most likely had won the tournament right there.
It is going to be awesome fishing the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour only an hour and a half away from my house. I’ve never been up to Fort Loudoun and Tellico Lake. I live on Chickamauga and am close to Nickajack and Guntersville, so I don’t tend to venture too far from those lakes. I’ll be putting in a lot of time up there this fall though. I might even take a week off guiding to go up there and really get to know the body of water.
