Looking back on the St. Croix Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River, I’ll say making a top 20 finish was really big for me, but it’s something that I’m keeping in the right perspective.
I’ve said this about my high school basketball career, but it’s worth repeating: That shot you missed is done and over with. You can’t keep living in the past.
That perspective also applies to the shots you make. So, when a tournament’s over, whether I had a really good one or a really bad one, it’s done and over with.
I don’t think too much about what I should’ve done or not done. I think through what happened for the first day after an event, but after that, I’m done with it.
Once an event is over, I can’t do anything about it. I just try to take a few things I learned and move forward. Every fishery we go to is so different that after a tournament, you have to forget about everything and just go.
From the motivational side, a good finish definitely helps. If you have multiple bad finishes, it can work the opposite way. For example, last year, I would have a really tournament, and then I’d bomb. That up-and-down rollercoaster makes it hard to maintain momentum.
I will say that, even with a good finish at the Pasquotank, it was a little disappointing, because a win is a Top 10 for me. Top 10s are hard enough, but to win, everything has to line up right.
I lost a 4-pounder on Day 1, and I had two 1 1/2-pounders in my box. Catching that fish would have been enough to get me in the Top 10.
Overall, finishing in the top 20 on the Pasquotank does give me some confidence because I had a good practice, but it wasn’t exceptional. I didn’t get on the big fish deal to catch multiples a day. I caught two fish over 5 pounds the entire practice, and I caught one over 5 pounds every day of the tournament.
I think the reason for that was good decision making. Every day, I made the right decision. The first day, my area’s water temperature dropped 15 degrees and the level dropped a foot, so I made an hour run and caught a 5-pounder.
Day 2, I caught some fish in the area where I caught ‘em on Day 1, made a big run and caught some more fish. Then, I had a little bitty dish where I was expecting to catch 2- to 2 1/2-pounders, and I caught a 6.
The third day, I caught two spawners off a tree with a YUM Wooly Bug and then I decided to move back into the creek and go flipping. That produced a 6 and a 5.
Things were just sitting right for me, and I think the windy conditions actually worked in my favor by making me sit in one place. You can’t run all over that fishery when it’s windy.
Also, I think that going to a new place like that actually makes me settle more into one area. I finished in the Top 10 at Winyah Bay my rookie year, and while a lot of guys made big runs to the Cooper River, I sat on one grass stretch for four days.
Fortunately, our next Elite event is on a more familiar fishery — Lake Hartwell. That’s where I had my best Bassmaster Classic finish when I took sixth place in 2022.
I have a good idea of what’s going on there, and I know what it takes to do well. Hopefully, I’ll keep making good decisions and continue the momentum.
