We talk a lot about how momentum plays an important role in tournament fishing, and I have to say, I feel it swinging in the right direction for me.
I started the season with a bomb at the St. Johns River and then I had two 57th-place finishes at Lake Okeechobee and the Pasquotank River. That was a tough way to begin my first year back on the Bassmaster Elite Series, but Lake Hartwell was the turning point for me.
That sixth-place finish, leading Day 1 with a big bag and catching the big bass of the tournament (7-15), turned the momentum in the right direction. That’s what we needed. I needed a big finish like that, not only to turn the momentum, but also to balance out that bomb I had in the first event.
When you finish in the 90s, you really need a Top 10 to average it back out. I was happy with that, and then surviving Lake Fork with a 43rd-place finish got me back up in the points.
That was a win for me, because I had a poor practice and that was such a slugfest. That’s the kind of event that can really mess you up if you’re not on ‘em good — and I wasn’t on ‘em good.
I’ve felt good in every event this season, but the only one where I made a bad decision was the first one. That might have had something to do with the nerves of my first Elite event since 2018 and wanting to come out with a big finish.
That first day, I had a decent bag and I was right on the money line. The second, there was a lot of local traffic and I couldn’t get on anything.
It was a frustrating morning, and instead of getting on the bank and grinding it out, I tried to be the hero that day. I had found some big bed fish down in the springs, but the wind was blowing 20-25 mph that day, so that was a bad mistake.
I made myself believe if I had just caught a couple of those big fish, I could have a really big bag and make a comeback. That’s where I had to start back thinking smart about consistency. That’s how I made my living; it’s how I made 16 Classics in 22 years.
When you know you don’t have a chance to win and you’re not on the right fish to have a big Top 10 finish, you have to be smart and be satisfied with grinding out a good limit. It’s all about getting yourself in the Top 50 and keeping yourself good in the points.
I didn’t do that in the first event, and the next two I was just one big bite or two away from having a good finish. I don’t have anything in either of those two events I would have changed.
As the season progresses, I’m realizing how much I appreciate being back on the Bassmaster Elite Series. I’m really having fun again, and I’m honestly back to having that excitement when I go to bed and when I get up in the morning.
I feel rejuvenated and that’s because of the fans and the response. That has made me want to win an event so much and get back to the Bassmaster Classic.
It’s all about the people who have welcomed me back to the Bassmaster stage that makes me want to do my best there.
