I qualified for Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Presented by Mercury & Lowrance by winning the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine. Three years ago, I fished my first BFL. I was nervous for that tournament. It was a Super Tournament, so it was two days, and after Day 1, I was in second place.
I remember how nervous I was – that was the biggest tournament I had fished by myself to that point. The following year, I fished the Toyota Series at Guntersville, and I just remember how proud I was to make Day 3. I think I was 16th or something, and I snuck into the cut in my first Toyota Series event. From there, I won the Regional, which was the biggest tournament I had ever fished. I just remember all these different points, where it was such a big deal.
It was an awesome week at Table Rock during REDCREST.
Being around these guys that I’ve watched on TV for so long, being one of them was a really cool experience. Every year, I’ve sped it up and stepped out of my comfort zone in competition, going to that next step. I feel like that’s the one real way to get better: having your competition get better, and having higher stakes. It makes it feel like other tournaments are just another day when you go up and fish something like this. It felt good to be able to hang with these guys. I know I can do it. I just have to keep putting myself out there.
Day 1, going up on stage at REDCREST, I was super nervous. But after Day 2, the nerves calmed a little bit, and I was able to enjoy the day and enjoy being on stage a little more. It was an awesome experience, competing against all those guys, and I can’t wait to be back.
The format was a lot of fun
I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the format going into the tournament. I wasn’t sure how much fun I was going to have with it. I just love catching the five biggest fish. But actually fishing it, and being in the moment, being right there at the cut, it is so cool. Especially in the 2 1/2 hour periods, it makes you fish at the top intensity for the whole 2 1/2 hours because you know you’re going to get the break at the end, and you know where you stand. At this one, there were eight or nine guys who were all really close to each other; it was just really fun, jumping up and down the scoreboard.
After fishing this format one time, I definitely want to fish it again. I think I’ll do good in this format, and it’s super cool. It pushes you extra hard when you’re out there fishing. I will say, in the five-fish format, if you catch them good in the morning, on days like that, the day goes by so much slower. You’re not fishing to your full potential a lot of the time. With this, it just flies by. It’s a short time and you go at 100% the whole time.
I stayed with Jake Lawrence and Alton Jones Jr. for practice, and I was asking them a lot of questions and just making sure I knew all the penalties. They gave me a ton of advice. I got a couple of penalties on Day 1, but my line broke, so it wasn’t really my fault. It was a really nice system. Anytime I had a question, I was able to ask the official and he would clarify it. It was really easy and fun to fish the format for the first time; it was very intense fishing.
The fishing was good, too
The fishing was really good on Table Rock. I think I was Top 10 after Period 1 on Day 2, and I tried really hard to catch fish the next two periods and just didn’t quite make it. I lost a few fish on Day 1 and lost a couple on a hookset on Day 2, but in those 2 1/2 hours, the time goes by so quick. In the every-fish-counts format, it’s crazy how much a 2-pounder really matters. I think during the Toyota Series I won at Kentucky Lake, I threw a couple 2-pounders back before I had a limit. This one, when I lose a 2-pounder next to the boat, it’s like the end of the world.
It was hard to practice. I just want to go catch the biggest five and it was hard for me to go find 2-pounders. After fishing the tournament, I would have practiced very differently. In practice, I was fishing some brush piles and floaters, and it seemed like it was better-than-average-quality fish. In the tournament on Day 1, I didn’t catch as many as I wanted in my ‘Scope period. That bite I think was an afternoon deal. In practice, I caught a 5-pounder and a couple 4-pounders, so I was feeling pretty good about it. But it was a little more risky, and it ended up not working out.
On Day 1 of the tournament, I ran up to the river during my second and third periods, and I think I caught more fish up there than I caught ‘Scopin’. It’s a lot of fun; it’s how I grew up fishing, on small lakes in Illinois, just going around the bank and throwing a jig. It’s my roots. I hadn’t done it in a while, but it felt good to go catch fish like that.
During my ‘Scope period, I was using a 7-foot, 1-inch, medium-light Phenix Feather with a 3/16-ounce head and a 5-inch Yamamoto Hinge Minnow. During my non-‘Scope period, I caught most of my fish on a 1/2-ounce Buckeye The Thump flippin’ jig on a 7-4, medium-heavy Phenix M1, and I caught some fish on Day 2 on a neko-rigged 4-inch Yamamoto Senko.