Vinson had a solid, yet unspectacular start to his inaugural season. He never finished worse than 51st and never higher than 20th. And then came the outlier in Stage Six. But it wasn’t just the Top 5 finish that gave Vinson the boost he needed (though, it certainly helped). It was more the where and how.

“Of all the events this year, that was the one I was dreading most,” Vinson admitted. “I’ve had a terrible record at Table Rock. In looking back, that may have been what led me to do well, because I spent a lot of extra time studying up on the lake. But the biggest thing for me was trashing everything I’d ever done on Table Rock before.”

You read that right. Vinson scrapped everything. In fact, he didn’t fish any area of the lake he’d fished before, instead simply picking a new section of the lake and fishing on the fly.

“I went back to just fishing in the moment and the conditions like you’re supposed to do,” Vinson said. “Without a doubt, that was a huge boost to me making it to REDCREST. It really catapulted me into the race. There were moments leading up to that people never saw on live coverage that were equally as critical, though.”

Including what may have been his most heartbreaking of the season, but also the one that taught him what the Bass Pro Tour was all about.

During the Elimination Round of Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain, Vinson played bubble boy for the majority of the day. One minute he was above the Elimination Line, the next he was just out.

As time ticked down, he decided to make a gut decision and move to a new area; quite the risk considering the time left. Yet, it quickly paid off with two fish that got him firmly above the Elimination Line with just minutes left… or so he thought.

“I was so pumped,” Vinson said. “I was actually halfway through putting my rods away when my marshal suddenly says, ‘I have to give you one last update.’ The way he said it, I knew it was bad. He told me Jordan Lee had bumped me by 2 ounces.”

“That definitely put a bitter taste in my mouth, but it also taught me a valuable lesson I held with me the rest of the season. Every cast, every bite, every fish is critical in this game. You just can’t let up, and I haven’t since.”