Jay Kendrick – The “Rookie”
Can local advantage take Kendrick’s career to its greatest heights yet?
A rookie by designation if not by experience, Forrest Wood Cup contender Jay Kendrick finished 34th in the standings in his first year on the Walmart FLW Tour to clinch a spot in the championship. What makes it even more fortuitous for him is that because the Cup is taking place on Wheeler Lake, he’ll be able to stay at his own house for the event, which is just about 30 minutes from takeoff at Ditto Landing.
“It’s really nice, the fact that you get to fish a world championship and sleep in your own bed at night is huge,” says the Grant, Ala., pro. “I’ve fished championships before and I’ve never been able to stay at home before. Having the creature comforts and friends and family so close will be great.”
The local advantage
Getting to sleep in a familiar bed with family at hand no doubt will be nice, but the actual fishing part of the equation still represents a challenge. While most pros will acknowledge that local advantage is a real bonus, it comes with its own set of hurdles that have tripped up plenty of favorites in the past.
“I know it’s difficult to win on your home lake, but looking at some of the recent Bassmaster Classics and Forrest Wood Cups, it does seem like guys with experience on a particular lake tend to do well,” observes Kendrick. “I’m a local and I know a lot about the lake. I’ve fished it a lot. Technically, Wheeler Lake is as close to my house as Guntersville is. But I don’t think that being a local really gives me a ton of advantage.”
To reacquaint himself with the lake, Kendrick spent every free minute he could in pre-practice there. He had to make the decision whether or not to attend the ICAST tackle show in mid-July or stick with Wheeler for an additional three or four days, and he opted to go to ICAST. Even so, he put in a fair amount of practice beforehand, both on and off the water.
“I keep a log of trips that I’ve made and I looked back on that from past years in the summer, and I even looked at Guntersville and what I’ve done there in the summer,” says Kendrick. “The lakes aren’t identical, but the current is king on both of them and there are some other similarities.
“All in all, practice went pretty well. The fish I caught in pre-practice were pretty consistent with the notes I had, and I was able to see a lot of the lake. I’d be up in 5-feet of water one minute and then in 30 feet of water the next time.”
Getting there
Kendrick might have put together a good practice – from time on the water, map study and information-gathering – but everything will still need to come together during the tournament. That’s where he might be able to leverage his experience over decades of fishing.
“My dad was self-employed and my mom worked with him, and that provided us with a lot of long weekends in the summer,” says Kendrick of his childhood. “They had a motorhome and a bass boat and we used to spend a lot of long weekends on Guntersville at the state park. I used to fish all day, and I’d drop dad off in the heat of the day and fish on the trolling motor and then pick him up again in the evening.
In high school Kendrick set his sights on fishing professionally, but he wanted a steady backup too. That led him to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to study to be a nurse. The plan was that each week he’d be able to work three days on and then get plenty of fishing time.
“While I was there [at UAB] I started fishing really aggressively at the local level on the Coosa River for a while. Then, I sold my boat and truck and went back to anesthesia school,” recalls Kendrick. “I taped a picture of my boat and my truck on the fridge so I would see it every morning – after I graduated from anesthesia school, the first purchase I made was a bass boat.”
Out of school and employed as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Kendrick took to the water again. In his first year fishing the B.A.S.S. Opens, he qualified for the Bassmaster Tour, a precursor of the Elite Series.
“I finished 25th that year in the points and qualified for the 2003 Classic. I fished it down in New Orleans the year Mike Iaconelli won it and I was in sixth after the first day (he went on to finish 17th). I fished for a couple more years and by then I had two boys. My youngest son traveled with me on the last year I fished it, and he thought we lived on the road. We lived in Chattanooga then and I was traveling all over doing anesthesia work and fishing, and I knew that I didn’t want my boys to grow up like that.”
After the 2005 season, with his deposits for the upcoming year already paid, Kendrick forfeited his entry money and hung up his fishing ambitions for the time-being. Kendrick joined a local club as an outlet for his fishing. Meanwhile, he took advantage of his education and immersed himself in the medical field.
One day, while he was moving an old box in his house, Kendrick’s boys (ages 9 and 12 now) discovered footage from the 2003 Classic and realized that their father had been on TV and “famous” back in the day. Kendrick figured his sons would forget about it after a week or so, but that wasn’t the case. They wanted him to return to tournament fishing.
Even with his kids pushing him to get back in the game, Kendrick didn’t immediately jump in. After careful consideration, he paid his entries for the 2015 season of the Costa FLW Series Southeast Division and began his comeback. After a win on his home pond of Guntersville, Kendrick decided to make the jump to the FLW Tour.
Now’s the time
Fishing “at home” on the big stage, Kendrick has the chance to make his run at pro fishing stick this time. While some might call him foolish to jeopardize his medical career for one that’s subject to many variables he can’t control, Kendrick wants nothing more than to be able to compete on the water for a living.
“Fishing really is my passion, but there have been times in my life when I’ve had to set that on hold to provide for my family,” says Kendrick. “But I’m 48 years old and my clock is ticking. I’ve got the background and the skill set and I have a variety of things I think I’m good at. I’ve fished national events before and I know how to handle the hustle and bustle and the press. Seeing Andy Morgan or David Dudley sitting beside me at takeoff won’t phase me. I’m just fortunate to be able to showcase what I can do.”
And there’s no place better to do that than the Forrest Wood Cup.