Check-in Time: Bradford Beavers
What an FLW pro is up to right now
From time to time, FLW checks in with its anglers to find out what they’ve been up to, what they’re listening to, who they’re following and where they’re heading while out on the tournament trail. This week, we caught up with South Carolina pro Bradford Beavers.
What are you up to lately?
Well, I was organizing my fishing stuff because at the end of the season it was a mess in my truck and boat. I had to put all the random lures away that were laying around my boat and side of my truck. I like to take every bit of tackle out of the boat and pull depth finders off, too. I don’t want any moisture to get on anything from any water that may still be in the boat, so I take it all out to let everything dry out. We spend so much money on tackle, and if you don’t watch it and take care of it, it could go to waste. I like to be organized. It also helps me take inventory on what I need for next year.
Now I’ll be getting ready for duck season and working on getting things lined up for next year.
Where are you headed next?
I’ll be doing some duck hunting with my dad. I go with other people too, but my dad is usually down to travel around with me.
But really, it’s a vacation for me to just sit at the house. I love sitting at the house with nothing to do. I’ll make sure I get home from a tournament with enough time to sit around for two weeks before I go back on the road.
I’d also like to try to make a trip to Sam Rayburn for pre-practice because it was by far my worst tournament last year.
What are you listening to or watching these days?
I listen to you and Jody on the FLW Bass Fishing Podcast and when I’m driving I like to listen to the radio – usually a country station or 90s rock.
I don’t watch any hunting or fishing stuff. I don’t even watch FLW Live. But, I will watch college football. I’m not a Clemson fan or South Carolina fan, but I pull for Alabama. I used to pull for South Carolina and after doing that for years and realizing they wouldn’t be good, I decided to watch Alabama. I just like to watch good football. And every once in a while I’ll watch a rerun of “The Office.”
What bait or technique are you trying to master right now?
After I saw the B.A.S.S. Elite Series event on Cherokee where they were catching them on a Damiki rig, I have really wanted to go learn how to do that on those lake. It may not benefit me ever in a tournament, but it looks like a lot of fun. I just want to catch smallmouth, and it’s something I don’t get to do all that often, so it’s fun to do. Cherokee and Champlain this year were really fun because I was able to catch smallmouths and it was very enjoyable and made it worth the drive.
You had a pretty solid rookie campaign on the FLW Tour, won a Costa FLW Series event and ended strong with a T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) Super Tournament win as well as a BFL Regional win. You have to be pretty stoked with how things shook out, right?
I’m proud and a little disappointed with my year. I fished seven tournaments on Tour, plus the Cup, and three other tournaments outside of that. I won every tournament I fished outside of Tour, but couldn’t win one on Tour. Honestly, I’m shocked that I won those tournaments – and I still can’t believe I won the last two. Man, it would’ve been cool to win a Tour event, though.