Big or Small, Kriet Hopes to Catch Them Best in Nacogdoches

While the Pineywoods region of East Texas is known far and wide for producing some of the country’s best big bass fishing action, Major League Fishing veteran Jeff Kriet refuses to fall into the trap of thinking about – and fishing for – only the bigger bass.

Big fish reputation or not, the MLF pro knows that it will take all kinds of East Texas bass to win inaugural Major League Fishing General Tire World Championship title.

“The deal with Major League Fishing is that you need to be able to catch everything that bites,” Kriet said. “I mean, yeah, an old big fish would be a bonus and there will be big ones caught today. That’s the bonus in this. But the greatest thing about Major League Fishing is that the guy that catches them the best wins.

“It doesn’t have to be big ones,” he added. “It’s always nice to catch a five or six-pounder because that’s usually equal to four or five (one-pound class fish). But the guy who goes ‘I’m only going to fish for big ones today,’ he’s probably going to get that head drove.”

“We haven’t had a chance to fish at this time of year before,” Kriet said. “I think it very well could (light up). I haven’t fished (on this lake) in the past, but I’m assuming that it’s probably pretty good.”

And that should mean a lot of fish catches causing the leaderboard to sing often and early today.

“Yeah, you’ll get a pretty good gauge as to the quality of the fish (here) because this group, this is a nasty group,” smiled Kriet. “They’re always nasty in MLF (in terms of talent), but this group is particularly nasty.”

Does Kriet’s familiarity with Pineywoods waters – especially nearby Toledo Bend or Sam Rayburn – give him any sort of confidence heading into today’s round?

“When I rigged tackle, I rigged like we were going to be in East Texas,” he said. “For all I knew, we were going to be on Toledo or Sam Rayburn. The thing here (on Nacogdoches), for the most part, is that this should be a shallow water deal.”

Meaning that Kriet doesn’t have many spinning rods rigged up.

“I’ve got two in here (ready to go),” he grinned. “(Because) you never fish a Major League Fishing event without a spinning rod.”

But that being said, he expects shallow water power oriented fishing to rule the day, even if the approach needs to be slow and methodical.

If that proves to be the case, Kriet feels confident.

“I fish too slow, to a fault, a lot of times,” said the former bank loan officer turned pro bass fisherman.

And if it remains cloudy through the day as it was at the start, Kriet feels even more upbeat.

“(In that case), you can’t see the fish on beds and you have to fish where you assume that there’s a bed,” he said. “I think that could be a real advantage for me, especially with this weather.”

Since the time of year might leave bass willing to chase a lure – something like a buzzbait – Kriet does admit that such power fishing possibilities could open the door wide open for someone like Kevin VanDam.

“I haven’t enjoyed too many rounds (fishing) against Kevin,” he smiled.

That being said, Kriet feels as confident as anyone else does this week and he is looking forward to getting out and trying to win the first MLF World Championship ever contested.

“I think everyone is excited,” Kriet said. “This is a big deal, it’s big for the sport of bass fishing.

“We’ve just got to do our part now (as anglers),” he added. “It’s the best produced fishing show on TV. If they film this event and do as good as they have with all of the others, it’s going to be good.

“You don’t ever watch one and go ‘You know, that wasn’t a very good show.’ It’s fishing, it’s real fishing and you’re going to get what you get in this deal.”

And that’s one of the main draws of the sport’s heavily watched reality fishing show, that the emotion is raw and very real.

“If somebody loses one, somebody is going to get mad,” Kriet said. “That’s what is so cool about it, you’re going to see that happen. I think that’s what makes Major League Fishing such a good show.”

And what might make this week’s World Championship event the best one filmed yet is the possibility that in an area like the big bass waters in and around Nacogdoches, one fish – perhaps one sitting on a spawning bed – could win it all right at the very end.

And that would be an adrenaline filled moment of bass fishing television for sure.

But more than catching a good bass to win in the closing seconds, Kriet’s goal for the day – and the entire event here in Nacogdoches – is to fish hard, to fish smart, to fish well and to fish clean (not losing many fish).

“You can’t make any (that you lose) up,” he said. “I don’t care if he’s only 12-inches, if you lose him, you can’t make him up.”

Especially in hallowed bass waters like those found in East Texas.