Has he given you any advice about fishing the Pro Circuit ?
He said make sure you cash a check at each tournament and try not to focus on winning . Try to focus on cashing checks and then sometimes you get lucky and you ’ re on really good fish and instead of just cashing a check you end up winning or finish Top 10 or something .
Does having a best friend traveling and fishing with you make it easier to kind of get into a groove ? So many pros leave the touring circuits after a year or two because there just isn ’ t a comfort factor and it ’ s hard to adjust to the lifestyle .
Certainly . It makes it a lot easier to have John there . As far as the friendship goes , some pros drop out after a few years because of the comfort level , and it does help the comfort level off the water and sometimes on the water , but other times not on the water . There ’ s times where maybe we both want to fish the same area and I ’ ll just completely go somewhere else because at the end of the day our friendship is more important than ever aggravating one another . John is the leader . He ’ s been fishing pro for a long time , so I would never infringe on his area or anything like that .
I don ’ t want people to think I ’ m John ’ s friend and I follow him around and he does all the work and I catch the fish that he ’ s found throughout the years – that ’ s not the case at all . At Sam Rayburn , I fished near the ramp and he fished 30 miles away and we both did well . There are dynamics to it that are greatly beneficial and there are dynamics that are not as beneficial as a competitor .
I picked you to win Rookie of the Year this season for a lot of the reasons we discussed : your experience level , the fact that you and John are so close . But the other reason I picked you is because I ’ ve seen you make some wild decisions just based on instinct and trusting your gut . Do you remember that long run you made at the St . Johns Toyota Series event a couple years ago when you finished fifth ?
I do .
Those are the kinds of decisions you only make when you have confidence in yourself as an angler . I think a lot of guys would maybe play it safer in that situation and fish closer just to have a full day to fish . You basically gave yourself an hour or two to fish knowing you were making the right decision . That ’ s the mark of a true pro .
Thanks a lot , man . It ’ s humbling to hear you say that . I agree with you . Each year I fish I work very hard on my weakest aspect , whatever that may be . Back in 2014 , the weakest part of my game was bailing . Let ’ s say I have a great practice and come tournament time it ’ s not working out , instead of bailing I ’ d just stay and catch what I could and sometimes I ’ d have two fish or zero or a small limit .
That particular year I worked very hard on bailing when things weren ’ t working . When you bail on a spot in the middle of a tournament and have to make a split-second decision like that , my mindset is that I don ’ t know exactly where I ’ m going or if I ’ m going to catch any fish when I get there , but I know I ’ m going to die if I stay where I am . By trusting that instinct , trusting that mindset , it ’ s opened doors for me in ways that are unbelievable .
You ’ re a Florida guy , but you ’ ve really fished all over the country the last several years . How comfortable are you in looking ahead to the Pro Circuit schedule this year ? Any tournaments you ’ re really excited about or really nervous about ?
My favorite lake in the nation is Champlain . That ’ s where I caught my first smallmouth . That ’ s where I fell in love with smallmouth fishing . I ’ m equally excited and equally terrified of it because of the sheer size of it . You could go up there and practice for weeks and weeks and not find the winning spot .
How did you feel heading into the opener at Sam Rayburn ?
I was very nervous , man . To be honest , I was so nervous that I lost 11 pounds in 10 days . I was eating , but not enough . I kept it together , but I was so focused on fishing that I wasn ’ t paying attention to eating properly and sleeping enough . I was looking at the map for hours and hours at night lying in bed .
You started off super hot and then you came in with three fish on Day 3 . Walk me through what happened .
It sucks to fall that much after doing so well , but what happened was , what was supposed to be Day 2 of the tournament was cancelled due to terrible conditions – which was the right call . Over that two-day period , we had low temperatures , we had windy conditions , and when I caught them on Day 1 , the water temperature was 57 degrees and the fish were up shallow .
Day 2 , the water temperature dropped and all the fish had moved out and the only fish that were left were little buck bass . The water got really clear , too . I was throwing a [ Berkley ] Frittside 5 and they wouldn ’ t eat it as well because they could see it too easily . Had I gotten five ( keepers ), I think I only needed 10 pounds to make the Top 10 .
What ’ s your favorite boat snack ?
People are going to kill me . It ’ s usually a banana .
We need more people dispelling the banana superstition .
When I won the Open on Lay Lake , I ate bananas . I had them in the boat , I had them for breakfast and for lunch sometimes .
What ’ s the biggest bass you ’ ve ever caught ?
A 13 1 / 2 . It was the first bite I ever got on an Alabama rig . I caught it in April of 2018 on the Harris Chain .
If that happened to me , I don ’ t think I ’ d put down the rig ever again .
That ’ s what I said . I fished an ABA the next week and they had just made the Alabama rig legal again . I won the tournament and I caught big bass at 9 1 / 2 . I was like , this thing is awesome , and then they banned it again the next year .
What ’ s your favorite bait of all time ? The Frittside 5 .
And that ’ s a relatively new bait .
I ’ m constantly evolving as an angler , so they never stay the same , but right now it ’ s the Frittside 5 .
Who ’ s the better angler : you or John ? John . John is . He ’ s the best .
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