Circuit without having to drive a whole bunch . I don ’ t have much experience up north , so I need learn it , and I ’ d rather learn through some Toyotas before the Pro Circuit events up here .
Where ’ s your comfort level at right now in terms of being able to put in time on a new fishery , find the fish and catch them when it matters ? Is the confidence still there despite a couple shaky events this season ?
I feel like I ’ ve had good practices for all the tournaments . I just haven ’ t been able to put it together during the tournaments . I definitely think I can figure out how to fish outside of Florida and figure out how to catch fish . It ’ s just putting together a game plan .
Let ’ s talk about one that wasn ’ t shaky at all for you : Harris Chain . Mid-March . A $ 100,000 paycheck . Big time for the rookie from Tampa .
That one , everything went according to plan .
I don ’ t know what it is about the Harris Chain , but the last two times we ’ ve been there for the Pro Circuit , a local rookie has won . Have you talked to Laramy Strickland about that and his win there a couple years ago ?
Not the details of it , but I do talk to Laramy sometimes .
Did winning early in the season change your mind set at all ? I mean , having that financial stability so early in your career has to feel great . Did it take some of the pressure off ?
Financially it did , but as far as fishing , I still have the same outlook going into the rest of the season , just trying to fish as best I can and learn as much as I can . My goal is always to finish as high as I can in each tournament , so that didn ’ t really change .
What ’ s your process look like for breaking down a new fishery ?
I do a lot of research prior to the event . I like looking back on past tournament results and seeing what kind of weights are caught at certain places , and what kinds of techniques kind of dominate and different seasonal patterns .
I come up with a game plan in my mind and then the first day of practice just ride around and look for what looks good in my opinion . It usually ends up being stuff I ’ m comfortable with – shallow stuff , flipping and topwater – and then from there I ’ ll see how that day goes and then branch out to something new the next day if I need to .
Being a Florida guy , the flipping and topwater is kind of your bread and butter , right ?
Yeah , flipping and frogging . If I can get away with doing that , I can usually do pretty good .
How do you think you ’ re going to look back on your rookie season when it ’ s all said and done ?
I think I ’ ll look back on it pretty favorably , especially since I was able to win my second event . I definitely can look back and see I needed to gain some more experience outside of Florida and just putting in some more time on other fisheries .
And that ’ s a good way to keep it in perspective . You ’ re a young guy and have a ton of fishing ahead of you .
I didn ’ t fish for college , so I didn ’ t get that experience that a lot of guys get fishing the college series and traveling around . All my time during college was really put in in Florida , and I can see the results of that in Florida , but outside of Florida is where I need to put in more time and do some learning .
Speaking of being a younger , you really seem dialed with the social media game , and especially YouTube . Our readers really need to check out your channel for some quality fishing content .
Definitely .
Has coming up with non-tournament content on YouTube changed the way you think about bass fishing ? I guess what I mean is , when you ’ re doing a video about gear or knots or a technique in particular , do you find that helps the ideation process for you as a tournament angler ?
I would say no on that one . I just share what I experience and the things I know . It ’ s kind of just stuff I ’ ve already done out on the water or things I ’ ve had success with .
How ’ s the YouTube thing going for you ? Do you find it a struggle to keep it going during the tournament season ? And do you do all that yourself ? The editing and everything ?
I do everything but the Pro Circuit events . For the Pro Circuit events I have a camera guy who ’ s been working with me this year . He ’ ll film those and edit those videos , but everything other than the Pro Circuit videos , I film and edit those myself .
Is that something you ’ ve been doing for a while or did you kind of pick it up on a whim and figure it out as you go ?
I started about two years ago doing it . The past year is really when I ’ ve gotten into it and started pumping out a bunch of videos . I just saw that that ’ s where the industry is going and knew if I wanted to fish long-term that it ’ s probably something I needed to do , so I started doing it and it ’ s something I actually really enjoy . I started doing it for all the tournaments .
If you could fish for a day with anyone – literally anyone , bass fisherman , celebrity , whoever – who would you pick ?
That ’ s honestly a really tough question . You could say someone fishingrelated , but it ’ d probably be cool to fish with someone not fishing-related . I really don ’ t know .
What ’ s your favorite lake you ’ ve fished outside of Florida ?
Lake Lanier .
How about in Florida ? Hillsborough River .
I thought you might say the Harris Chain . What ’ s your favorite bait ?
Probably a topwater frog .
Any frog in particular ?
I mix it up depending on the cover . I don ’ t have one particular favorite one .
What ’ s your boat snack of choice ?
Beef jerky . I like the sticks rather than the dry jerky .
Is a hot dog a sandwich ? I would say no .
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