he’d gotten enough of a taste to enter a 2007 bass Fishing
league (bFl) event on lake ouachita as a co-angler.
the problem was, the tournament was in February,
and a cold front arrived right on top of it.
“it was so cold, i remembering putting on two pairs of
blue jeans,” hays says. “i didn’t have bibs or anything.”
that fact would become quite a problem when his
boater speared not one, but two waves at takeoff, and
hays had to fish the rest of the day drenched and frozen.
“i got home that night and was cramping so bad
because i’d been shivering all day long.”
what transpired between takeoff and check-in only
makes him shake his head more.
“we pull up to the first spot, and the depth finder says
100 feet,” hays says. “i’d never fished deeper than 6 feet.
i was so clueless i had to watch him fish for a while just
to get an idea of how to even begin to fish like that.”
it didn’t matter, though. hays got a check for $206 that
day. he caught one fish that just happened to be 1 ounce
shy of big bass for the tournament, and he finished 16th
on the co-angler side.
that would hardly be the last check he’d cut. despite
not growing up immersed in the tournament scene,
hays quickly got on track. at age 26, he finished fourth
in the 2013 the bass Federation national
Championship, a tournament won by fellow future pro
Mark daniels jr., and finished third in the bFl arkie
division standings in 2014. then hays started cherry-
picking some Costa Flw series events in 2015, making
the top 10 at Grand lake in his first tournament.
of course, you might shake your head to learn that in
2017, hays walked into his job at a paper mill and quit.
he told them he was going to fish professionally.
“it probably looks a little random, but i’d been smart
about it,” hays admits. “i’d won a boat the previous fall
in a team tournament, and i’d been saving up my
money for a while. i wanted to take my shot at what i’d
always said i wanted to do.”
after having never fished a tourna-
ment outside his home region, sud-
denly, he was going to be traveling
the country fishing the Flw tour, and
both the southwestern and northern
divisions of the Costa Flw series.
here’s the thing: once again, things
just kind of worked out. hays bombed
in his inaugural Flw tour event, but
he finished third at lake travis two
weeks later. on top of that, he fin-
ished 10th in the Costa Flw series
northern division standings and 12th
in the southwestern division, which
earned him his first entry into the
Costa Flw series Championship.
in 2018, hays finished one point
away from making his first Flw Cup,
coming painstakingly close by finish-
ing second at the tour finale on lake
st. Clair. a year later, in his third sea-
son on tour, hays saw plenty of suc-
cess, including cutting several checks
and finishing as high as third at
Cherokee lake.
wInTEr 2020 I FLwFISHInG.com
his most recent success was a Costa Flw series
Central division victory on lake of the ozarks back in
october. that win was another step in what he hopes will
be a constant upward trajectory.
throughout it all, he says the one thing he’s always
had going for him is the right mental state; a focus to
keep pursuing his dream, even if it’s a dream that, at
times, maybe only he could see becoming reality.
“when you look at it all, i really have come a long way,”
hays says with a chuckle. “i mean, i truly didn’t have a
clue, and i’m still learning. you have to or you’ll get your
lunch money taken. i know – i’ve had mine taken plenty.
but i always knew i’d be here.”
21