Bass Fishing Jun - Jul 2021 | Page 91

Speaking of Smith , what was it like catching them in a way you ’ re comfortable with there in throwing a glide bait ?
Whenever you can catch them on a big bait and on a bait that a lot of competitors weren ’ t throwing , it was pretty cool . I didn ’ t really find that in practice , but I just adapted to the conditions and I found that bite about three hours into the first day and just ran away with it . Unfortunately , the last day it unraveled a little , but it was still really fun .
You kind of hinted at it already , but coming off that finish at Smith , how do you feel about the last few tournaments you have ahead ?
I ’ m starting to realize that fishing is fishing . Even though I ’ m on the West Coast , a lot of the lakes we fish are pretty far away from my house . I ’ m obviously going to lakes I ’ ve never been to on the Pro Circuit , but fishing is still just fishing . We have to take our experience and try to figure out what the fish are going to be doing , and most of what I learned back home applies anywhere in the country . I ’ m trying to take it one tournament at a time , though .
On the travel side of things , when it comes to you driving around , what do you like to do to kill time in the truck ? You a music guy ? A podcast guy ?
Everything . Anything to keep me entertained . Sometimes I ’ ll even drive without any music just to take it all in and think . Sometimes I feel like listening to country , so I tune into country music . Sometimes I feel like rap , so I listen to rap or even rock ‘ n roll . I ’ ll do some podcasts or even comedy stuff on Netflix — I don ’ t watch the screen by the way — but I just do everything and anything I feel like .
What about road snacks ? Are there things you need to have ?
While I ’ m driving , I ’ m not a snacker . I ’ ll drive to the next rest stop and eat some junk food or maybe some nachos . I like to save up for a few big meals a day and get the drive done , so I don ’ t really snack on the road . Just lots of coffee .
That ’ s pretty relaxed . Well , being you spend a lot of time driving to tournaments , how many miles are on your truck ?
325,000 miles . I ’ m bragging about it . Ram or Toyota , call me .
What ’ s the weirdest , craziest or scariest thing you ’ ve experienced in those 325,000 miles ?
Well , I actually almost didn ’ t make it to Okeechobee . I remember driving through Louisiana and thinking to myself that the roads were worse than the ones I ’ ve seen in California , and I ’ ve seen some pretty bad roads . I rolled through Louisiana and saw the sign for Alabama and thought Louisiana needs to take care of their roads . Well , then I went over a bridge and felt a tug , and I looked in my rearview mirror and saw my boat doing figure eights getting airborne back and forth . It was fishtailing my truck all over the freeway going 70 miles per hour . Luckily I was smart enough to let off the gas and steer towards the side of the road . Thank God there was no cars around .
Dang , dude ! That ’ s crazy . What caused it ?
Well , the nut underneath my ball came loose and fell off , and when I went over that bridge the ball bounced off the hitch . By some miracle I didn ’ t have any damage to anything , other than two tiny dents in my bumper , and that was it . I unhooked the boat , ran to an auto parts store to get another hitch . I popped it in and drove from Alabama to Florida with a smile on my face .
Competing at the Pro Circuit level and managing your time is important to make life easier . Have you always been good at planning ahead ?
I ’ ve really had to step my game up . It ’ s still a logistical nightmare for me . My brain hurts and I ’ ve walked away from the task of booking hotels or flights . I ’ m starting to get the feel for getting in town a few days earlier . I think I have flights booked out until the last two events , but I ’ m still trying to figure out where to stay . I ’ ve been begging as many guys as I can as I make friends out here to see if they have any extra room for a West Coaster .
We talked about this on the [ MLF Bass Fishing ] Podcast that if you go all-in on the Pro Circuit , your job may work with you for travel , otherwise you ’ d have to step away . Are you working right now ?
I am working , but I did quit my job as a lead sales rep of 10 years and that was one of the most scary things I ’ ve ever done . On the one hand you have job security and an awesome retirement package , but I gave it up to chase my dream . That ’ s why Okeechobee hurt so bad . Not making any money at Okeechobee was a real eye opener . But , you do what you can . I started my own insurance business on the side and I can work my own hours . I ’ m really busy with that off the water , and a lot of my clients are my fellow fishermen , so they have been supportive .
From a fishing / technique standpoint , is there anything you realized after competing at this level that you think you really need to dial in more ?
Ah , yup . I went to pre-practice for Eufaula and that ’ s when realized I need to figure out dirty water . I ’ m used to being able to see 25 feet down , or at least 10 feet . If we can only see 3 to 5 feet down , we call that stained water . I was pretty upset at Smith because I heard it was going to be a clear fishery . I did my research and when I got there I ran to the dam and called that stained water . So , if that ’ s the clearest water we got , I ’ m pretty much in trouble .
Making the Top 10 on Smith and spending time on MLF NOW ! has given the fishing community a sense of who Tai Au is . But what is something you ’ d want people to take away about who you are as a person ?
You know , I ’ m just a dude that likes to fish . My passion for the sport stems pretty deep . Eleven years ago I gave up on fishing and one day my brother ( Vu ) dragged me out of the house to go fish a tournament . I fell back in love with the sport after almost winning that event ( as a co-angler ) so I do the best to promote the sport because if someone can find fishing Iike I did and possibly save them , that would mean the world to me . I ’ m where I want to be and where I feel like I belong .
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