house . I was probably 2 or 3 years old when he caught it , but it was on Rayburn and he caught it on a Bomber Long A . I remember we used to get those for birthday and Christmas presents for several years . He made sure we didn ’ t run out of them .
Tournament fishing in Texas is on another level it seems . Like , it seems as if it ’ s something you ’ re raised doing . Was that the case for you ?
My dad and my stepdad fished some , but I ’ ve been in and out of them ( tournaments ) and earned a few plaques in the Little Anglers division of the now Sealy Outdoors tournaments . I ’ ve been in and out of them for as long as I could afford to do them .
What do you do for work then to help fuel your fishing addiction and pay for entry fees today ?
I work on natural gas pipelines . There ’ s been some years I haven ’ t even got to fish on Rayburn because I ’ ve been gone out of state for work so much .
From a Toyota Series perspective , you ’ re pretty new to them . Your first season fishing a full division was 2021 , correct ?
Yes . I just saved my money I ’ ve made over the years fishing tournaments and put it back towards improvements on my boat and different things , but it was also my entry fee money . Last year I had made enough over the years I figured I could pay a bigger entry fee and jump in and try them out .
Well , it worked out pretty well for you . That late winter or early prespawn timeframe seems to be something you ’ re pretty dialed at . Is that your favorite time of year to fish ?
If I had to only pick a certain stretch of the year , I ’ d say my favorite time to fish is actually September all the way through March . My biggest weakness is whenever they commit to spawn . But I really like the prespawn . And on Rayburn , one of the things I like about it is it ’ s a totally different lake every year – like , the way I was catching them last year at that time was totally different than how I caught them this year .
You ’ re right . Rayburn is a unique fishery because it can vary so much year to year . Do you think that ’ s one of the reasons you ’ ve had success on that lake ? Because you always have to be adapting ?
No year is the same . For instance , my first bigger tournament I won that I found fish on my own and worked hard was in 2012 . We caught a 30- pound bag on a Rat-L-Trap , and that particular spot I have yet to catch a fish over 3 pounds on it since . But that ’ s what I like about Rayburn is having to put in the work , and I ’ m not scared to do it .
Speaking of changing , when you won that BFL at the beginning of January last year , did you fish for those same fish in the Toyota Series you won ? I actually started on that spot because there were still some there hanging out , but I had some other areas I wanted to hit . When I caught them in the BFL , I knew some people had seen me , and I wasn ’ t going to get beat on my own deal , so I went up there and it didn ’ t work . On Day 2 of that Toyota Series , I was one of the last boats out and I knew I couldn ’ t beat people up to that spot , so I tried a new spot I only caught one fish off in practice and they were there .
Day 2 of that event is when you weighed 39-7 , which included a gigantic fish . What ’ s it like catching a 13-pounder in a tournament ?
Man , with as quick as it all happens and you put it in the livewell , you don ’ t really get to soak it up . I was just trying to get back in there and get the next one . I didn ’ t really even realize that fish was that big . I knew she was big , but my focus was to get her unhooked and get back in there because there was a bunch of them there .
Being an offshore guy , you seem to fully embrace new electronics . Is that something you think gives you an edge when you pair that with your time on the water ?
To be honest , I try to turn all my graphs off as much as I can during a tournament . Sometimes I can ’ t do that , but I try to eliminate as much noise as I possibly can , because the very biggest fish I ’ ve ever caught on Rayburn , it happened before they even knew I was around .
That ’ s interesting . So stealth is a big key to catching big ones ?
Oh , these fish know all of that stuff when it comes to noise and electronics hitting them . I don ’ t have any confidence idling over fish and turning around and catching them . I figure I need to come back the next day . I can go up to a spot that I know has a 30- pound school on it and Spot-Lock about 80 feet from them and in about 10 minutes they ’ ll all be gone if they ’ re big ones . I even try to ease up to a waypoint and make as many casts as I can before I hit Spot-Lock . I ’ ll build momentum up with the trolling motor on high and coast to where I can cast at the school and try to make as many as I can before I Spot-Lock .
Man , you probably love it when you see guys slamming compartments in their boats or rolling into a shallow spot on plane , huh ?
One of my biggest pet peeves is like ‘ trap fishing when somebody gets grass on their bait and then slaps the water with it . It freaks me out . I ’ ve had to tell partners to stop because it gets me so bad . But stuff like that is why I think people have spent their whole life fishing and never caught one over 10 pounds . That fish knew they were there .
How many fish over 10 pounds have you caught ?
I ’ ve never added them up , but I ’ m in the neighborhood of 11 or 12 , I think . And tournament fishing is really the only time I fish , so most of those have been caught in tournaments .
You seem happy with your work and tournament balance now , but do you ever want to try and take the next step in your fishing career and go pro ?
If the cards were laid out right , I ’ d try it if I could do it without putting myself in a bind and wouldn ’ t get in a situation where I couldn ’ t provide for my family . It ’ d be pretty neat to fish at professional level , but I ’ m content with doing what I ’ m doing now .
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