BACKLASH
Q & A
ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL IDZERDA
JUSTIN ATKINS Florence, Ala.
By Sean Ostruszka
120
How many phone calls have you gotten since winning the Cup?
Enough that I can’ t get anywhere far away from a phone charger.
I can’ t even imagine. What have the last few weeks been like?
A blur. It’ s been an awesome experience, especially to see all the support. It’ s been great to have all the interest in Justin Atkins. I don’ t refer to it as fame, but more that people are interested in who I am and getting to know who I am. I have a unique story, and it’ s been cool to share that.
You say it’ s been a blur. Do you even remember much from the Cup?
I remember being on stage and the weigh-in, but it’ s still kind of like,“ Did I dream that?” And that whole hour of catching fish the final morning is just a total blur.
What was it like rooming with Brandon Cobb the night before that final day, with him in first and you in second?
Actually, we’ d stayed together all week, but somehow when we booked our room the dates got messed up. So we actually had to check out Saturday.
He has a buddy who offered to let us stay with him, but my wife and parents had driven up, so I ended up staying with them, and him with his buddy.
Did that make things easier?
It did for that night. We’ d been great the whole week. We avoided fishingrelated topics and would talk about other stuff.
That final day was tough, though, knowing I was competing against him. I wanted to win, but you don’ t want to do it at the expense of your best friend.
You’ ve had quite the summer. You got married, bought a dog and won the Cup. Surely, this has been the busiest stretch of your life, right? Absolutely. Hands down. No question. Right after the Potomac is when my life got crazy. I got married. Then we [ he and wife, Tessa ] were in Mexico for our honeymoon. We got back [ to Florence, Ala.] and moved into our new house. Then I immediately left for prepractice on Murray. I came back, and I barely remember what I did those two weeks other than get the dog [ Zeus, a black Lab ]. Then I turned around and went back to South Carolina, and now I’ m here.
Speaking of your wife, what did Tessa think when you said you wanted to go pro this year?
I’ ll be honest, she and my parents were reluctant at first. She and I weren’ t even engaged at the time, though we knew we would be.
I knew this was my opportunity, and there would never be a better time to try it. If it didn’ t work out, we’ re young enough that we could recover. She thought about it for a while, and eventually she said go for it.
So when did you realize you might be able to hang with the pros?
It was at Lake Travis. I’ d never seen the lake before. There’ s no history on it. So I had no clue. Then the first day I caught them really good and was in sixth. That’ s when I thought,“ You can do this.”
You mentioned after you won the Cup that you expected it to happen eventually. How’ d you predict that?
It’ s all I’ ve worked for all my life. You get out what you put in, and I knew what I’ d put in. Now, I didn’ t know it was going to happen my first year, but it’ s what my sights have always been set on. I’ m a believer that“ luck” is when preparation meets opportunity.
FLWFISHING. COM I OCTOBER 2017