Bass Fishing Oct - Nov 2021 | Page 54

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department to compile enough time off to fish a major tournament trail .
In the meantime , he ’ d have to pursue his dream on weekdays , making the two-hour drive to Pickwick Lake in a battered 1998 Chevy Z-71 with a Bass Tracker in tow .
Growing up near the Mighty Mississippi , Washam had long known the secrets of the remote river oxbows and cypress swamps near home . At nearby Sardis Lake , he ’ d become wellacquainted with the basics of bass fishing on a reservoir , but he knew securing big-time tournament wins meant learning the secrets of boating big bags on legendary bass fisheries as well .
“ My dad always looked at Pickwick as too far [ away ],” Washam recalls . “ It was an hour to Sardis and two hours to Pickwick . At Bass Pro Shops , I had met some guys who were willing to go that far .
“ At the time , I didn ’ t know what finesse fishing was . I ’ d had the same spinning rod since I was 10 years old , and it ’ s the very same one I took up to Pickwick on that first trip when I was about 22 . Once we started catching fish on shaky heads , we fell in love with Pickwick , and it became basically the only place we went to go bass fishing .”
The blue-green waters of Pickwick proved formative for Washam . There , he not only pieced together the puzzle of finesse fishing , but also taught himself how to triangulate offshore ledges and how to fish grass and current . With just a handful of fishing buddies , he relied on magazines and website articles to learn the ins and outs of tournamentwinning patterns and techniques . And because his fishing was mostly limited to weekdays , Washam usually had the lake to himself .
TAKING THE NEXT STEP
In 2015 , Washam finally accrued enough time off to fish as a co-angler in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League . That experience stirred a commitment to replace his trusty Bass Tracker with a used 1998 Ranger .
“ Really because it could keep two limits alive at once ,” adds Washam . “ I was fishing competitively out of the Tracker , but I couldn ’ t keep ten fish alive [ in its livewell ].”
The gamble paid off when Washam took home the top prize in his second BFL event , earning enough to pay off most of his bass boat and set him on a course toward fishing the Toyota Series the following year . After battling through boat problems at two major events in the Toyota Series , Washam would eventually qualify for the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit in 2020 by virtue of a third-place finish in the Central Division AOY standings ( another title he went on to claim in 2021 ).
At the pro level , Washam ’ s first event wasn ’ t as successful as he ’ d hoped . Finishing 69th at Sam Rayburn , a $ 5,000 check in hand , he started an eight-hour drive home , reliving his missed opportunities before deciding then and there to start fishing on instinct .
Eventually , Washam would rebound and come within a breath of winning
the 2020 Polaris Rookie of the Year crown hoisted instead by Kyle Hall . That loss , he admits , still stings . Nearly 12 months to the day that he watched his ROY hopes slip into the Mississippi River , though , Washam left the Upper Mississippi River a champion , thanks in part to his riverine childhood .
“ Building a lifetime of experience catching shallow river fish certainly helps ,” Washam says . “ In many ways , fishing the Mississippi River down South and up North are completely different experiences , though . At La Crosse , the fish will use the main river channel , but I ’ ve never in my life caught a bass in that channel down South . They ’ re always in an oxbow or a slough or a pocket .”
“ Wheel ‘ Em In ” Washam got his start fishing around the family ’ s home in Memphis with his dad Jimmy Washam Jr .
PHOTO COURTESY JIMMY WASHAM
52 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2021