PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
“ I was re-tying and I had individual rock piles marked , and I set my trolling motor to go towards the next one and it actually put me up on top of a grass flat ,” Neal said . “ As soon as I got done re-tying , I realized where I was , stood up , picked up a drop-shot , flipped to the edge of the grass and caught a 4- pounder right there .
“ Lake Murray sticks out to me as one of my high points in 2021 ,” he added . “ That was one where I didn ’ t really have a good practice and wound up just totally scrapping everything I had and going and doing something totally different – skipping docks and stuff – and I just kind of figured it out as the tournament went along . I think I did that quite a bit the last two years , so that ’ s really been a big factor in my success .”
backing it up in 2022
Neal ’ s momentum apparently carried through the offseason , as he started the 2022 season with a win on Sam Rayburn Reservoir and a 10th-place finish at the Harris Chain of Lakes to take the No . 1 spot in the AOY standings .
Then came Pickwick Lake . Neal weighed only one bass on Day 2 of the event , finishing 105th on a fishery where he expected to excel .
“ One of my favorite lakes was the one that let me down so bad ,” he said . “ That was the one time in the last two years I can remember doing something that I knew I shouldn ’ t do , or that I don ’ t do . I ran up the river on Pickwick and fished the bank . On the Tennessee River , they live offshore , they spawn offshore , everything .
“ For some reason , I gave up on it and it bit me . I didn ’ t give it enough time ; I could have put the trolling motor down at the ramp and caught more than I did that day . In Angler of the Year stuff , typically you ’ re not going to have a chance if you don ’ t weigh a limit one of the days , let alone catch one fish .”
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 49