PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE
“ Year 1 on the Elites , I was the new kid on the block fishing against the bigtime , trying to figure out what it takes to even get a check , and my dad was at the top of his game ,” Junior remembers . “ Of course he was trying to help me along , but we fished identical . I was trying to be too much like him . When I was struggling , I ’ d be out there on the water asking myself ‘ What would dad do right now ?’ You just can ’ t fish that way .”
Jones Jr . again needed to be his own man , and he began to take thoughtful steps to establish a more diverse skill set and broader base of knowledge .
“ I took what dad taught me and sped things up a little bit ,” Junior says . “ I moved more . And I became better with finesse .”
Jones Jr .’ s headfirst dive into finesse fishing came at a different career stage than his father ’ s , and at a seemingly opportune time . Unproven and mostly unsponsored during the first handful of years of his career , the younger Jones was most worried about putting food on the table and less concerned with catching the winning bag . “ I was chasing checks , Dad was chasing wins ,” Junior says .
Alton Jr . claimed the 2023 Heavy Hitters belt in impressive fashion in Louisiana .
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
Alton Sr . claimed the Heavy Hitters title in 2021 ; Alton Jr . followed up with a belt of his own in 2021 .
One tenet of Senior that remained central to Junior ’ s approach was the belief that he could get a jump on his competitors simply through good , oldfashioned hard work . A decade of practice outings with his father , regardless of time of year or weather conditions , taught Junior that practice is the most important variable in tournament fishing , and hard work pays off .
“ I fell in love with the work side of tournament fishing ” he recalls , admitting to an uncommon enthusiasm for the grind of practice . “ The hardest thing to do is to learn how to practice . Those are the work days , but I look forward to the longest days in the worst weather . That gives me the ability and opportunity to outwork my competitors .”
Senior ’ s career resurgence
A 33-year veteran of tour-level bass fishing and one of the most prolific pros of all time with career winnings north of $ 3.4 million , Jones quickly admits that Junior ’ s enthusiasm and energy have rubbed off on him in ways that have energized his own fishing .
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