What was your practice plan for that event ? Did you end up actually doing the things you practiced ?
I spent a lot of time ( looking ) really , really deep . I tried to make fish bite that I shouldn ’ t have tried to make bite . I also spent a lot of time in the main river channel and the mouths of major creeks . I felt comfortable and was catching fish . After the weather front came through , there were still fish there , but not as many , and they were hard to get to bite . I only caught like six keepers a day in the tournament . I went from 20 to 30 fish a day in practice to maybe seven or eight , so I learned that I needed to key into the smallmouth ; that they ’ d be my breadwinner since they didn ’ t change much or move much , but were tougher to get to bite with the weather .
On Day 2 you changed your location and your bait , and it paid off in a big way : Your 17-7 bag was the second biggest of the event at that point . Could you walk us through your Day 2 experience ?
I went in swinging . I ’ ve never been a fan of saying I ’ m going to “ fish for the win ” or “ fish for big ones ” because you ’ re always trying to win any time you hit the water ; so I ’ m not going to say “ I ’ m only fishing for big ones ,” and people might have misinterpreted that . It had a lot to do with my starting spot that I ’ d found in prepractice . Fish slid up way shallower – up from 50 to 25 feet . When I realized they slid up ( shallower ), I caught a smallmouth just under 5 pounds and knew this was legit . I had about 13 pounds in the boat by 9:30 a . m . and I was like “ Wow , this could happen today !” It ’ s harder to get the big bags , but when you have from 9:30 a . m . to the end of the day to get a bag like that , I was a lot more okay with taking risks running up the river to check some spots .
I was really scared before the tournament about being spread out since I had stuff up the White River , but I had that bag and said , “ let ’ s go do it .” The wind was blowing perfectly , and I stopped on the first one for a largemouth that was almost 5 pounds and a smallmouth that was almost 5 pounds on the next one , and it was crazy .
At the end of Day 2 you were just 5 ounces behind Mike Raber with a two-day total of 31-2 . What was going through your mind knowing that you were on the cusp of winning ?
I didn ’ t pay too much attention to the leaderboard . I would have if I wasn ’ t preoccupied with some battery problems . I weighed in a little early and had to figure out battery issues and track ( a new one ) down . But I knew I had a shot , and that ’ s always a good feeling . Then the Day 3 thing , that being my Achilles heel , it never crossed my mind .
What were you thinking and feeling as the championship progressed ?
I was trying to keep it together . It was not at all how I wanted the day to go in the beginning . I was excited and expecting to do the same thing I did on Day 2 , but it didn ’ t happen . I don ’ t know if they were walleye or carp , but there was a hostile takeover of some other species of fish on that starting area , and I didn ’ t catch a single bass . I don ’ t know if it was the “ cameraman curse ” or what , but I tried some other stuff before hitting my good stuff . At that point , you imagine anything you catch before hitting your good stuff is a bonus – but I had no bonus fish . I got my first one at 12:30 p . m . and ran to one of my better areas and filled the limit . Then I went to the next spot and got a big one . Those last-minute culls are what won me the tournament .
How about while the final weigh-in was underway ?
My stomach was turning . I knew Emil ( Wagner ) had them , and everyone was talking . I know a lot of those guys , and like Drew Gill and Emil and Alec Morrison are all so good . They ’ re phenomenal guys , and shoutout to Drew , he ’ s one of the nicest guys . He ’ s a heck of a character , and I ’ m proud to call him a buddy . He was telling me , “ I think you got it , there ’ s one other guy who could beat you , but I think you got it .” I ’ m like , “ I don ’ t know if I want to know !” My stomach was just turning , and Drew kept me calm – calmer than if he wasn ’ t there .
I knew Emil had a chance , and no matter what anyone said I knew it would be really close . Emil talked to me for a bit , and I told him what I had on the scale , and I asked him and he said over 16 ( pounds ). I knew that ’ s what he needed to beat me , but he had a lastminute keeper that he didn ’ t know how much it weighed . I was on my toes for him to weigh in – he had 16-11 . According to my scale we would have tied if my scale was dead on . If my scale is heavy , I ’ ll lose . Thankfully my scale weighed light on the water , and we pulled through .
You were basically living tournament to tournament this season , just hoping to make enough money to go to the next one . Now you ’ ve earned $ 200,000 – has that reality sunk in ? Oh my gosh , I don ’ t know . One thing that kept playing in my head is Chris Jones said , “ The money spends , but the hardware lasts forever .” But , the money means just as much to me because I know I ’ m in a different situation than other guys since I had to quit for a year and work and hustle . Learning to flip a dollar anywhere I can and being a blue-collar guy … money is crazy , you know .
I made a good chunk of change bass fishing between the Toyota Series and Invitationals and this win . I ’ m learning to deal with it and what to do with ( the money ). I don ’ t want to overdo it . When you finally get the money you ’ re like , “ I don ’ t know if I really need it ,” and trying to be smart with it .
At the end of the day , what did you learn this season that you ’ ll apply in 2024 ?
Keeping a small circle helped me . I know a lot of people talk to a lot of people , and that ’ s not a bad thing . But keeping a small circle and doing my own thing and trusting myself ( is what I learned this season ). Nothing against who I traveled with at all , but the tournaments where I traveled by myself and broke down bodies of water how I knew how was best for me . I put my boat in the water knowing I will look for different things than the other guys . I feel like dock talk hasn ’ t really helped me much along the way . Moving forward , I want to trust myself and make decisions and calls myself . That ’ s something I ’ ll be doing in 2024 for sure .
DECEMBER – JANUARY 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 81