On the road again

Published 7:42 am Tuesday, March 15, 2016

PALATKA, Fla. – I couldn’t wait to get this week and start practice for the first Bassmaster Elite tournament of the year on the St. Johns River.

This is my first tournament since breaking my wrist and I am as excited as heck. My roommates have been giving me grief saying they remembered when I used to fish. Everyone poking at you makes it fun.

We had our pre-season meeting Sunday when everyone got her and it was kind of like homecoming getting to see everyone. Or it is like coming back to school after the summer and getting ready for football season. Everyone is excited about the season coming up.

Monday was the first day of practice and my hand feels great. I am ready to go. It is not 100 percent, but it is not going to hinder me fishing. I can set the hook and not notice it at all.

I fished all day Monday. I was up at 6 and got off the water at 8. That is 14 hours of fishing. It is the same schedule Tuesday and Wednesday. I had one bottle of water all day, typical fisherman not taking care of their body.

Getting ready for a new season is not the same as it was when I first started out. This is my 20th year as pro. I have been fishing BASS for 16 years. You still get excited, but not when I first started with butterflies and all. I still get excited about what I do though and I told someone Sunday I haven’t been this excited to start a season in a long time. You have to be excited and be able to convert that energy into catching fish.

Monday was a good day. I like what I found and I found some pretty good ones. I have some stuff to build on. You have a game plan when you come into a tournament, and sometimes it changes. I was looking for areas I have never fished before and I found a lot of good ones. I was pleasantly surprised.

But Wednesday is the most important practice day because it is the last day and the one closest to the start of the tournament. That is the day that makes or breaks a tournament.

All the grass hasn’t greened up, but either way the fish are shallow. They are doing their thing. I am comfortable sight fishing. I is not my absolute favorite, but I am comfortable doing it.

I know when I see grass in the water, and it doesn’t matter what kind it is, there is going to be fish nearby.

This is a three-day tournament and part of being successful is that you really have to focus on this event. You can get in trouble thinking about the next event or the next day. When this is over you go to the next one whether you do good or bad. You hope to have momentum to take to the next one, but during a tournament it is all about one fish at a time.