2017 Elite Series Angler of the Year Championship Mille Lacs Lake Onamia, Minnesota 34th Place | 15 fish, 52-05 I entered the Angler of the Year Championship without a lot to fish for except pride. No matter where I finished, I couldn’t rise higher than 4th in the AOY race or drop below 9th. That freed […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – Douglas Open Win
2017 Bassmaster Northern Open Douglas Lake Dandridge, Tennessee 1st Place | 15 fish, 50-03 After the Elite Series event on St. Clair ended I flew to Springfield, Missouri, for the Tracker dealer meeting and then on Wednesday I flew home to Tennessee. I had a week to prepare for the Northern Open on my home waters. […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – St. Clair
2017 Elite Series Lake St. Clair Macomb County, Michigan 21st Place | 15 fish, 58-08 Throughout multiple visits to Lake St. Clair with both BASS and FLW, the lake had always been a thorn in my side. I think in my best tournament I finished in the high 40s, and that was when the bite was […]
OD on B.A.S.S. Champlain
2017 Elite Series | Lake Champlain | Plattsburgh, NY 7th Place | 15 fish, 55-07 Coming off a 99th place finish at the St. Lawrence, it would’ve been easy to get depressed about losing my lead in the AOY race, but as odd as it might sound it allowed me to fish more relaxed at the next tournament. […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – St. Lawrence River
2017 Elite Series | St. Lawrence River | Waddington, NY 99th Place | 8 fish, 26-03 Prior to 2017 the Elite Series had visited the St. Lawrence River twice and my two results were very different from each other. In 2013 I kept things really simple, fishing a dropshot and a tube from start to finish, and I […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – Lake Dardanelle
2017 Elite Series Lake Dardanelle Russellville, Arkansas 15th Place15 fish, 41-12 The last time we visited Dardanelle I had a good tournament, ending up 25th, so I was excited to go back to try to improve upon that result. I know that it’s an ever-changing fishery, but I also knew that I’d be able to […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – Sam Rayburn
2017 Elite Series Sam Rayburn Reservoir Lufkin, Texas 35th Place | 15 fish, 51-07 I had no prior tournament history on Sam Rayburn, but after the Classic at Conroe I stayed around for a one-day media event there and subsequently fished the Brian Robison charity event. I’d heard all of the stories about how great it […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – Ross Barnett
2017 Elite Series Ross Barnett Ridgeland, Mississippi 51st Place | 11 fish, 25-09 While B.A.S.S. has held several Opens on Ross Barnett in recent years, I hadn’t fished them, so it was a totally new tournament venue for me. Based on my research, I knew that it is a shallow, stumpy lake where it can be […]
OD on B.A.S.S. Classic 2017
2017 Bassmaster Classic Lake Conroe Houston, Texas 5th Place | 15 fish, 48-12 Prior to this Classic I’d been to Conroe multiple time for the TTBC but I wasn’t sure how much that would help me. I’d finished 4th there once when the water was 7 feet low, but this time it was at full pool. […]
OD on B.A.S.S. – Okeechobee
2017 Elite Series Lake Okeechobee Okeechobee, Florida 2nd Place | 20 fish, 82-01 After a solid start at Cherokee, I wanted to keep the momentum going in Florida. Even though I’d finished 15th there in an Elite Series tournament in 2012, I’ve never considered Florida-style fishing to be my strong suit. Nevertheless, I enjoy the weather […]