Wild West Bass Trail Teams - Feb. 13th - Roosevelt Lake

Wild West Bass Trail is a new circuit this year and the production and backing is something the anglers have been looking for for years. My partner and I decided at the last minute to give it a shot since there is an off-limits of a weak prior to the tournament and we went through some major weather changes during the week and everyone will have to adjust on the day of.
First thing in the morning is was bone chilling, temps were in the 30's and ice was forming on the guides at times but the day would warm up to the 60's. We started close to the ramp on the Cholla side and through crankbaits and small swimbaits. The swimbait produced our first two keepers of the day. We decided to make a move and switch it up a little. We threw dropshots and carolina-rigged brush hogs. They produced our next two fish and we proceeded to throw them the rest of the day.
It was a tough day on the water but we missed the squarebill bite that people found in practice in the salt end, but we managed to figure a few things out and weighed 4 fish for 6.39lbs and finished 52nd out of 91.

MBC Super Teams - Feb. 6th - Bartlett Lake

Well I don't even want to relive this tournament. Bartlett is normally just a rat fest but can always catch a few fish but for some reason my partner and I left the lake wondering what went wrong.
The weather wasn't all that great to start, blowing 30-40+, and cold muddy rising water made the lake a little tougher but shouldn't have deterred us from a few fish. We fished all day with just about everything we owned in spots that have always produced and we only got one bite all day, which I proceeded to lose on way to the boat. I learned a very valuable lesson that day, never have anyone bring anything with banana as an ingredient, partner brought some awesome banana bread and it must have done us in that day! Never again!

MBC Seniors - January 16th - Saguaro Lake

My partner and I decided to go for broke in this one, and we ended up broke. We threw swimbaits all day hoping for the big bites we knew it would take to win. We had a few followers but none committed. We placed 24th out of 30 and are looking for a little redemption at the next one.

Germaine Marine - New Sponsor

I am happy to announce my new partnership with Germaine Marine. I have been doing business with this company since they opened their new location through my personal business, and they not only sell some top of the line boats, but their fiberglass shop is absolutely incredible and also have some of the best sprayed-in bed liners available. Also, if all things go right, there might be something new and exciting coming soon.

MBC Seniors - Nov. 14th - Bartlett Lake

Well with a new outlook on fishing it was time for my first tournament of the year. My stepdad and I decided to run the Seniors circuit again this year after he has missed the last two seasons due to health issues. The water was falling and already extremely low as they would be closing the ramp after the weekend. I was able to pre-fish the week prior but those spots were 6-8 feet shallower than they were so it was a whole new game. We decided to stick to our strengths and with the high winds early we were going to throw reaction to start and plastics as the wind laid down.
We made a short run to start and caught a few shorts on a crankbait and knew we needed some size so we made a run into the river. The river didn;t last long as the water was stained, extremely cold and shallow. We hit some mid-lake areas near the islands and picked up a few keepers on Carolina-rigs. We made a few more runs to fight the wind and ended up in an area I prefished and have done well in the past. It produced a few hits but nothing worth keeping. As we kept moving we located a feeding area and proceeded to fill our limit and cull rather quickly. We needed some size and the spot kept reloading and we were culling ounces. As it slowed down we moved out a little deeper which produced our biggest fish. We finished the day in the area but never got the bigger bites we needed.
We weighed a small limit for 7.99lbs and ended up 35th out of 55. We made a few mistakes but it was a confidence building tournament and we will take what we learned and go from there.

Remembering Why I Love Fishing

With all the stresses, costs, and other things that goes along with tournament fishing you can lose sight of why you got into it in the first place. This last year I got to that same point, I lost the focus of enjoying my time out on the water. I took the summer off and decided to take trips to the lake and just FISH. I took some friends with me at times, while others I went by myself and learned new techniques and studied my graphs and went out and enjoyed the outdoors. I needed a complete reset and I think it really helped. I went out fishing more and learned some things in the process.
This year I cut out of the tournament series I was running that have done for years. It was so I could focus on another with my step-dad who got me into the tournament fishing in the first place. He is coming back from a few surgeries so just getting him back onto the water and catching fish was a main concern and focus this year before the series championship in May. I will still do other tournaments in other circuits but not because I am forced to, but  instead because I want to. I am planning on getting back into it heavy again but I am working myself back into it. I don't want to lose sight of what is important again, the enjoyment of fishing.

River2Sea USA - New Sponsor

I am proud to announce my new partnership with River2Sea USA. I have been throwing their swimbaits for the last few years along with some of their topwater baits and have had a great amount of success. They make great products and I am looking forward to what the year will bring with them.