Back in July 2021, I had just covered Bryan Schmitt’s first career Bassmaster Elite Series victory at Lake Champlain on the New York/Vermont border.
Then, I toured every level of purgatory on the journey home.
Due to a flight cancellation, I first got stuck for a night in Burlington, Vt. The next day, I made it all the way to Washington, D.C., before getting stranded again.
I finally made it home on Wednesday, just in time to start following the regular-season Elite Series finale on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, N.Y.
Within 48 hours, I was browsing plane flights to New York.
Why? Because Florida pro and one of the true gentlemen of the sport, Bernie Schultz, was putting himself in position to score his first B.A.S.S. victory in a career that began way back in 1982 when I was just 9 years old.
My genuine desire never to see an airplane again was outweighed by my determination to see Schultz put the finishing touches on a win he so richly deserves.
It didn’t happen. Schultz finished eighth in an event ultimately won by Taku Ito. But this season, I’ll be watching closely again, ready to catch a red-eye to the remote reaches of the fishing universe to be one of the first to shake a hand that’s made millions of casts to reach that one shining moment.
Since joining B.A.S.S., I’ve been present for a few wins that were a long time coming, and it’s a thrill like no other.
I watched John Murray claim his one and only Elite Series win in 2017 on Toledo Bend with the bulk of the field hanging around like proud parents.
I saw Frank Talley raise his first blue trophy at Lake Guntersville — and knowing the long and winding path the big man had taken to that moment, it sent chills from my toenails to the back of my neck.
Now there are several more great guys I’d like to see finally check the box and cash the check.
Besides Bernie, I want to be there when Alabama pro Gerald Swindle finally gets the Elite Series monkey off his back.
It’s hard to believe, considering some of the anglers who’ve had brief and middling careers but managed to score a win, that Swindle hasn’t won an Elite Series trophy in 307 trips to the scales with B.A.S.S.
I mean, he’s a two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year — a guy with 58 Top 10 finishes and 20 trips to the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota. It’s gonna happen, and it’ll be a part of fishing history I don’t want to miss.
Then there’s Matt Herren, a fierce competitor with 18 Top 10s who calls me up all the time, just to talk fishing, football and family. He can be grumpy, private and downright ornery at times — and since all that reminds me so much of myself, I want to be around on that one day when he couldn’t possibly find anything to complain about.
Scott Canterbury, Brandon Card, Brock Mosley, Clent Davis, Caleb Sumrall — the list of great anglers and great people who haven’t quite gotten there yet is lengthy.
But I’m nowhere near retiring and neither are they.
They’re gonna get there someday, and even if it means braving another trip through air travel purgatory, I hope to be there to see it.
