I’ve had a chance to review and think about next year’s Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, and it looks to be right on point. I’m really excited about the big bass possibilities it’s going to offer us. Every tournament will be a big bass one with the exception of the Sabine River event, and the huge, enthusiastic crowds there make up for the smaller bass.
The locations are the first thing that caught my eye because you can’t catch giants unless they’re in the water you’re fishing. But, it’s about more than that. The timing from event to event is darn near perfect for a guy wanting to bring five big ones to the scales, and it doesn’t make any difference if you’re talking largemouth when the season starts or smallmouth towards the end of the season.
Add to what I just said the fact that there’ll be shallow bass available in every event except two and you can see why I can’t wait to get started.
My thoughts might surprise some of you, especially those who know me. Historically I’ve struggled at slugfest-type tournaments no matter where they’re being held. I usually do much better when the bite is tough and the fish are a little smaller. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like to weigh in giants, though. At heart I’m a bass angler just like most of you. Big fish are where it’s at.
However, all of that won’t start until next February.
Right now my immediate concern is getting my duck blind on my boat — not as easy as it sounds — and my guns and hunting gear ready. I’m hopeful that this year will be the year I can fill my freezer. The longterm forecast says there should be a heavy migration. If Mother Nature reads that prediction I should be in good shape.
Duck hunting, and deer hunting, is something I really enjoy. I like the challenges of the sport itself, but I also like the fact that it takes me away from fishing for a while. I’m the guy who needs that. It lets me think about something else so that when I do turn my attention to it I’m excited about doing it.
You’ll also notice that I didn’t provide many details about the places we’re going to visit or how I’ll be fishing them. That’s very much on purpose. It seems like whenever I think about how I’m going to fish a particular place before I actually launch my boat I don’t do very well. It’s better to develop a plan once you’re actually on the water — for me at least.
You hear all the time you should fish the day and the hour that you’re actually out there making casts. Things change quickly in the outdoors, and wild animals change with them. If you get locked into something, it’ll come back to bite you more often than not.
It’ll be a long winter, but spring will come. When it does I’ll be finished hunting and ready to go fishing, and we’ll all be marveling at the size of the bass being brought to the scales and the weights that are being recorded.