As I pulled up to the ramp on Sunday, it hit me — this is where it happened. Lake Chickamauga is where I won the first of my two Bassmaster Elite Series trophies.
Going into this event, it’s impossible to get away from that fact. Obviously, I’m thinking about it, and everybody is remind ing me. That’s expected. But for me, Chickamauga will always be a place of inspiration.
Of course I was proud to win on my home waters of Lake Fork last year, but I’m glad I won on Chickamauga first, because it let me know I could compete and win on a lake I’d never seen before.
It was huge winning my first Elite trophy here. It felt really good and helped my confidence by knowing I could win away from the house.
I’ll admit that winning an Elite event in each of the past two seasons puts some pressure on me, but I don’t let it get to me. I’m one of those who wants trophies; I’ll risk missing a Classic if it means I have a shot at an Elite trophy.
I’m going to swing for the fence 90% of the time — when I have a shot. There are times when you know you just gotta go catch fish for points, and there are times when you have to go for it.
The Classic’s different, but this year, I tasted a potential win, like I tasted it before I won at Chickamauga and last year at Fork. I had that same feeling at the Classic when I was in fourth place going into the final day. I ended up falling out of contention, but I felt it and I shot for it.
As long as I’m close to a victory, I’m going to shoot for it. But I don’t feel the pressure of people saying, “You’re gonna win one every year.” That’s not gonna happen.
This time around, we’re fishing a different lake. We’re here in the springtime, not fall like we were in 2020, and the whole picture is drastically different.
At the start of practice, the lake was about 4 feet below normal pool of 683. This has allowed me to see the gravel bars and other bottom features of the places I caught them two years ago.
There’s no matted grass like the lake has during the fall, and the bass and the baitfish are in a totally different stage of their life cycle. Considering the current conditions and the cold front that’s coming this week, I don’t see myself throwing the frog like I did in 2020.
I really think this tournament will be won on shallow, offshore spots. The majority of these fish spawn when the water level is stable or going up, but with it being down, I think a lot of the fish will be prespawn.
I found early in practice that the weather had gotten warmer, and the fish weren’t eating moving baits as well. The cold weather will change some things, and the heavy rains ahead of the front will also have some impact — with current or water level.
The first day of practice, I spent a lot of time just getting comfortable with the lake. I found some grass, and I’ll see if I can figure out how the fish are using it.
I won’t worry about how or where I fished in 2020. This is a new event, and I’m just going to fish off of instincts and try to find prespawners that will bite.
