By the time you read this, we’ll be fishing our second event of the 2018 Bassmaster Elite Series. Hard to believe, I know. It’s been 11 long weeks since Takahiro Omori won the opener on Lake Martin. That was back in the first week of February, and here it is the end of April.
The extended downtime was caused in large part by the sudden postponement of the Sabine River event. Flooding forced tournament officials to reschedule that derby and, as a result, our season was put on hold.
Never before had the tour experienced such a lengthy springtime layoff. It put many Elite anglers on edge … me included.
Making the most of it
The time off wasn’t a complete loss, however. I found ways to stay busy.
There was the Bassmaster Classic, where I worked with my sponsors during the Expo, promoting their products before record-setting crowds. And shortly after, was a video project with Shimano at Bienville Plantation in north Florida — where we shot on-the-water sequences of some great new products to be introduced at this year’s ICAST show.
A few weeks later, Shimano held a media junket in southern Louisiana at a place called Grosse Savanne. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s a private hunting and fishing preserve that offers incredible fishing opportunities, both fresh and saltwater. There, I got to work with a number of familiar faces, and some new ones, too. Among them were Bryan Brasher from B.A.S.S. Times, Pat Bonin of Louisiana Sportsman, Todd Ceisner of BassFan.com, Rob Drieslen of Outdoor News, Joe Sills of Fishing Tackle Retailer and freelancers Jonathan LePera and Tyler Brinks. Over three days, we got a lot accomplished.
Immediately following the Shimano effort, I rushed to Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas to meet up with the guys from Rapala. They were busy filming on-the-water testimonials for some unique new products, also to be released at ICAST. I can’t wait for you to see them.
From there, I headed to Lake Travis, just outside of Austin, Texas — site of this year’s BASSfest. I had never been there before and, boy, am I glad I took the time to scout it out. The lake is heavily developed and busy with traffic — both on and off the water. It’s also different from any other waterway on the schedule. I’m not quite sure what to expect from the fishing, as it’s still a long way off, but I am certain the number of spectators will be huge.
Looking ahead
While I wasn’t excited about the postponement of the Sabine River event, I did see firsthand why B.A.S.S. was forced to make the call. The river was swollen out of its banks and running through the trees. Perhaps not as high as during Hurricane Harvey, it was still too high and unsafe to fish. Tournament officials clearly made the right call.
Hopefully our future spring schedules won’t suffer such lengthy downtimes. Spring is the best season for catching big stringers of bass, and much of that time is now lost.
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