After lifting that beautiful, big blue trophy in Knoxville, Tenn., it was a whirlwind week. Getting to hoist that trophy was the pinnacle of my fishing career. While I’m so thankful that all of my family, friends and sponsors could watch that moment on Bassmaster.com, I hated that everybody couldn’t be there in person because of the COVID situation that we’re all still dealing with.
I really wish that I could have shared that moment with my wife, Shelby, who is a huge part of the team, as are the wives, girlfriends and family members of many of the anglers. If I am ever so lucky to get to do this again, we will make sure that she can be there too.
I can guarantee that there would have been a bunch of Canadians partying in Knoxville last weekend as well if travel wasn’t so difficult right now. There are a lot of die-hard bass anglers from Canada and the northern states who love to have a good time. All that is just motivation to do it again and hopefully everybody can be there.
One of the best moments of the entire experience came just after walking off the stage on Sunday afternoon. Carl Jocumsen, one of my best friends that I’ve made through fishing, and his wife Kayla traveled back to Knoxville for the weigh-in and wanted to get a photo with me and the trophy. So did Brandon Palaniuk and John Cox.
These are guys that I have been big fans of and have all the respect in the world for, so it was a really nice feeling that they were happy for me and wanted a photo. As I walked away from chatting with Palankiuk, who won two Elite Series events last year, he told me, “You’re about to get really busy.” He was right.
The messages have been overwhelming. It’s very humbling, and it’s been great to hear from a lot of old friends. I consider myself a regular guy who is really lucky to be competing on the Elite Series stage. It took me a long time to finally win one of these tournaments, and the part of it that I’m most proud of is getting to share it with all of the people who have helped me along the way.
My friends always make sure I have a place to park my boat and truck if I’m heading home between tournaments, and they are always encouraging — good tournament or bad. My family has always supported my passion for fishing and spending an insane number of hours in my boat. I’m thankful to so many of you.
Obviously there have been a bunch of sponsors, in addition to my friends and family, who have helped me in so many ways. Sponsors who have not only helped financially but helped by making sure I have the best equipment to use and promoting my fishing skills.
Finally, I’m really lucky to have a great group of friends who I travel with out on the road. For the past few years Seth Feider, Chris Groh, Chris Johnston, Cory Johnston and I have traveled together, and we usually stay together in rental houses at each venue that we visit. We are a fun group, and it sure makes being away from home for long stretches at a time much easier.
We sometimes help each other out with fishing advice, but mostly it’s just great to have some good buddies to compare notes with, eat dinner with and joke around with. We always have a good time, and I’m thankful for all of the experiences that we have. As a group we have a lot of success, and it’s something I think we’re all proud of. Matt Robertson joined us last week in Knoxville and is a welcome member to the group moving forward.
Those beautiful blue trophies are a lot heavier than they look. When tournament manager Lisa Talmadge handed me the trophy I immediately wanted to lift it over my head and scream with joy, but I quickly realized I had to get a good grip on it if I wanted to do that. It took me a minute to get it up over my head, but when I did, it was one of the best feelings in the world. One that I want to experience again. One that I hope all of my competitors get to experience.
Thanks to everybody for making my moment so great!
