“Welcome to hard times, back again like it’s never been for the first time…”
We just rolled back into town after a month and a half of burning up pavement and chasing bass in Texas and Alabama. Being on the road 10 to 20 hours from home for extended periods of time can be one of the biggest challenges. Many guys at the Bassmaster Elite Series level either don’t have a family yet or have learned how to bring theirs with them. Both work well in this lifestyle. I’m very blessed to have a young family and getting home to see them after these long road trips is always the highlight.
The season thus far has not had the results I would have liked to see. I can assure you, it’s not the first time I’ve had a rough patch though. In fishing, if you do this long enough, it’s inevitable. The year before I made the Elite Series was probably the worst season results wise I’ve had in my career, but it was also one of the best I’ve had for growth. Not only as an angler, but as a person. It can be a great blessing. I like to sit down and evaluate things that work and things that didn’t work in both aspects, and oftentimes you can see the tweaks you need to make that end up changing everything.
I began this column with some lyrics from my walk-up song on the Elite Series by P.O.D. called “Southtown.” I feel like it’s a great tie-in as it’s a song that has resonated with me for many years. Keeping things in perspective is important when you are going through tough times in fishing and in life. In both fishing and life, the line between good and bad, right or wrong, success and failure, is so fine. Keep the faith, focus on the positive, keep showing up and good things eventually come.
“Circumstances make you think should I be counting my blessings, The next second my eyes blink…”
One of the highlights from our midseason swing was getting to visit one of the nicest ballparks in the country in Arlington, Texas. If you weren’t aware before, my title sponsor and job for the past six years has been with DuraEdge, a manufacturer of engineered soils, mound clays and warning track material for baseball and softball fields. Read more about that here.
The Texas Rangers just built a beautiful new ballpark right by “Jerry World” — the Dallas Cowboys Stadium as the locals call it — and we were fortunate enough to help out on the project. While in Texas, I made a trip over to see Dennis and the grounds crew to spend some time with them and do a little cookout. We may have partaken in some bass fishing at a small retention pond there too.
Much of the summer, I won’t be home as we finish both our Elite Series and Opens seasons in New York. Being fairly close to home and having a great community of people close to me in New York always makes for a homey vibe there. I think it’s safe to say we can expect to see plenty of smallmouth-heavy tournaments to end our season, and I’m excited about getting back after them. Although I love fishing for largemouth, and they will play a factor, there’s just something special about their hard-fighting, acrobatic cousins.
Tightlines everyone!