Those words ranked right up there with “Christmas Holidays” and “Schools Out” when I was a kid. Back then it applied to squirrel or dove season but now everyone gets excited about gun season for deer.
Deer were so uncommon even when I was in high school in the mid-1960s that seeing one crossing a road was the talk of the boys at school for days. We had the whole month of November to try to shoot two, and there were two or three “doe” days at Thanksgiving.
I got to hunt with a bow a little starting in 1964 and got a lever action Marlin 30-30 for my birthday in 1966. I was buzzing with excitement waiting for opening day in November that year, shooting my rifle every few day to make sure I could hit a deer with the iron sights.
As my young luck would have it, I had to take the SAT on the Saturday deer season opened that year. I wanted to skip it but was afraid to, my parents would have probably taken my gun away from me for a year. So I sat in an auditorium in Augusta while my friend AT took my rifle on its first hunt – and killed a deer with it!
For over 40 years I never missed standing in a tree opening day. From going home for the weekend while in college, even missing football games at UGA to hunt, to being out there in pouring rain, I was there.
Deer season has a longer and more storied past up north. Deer populations in states like Michigan and Maine never got decimated to the point they did in the south, so kids grew up hunting them. And season in some of those states lasts only one week, so it is more intense. Some rural schools even close for the week because all the kids would skip school to go hunting.
When I moved to Griffin in 1972 I had some trouble finding a place to hunt so I often went back home and hunted my old areas around Clarks Hill where I killed my first two deer in 1968. I killed a couple more bucks and does there. Then Jim Goss took me with him to the places he hunted for a few years, and Bob Pierce took me as his guest to his hunting club some.
In 1982 I joined Bob’s “Big Horn” hunting club, a club formed by a group of doctors back in the 1950s. It was a great club for me, only 30 minutes from my house and I loved the traditions.
Every year we had “camp” the first week of November, starting on Friday night with a big steak dinner that often had 100 invited guests eating in the woods. Then we camped in the woods to the next Wednesday, hunting, eating delicious food and sitting around the big fire that never went out snacking on boiled peanuts.
I saw many kids of members grow from young’uns too small to sit in a tree to adults bringing their own kids to camp. It is a fantastic way to learn about life.
I hope all kids have the opportunity to go hunting, maybe in a deer camp, and continue the traditions.
Wins 2024 NPFL title with four top tens in six events and won the BASS AOY last year
Alabama bass pro Kyle Welcher, fresh off a dominant 2023 Angler of the Year campaign on the Bassmaster Elite Series, likewise ruled the roost at the National Professional Fishing League in 2024. His second AOY effort included four top-ten results in six events, and he never finished below 18th.
“It felt very similar to 2023,” he said. “I was able to fish intuitively. I’d show up on Day One of practice and quickly get a good sense of what was going on. It was another one of those amazing seasons when I was able to get in a flow state, using my instinct to make things happen. The most important thing was to just get out of my own way and let my brain tell me what was going on. It was important not to overthink it.”
AOY Is Always the Goal
During Welcher’s AOY season at BASS, he ripped off three top 20 finishes to start the year – 13th at Okeechobee, 15th at Seminole and 18th at Murray. This time around, he upped the ante. In the 2024 NPFL season opener, he finished 7th. Then at Hartwell, he was 3rd, followed by 5th at Pickwick. He closed out the season with a 4th at Murray. In between, he finished 19th at Saginaw Bay and 11th at Lake of the Ozarks. The former could have been better had he not suffered mechanical issues.
From his days of playing poker for a living, Welcher understands the mathematical realities of life on tour.
“My goal every single time is Angler of the Year,” he said. “And I know that there are a finite number of points in play, so I try to get as many as I can every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first day of the season or the final day of the final Elite, they all count the same.”
Indeed, in addition to being a strong starter, he’s proven himself a closer, too. This year he finished 4th in the last derby to claim the NPFL title. Last year he came in 5th at the St. Lawrence to do the same on the Elites.
Better Tools Produce Better Results
Welcher held off fellow Elite Series pro, Drew Cook, by a slim 8 points in the NPFL AOY race, and as he thought back over his exceptional season, he was buoyed by the good finishes, and also by the times when he maximized his points.
The tour visited Lake of the Ozarks at “probably the worst time we could be there, so you had to grind each day.” On Days Two and Three he fell one fish short of a limit and felt that an additional keeper on one or both days could’ve provided valuable points. That’s how razor-thin the margins were. But there’s also the flip side of that – having the right tools to catch four a day, instead of three or two or fewer, allowed him to salvage a hard-earned 11th-place result.
Knowing that he had the best lures for tough situations provided him with the confidence to charge forward.
“During every single tournament I weighed in some or most of my bass on CrushCity™ or Rapala® Lures,” he said. “At Logan Martin, I caught fish on a #5 Shad Rap® and then on a Pigstick™ on shallow wood cover. On Hartwell, I started off with a 6-pounder and a 3-¾ pounder on a 3” Mayor. At Lake of the Ozarks, I caught them on a Freeloader® and a new prototype CrushCity™ bait. At Saginaw Bay, I used the Ned BLT® and the Mooch Minnow™. And then at Murray, I caught over half of my fish on the Mooch.”
He’s not giving up the goods when he talks about how many top pros are using both The Mayor® and the Mooch Minnow™. The results speak for themselves. Nevertheless, he’s fully aware of why he can depend on them when times are tough.
“Ever since COVID, there’s been a ton of pressure on our fisheries,” he explained. “More realistic lures make a big difference. The Mayor® has a lot of things going for it when bites are tough. It doesn’t have a lot of tail action, but it has a subtle tail kick and a good body roll. The Mooch Minnow has a subtle corkscrew small tail kick. On forward-facing sonar, you’ll see a lot of fish swim up to your lures and they don’t get it. With the Mooch Minnow™, you can get those followers to bite.”
He doesn’t think it’s coincidental that the peak period of his career so far has coincided with his partnership with Rapala® and CrushCity™.
“I’m proud to be associated with the most prominent name in hard baits,” he stated. “You always want to be aligned with quality products that have a good reputation. CrushCity™ has been riding a wave for the past couple of years. I get so many questions about them and it just makes everything more fun because of the hype they’ve been generating.”
Two Tours Make Him Better
The drawn-out nature of the NPFL season meant that Welcher was “in contention for 11 months.” Oftentimes, an otherwise competitive angler has his AOY dreams squashed by one bad tournament. Welcher never had that. He was able to bite off each one as it came, allowing him to focus on the task at hand.
The spread-out nature of their schedule also allowed him to compete on two tours without burning the candle at both ends. He said he still feels like he’s at “the learning stage” of his career, and each additional event on a major tournament fishery allows him to hone his skills better and refine the instincts that have carried him this far.
The 31-year-old champ is thrilled to add more hardware to his mantel, but in some respects, he’s also relieved: “I have a ton of respect for all of my competitors. After two titles I feel like I proved that the first one wasn’t a fluke.”
“Overall the goal is to win more trophies,” he concluded. “But I also know that I’m still learning every time I go out. I feel like I need to get better, to make better decisions, and to be more efficient.”
Reading outdoor magazines like Outdoor Life, Field and Stream and Sports Afield when growing up in the 1950s and 60s made me wish to do things I never really expected to do. I have accomplished an amazing number of them, from fishing for Cutthroat Trout in the Yellowstone River to catching salmon on a fly rod in Alaska.
Many of the simple things also intrigued me. I wanted to hear the haunting call of a loon at daybreak on a lake. I thought the sound of wild geese flying and calling at night would be amazing.
Loons and Canada geese were not present where I fished and lived in Georgia. But through management and conservation, both are now common on area lakes.
One morning at Clarks Hill as the eastern sky lightened, I heard a loon call. I had never heard one but there was no doubt in my mind what it was. The call has been called “eerie – wild – aching” in both poetry and outdoor articles and it fit those descriptions perfectly.
Canada goose calls can be somewhat jarring, but the first one I heard while fishing at night, with a full moon over my shoulder, fit this poem perfectly:
“One wild-goose call —
and even brighter shines
the midnight moon.”
Geese and to as lesser extent loons have made a comeback thanks to the work of Ducks, Unlimited and state and federal conservation agencies. Protecting wetlands, a major goal of Ducks, Unlimited, has benefited multiple species of wildlife, from loons and geese to mallards and songbirds.
Ducks, Unlimited has conserved more than 15 million acres since 1937. They raise money through local banquets and other fund raisers and work with state and federal wildlife agencies to conserve wetlands and other projects to benefit waterfowl and other wildlife.
Many projects are far from us but affect our wildlife, especially waterfowl, in many ways. Protecting loons north of us allowed them to spread to the south, increasing their range.
Some geese migrated to Georgia, most of them to the coastal areas, for years. But projects in Georgia to increase habitat for them, for example the big waterfowl sanctuary on Lake Walter F. George, brings more to our state.
And back in the 1980s the Georgia DNR worked to establish a resident flock of Canada geese here. They made big pens on lakes like Clarks Hill and clipped the wings of adult geese so they could not migrate north in the spring. That forced them to nest here and raise goslings that were never taught to fly north in the spring.
Geese calling at night from that flock started on Clarks Hill made me feel wild and free, and intensified the joy of a perfect night on the lake for me. It is no wonder to me poetry has been written about that sound and the feelings it brings.
Since 1985, money from Ducks, Unlimited has helped conserve more than 22,000 acres of wetlands right here in Georgia. The Ducks, Unlimited Georgia affiliate organization has more than 20,000 members and 1400 volunteers. The national Ducks, Unlimited organization has about 700,000 members working for conservation.
Currently, Ducks, Unlimited has delivered more than 20,000 conservation projects all across North America. Right here in our state there are 24 projects involving Ducks, Unlimited helping waterfowl and wildlife.
Many people like me do not hunt waterfowl but are members due to the good work the organization does in our state and nationally. Dues are reasonable and go to a good cause.
Banquets are fun events for attendees and raise money for the cause. Upcoming events near us are October 20th in Conyers/Rockdale County, Covington/Newton County on November 3rd and Fayette County in Tyrone on November 3rd. Attend one for fun and a good cause.
You can find more information on Ducks, Unlimited and the work they do, as well as events, at https://www.ducks.org/
You have to be in the Right Place at the Right Time with the right tackle For 50-Pound Musky
By The Fishing Wire
Park Falls, WI –Duncannon, Pennsylvania fishing guide and St. Croix Rod Ambassador, Joe Raymond, must be living right. Almost a month to the day after catching a 7.1-pound personal-best smallmouth bass that many believe to be the largest ever recorded on the Susquehanna River, Raymond caught another fish that has the internet buzzing. This one, however, was over twice as long and seven times heavier. No, it wasn’t a smallmouth bass.
“I was taking some time off and bass fishing up at the St. Lawrence River,” says Raymond, who always carries musky gear on the deck of his Rockproof River Rocket when plying the waters of the storied fishery. “I’m not a musky expert… just an enthusiast,” Raymond emphasizes. “I was scouting some new spots for bass the night before the full moon. Some of my areas have been getting a lot more pressure, so I was just exploring on my day off.”
Raymond was marking bass and working some scattered rocks along a grass line at about 5:00 PM when his Legend X spinning rod doubled over.
“I hooked a three-pound bass and was fighting it back to the boat when I saw a big musky charge up with gills flared right underneath it,” Raymond recalls. He describes the fish as a bona fide supertanker. “This fish was as fired up to eat as they come, but I couldn’t throw back at it because I wasn’t rigged up,” he says. Raymond unhooked the bass and hurriedly grabbed his musky rod.
After tying on a substantial chunk of white rubber, Raymond started fan casting with his Legend Elite Musky LEM86HF. “I couldn’t locate the fish on my electronics, so I was just casting and ripping the bait along that grass line,” he says. After about 20 minutes of rip… pause… rip, Raymond says his lure hard-stopped and he set the hooks into “all the weight in the world.”
The St. Lawrence River has some of the biggest muskies to be found anywhere and claims a historical world record – a 69-15 fish caught by Arthur Lawton in 1957. “Historical” because although the catch is still recognized as the NY state record by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, it was disallowed as a world record by both the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association amidst much controversy – like so many other old musky records. That said, there’s no arguing that the St. Lawrence has produced numerous documented muskies over 50 pounds. Over the past few years, Raymond himself had already caught three fish there 55 inches or greater.
And he suspected the fish he was tied to might be his biggest yet.
“I was pretty sure the fish with my lure in its mouth was the same giant that had followed my bass to the boat,” Raymond says. “It was fighting like crazy… just dug and dug and dug, but I’ve been fooled before; I’ve caught 44-inchers that I swore were going to be a whole lot bigger. I had my drag totally locked down and was giving this fish everything my equipment and I had to get it into the net as quickly as possible.” When he got the fish near the boat, his suspicions were confirmed. “I’m sure it was the same fish,” he says. “Long, deep, and incredibly girthy all the way down through its tail. The fish was still punching and surging, but I saw it was well hooked, so I backed off the drag a half turn. I knew I had her.”
Raymond slid the giant into his net. He taped the fish at 55” long and 27” around.
“I was shaking and just wishing someone else was there to share the experience,” says Raymond, who spotted some people on a nearby beach and idled over with the fish in the net to ask for their help with a couple of photos. “They were interested in what I’d caught and were happy to help. They were so nice,” he says. While Raymond didn’t weigh the fish, he speculates it was somewhere just north of 50 pounds, making it the heaviest of his life — a statement backed up by common musky length/girth weight calculators.
After a couple quick photos, Raymond spent a few minutes observing the fish in the water before releasing it and watching the tank swim away.
Takeaways
When reflecting on the experience, Raymond wouldn’t comment on whether or not “living right” has anything to do with his recent good-fishing fortunes. But he does offer a few observations.
“If you spend enough time on the water you’re going to run into big fish,” he says. “And if you are spending that much time on the water, you’re going to have learned a lot and be a good angler. I don’t think there’s any more to it than that. I’m on the water all the time and it increases my odds of big-fish encounters.”
Raymond says he was fortunate to locate a trophy fish on a body of water known for giant muskies at the right time. “Anyone who puts time in chasing muskies knows what a grind it usually is,” he says. “Timing definitely matters. You can go days without catching or even moving one, then you hit a feeding window and the switch flips and you might see and catch several. That’s why I don’t guide for muskies; I really don’t want that kind of pressure… plus, I don’t want to ruin musky fishing for myself. I caught that big smallmouth on the same lunar period a month earlier – the day before the full moon. I was lucky to find both of those fish right when they were ready to eat.”
While Raymond wasn’t targeting muskies, he was prepared with the proper gear because of his knowledge of the fishery and his previous experiences there. “Like I said, I’m no musky expert, but I do make my living on the water, so I know the value of being prepared with the right equipment to take advantage of opportunities,” says Raymond, whose favored all-around musky setup is a St. Croix Legend Elite Musky 8’6” heavy power, fast action rod paired to a Tranx 400 reel spooled with 80-pound Smackdown braid tied with an FG knot directly to a custom Seaguar AbrazX 130-pound fluorocarbon leader.
“The 86HF is simply the most versatile musky rod you can get and anyone who’s fished the Legend Elite version will tell you it’s in a class by itself. It’s amazing how a rod that powerful can feel so unbelievably light. There’s always one in my rod locker when I’m fishing anywhere near muskies.”
Finally, Raymond dives into big muskies and what makes them so special… and so vulnerable.
“There have been fish like mine – and bigger – caught all up and down the St. Lawrence in the past decades,” Raymond says, “but they are becoming fewer and fewer. It’s sad to see what’s happened here. It’s still a viable destination and there are monsters here, just not as many. The water has really cleared up because of the zebra and quagga mussels, which has reduced the amount of grass and altered the fishery. And then you’ve got the VHS virus plus all the gobies eating most of the musky eggs. I don’t think the outlook is good. We don’t really see small fish here anymore, which is a bad sign.”
Raymond says if you are fortunate enough to catch one of these big, old St. Lawrence muskies – or a big musky anywhere – you’ve really got to be extra careful with them. “Other than taking a couple of photos and measuring it, this fish was kept in the water the whole time. That’s important. And when you do take them out, despite their size and how resilient they may seem, they’re actually more fragile than about any other trophy fish. Gravity alone can injure a fish like this, so how you lift and handle them matters.”
Whether you fish the St. Lawrence River or any other body of water where muskies swim, trophy fish time is happening right now and will continue through ice up. So, follow Raymond’s advice and get out on the water. They may be known as the “fish of ten-thousand casts,” but one of those casts could end with the fish of a lifetime.
Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly crafting the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph® and Mojo, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.
A few years ago a friend fishing with me caught a small bass and said “Now we know the pattern to fish today.” I just laughed. I am no professional fisherman, but I do not think one fish sets a pattern.
Bass fishermen search for a pattern each day, the kinds of structure, cover and depth fish seem to be holding and feeding, and what kind of food they are eating. Discover a good pattern and you can catch fish all over a big lake doing the same thing. Pro fishermen are pros because they can usually find a good pattern.
On the other hand I work to catch every fish I can find. In my mind there are always some bass shallow and they are more likely to be feeding and easier to catch. Sometimes I find a small pattern, maybe fishing the front edge of a grass bed, the back post on a dock or a rocky seawall.
In a recent tournament a club member stated, “The bass are not in the grass beds today, I never got a bite in them.” My response was that was odd since my biggest three fish hit in grass beds. Patterns are elusive for fishermen like me!
The Sportsman Club Classic last Sunday at Bartletts Ferry proved this to me. In the tournament that 8 fishermen qualified to fish, we landed 29 bass weighing about 29 pounds. In eight hours of casting, there were three five-bass limits and no one zeroed.
Wayne Teal won big with five weighing 10.69 pounds and his 3.85 pound largemouth was big fish. Raymond English came in second with five at 5.86 pounds, my five weighing 5.49 pounds was third, Jay Gerson placed fourth with two sat 5.09 pounds and Kwong Yu came in fifth with four weighing 3.77 pounds.
Two weeks ago I fished Bartletts four days, three in practice and one in the Potato Creek Tournament. Last week I camped and fished Friday and Saturday and then the tournament Sunday.
Bartletts Ferry has many water willow grass beds and are usually a good place to find bass feeding. In the 7 days I fished I tried many of them and worked a variety of baits through them. I never got a bite.
Of course, Wayne said all his fish hit in grass beds on baits I had tried!
Finding a pattern is great and I have found a few over the years. At Guntersville a few years ago I caught four bass, three over four pounds each, by pitching a jig to the right front post of docks in less than three feet of water. My partner and I never got a bite around other posts that day!
Sometimes two fishermen can be casting the same bait to the same places but only one will catch fish. Often there is a slight difference in the way the bait is worked or some other unnoticed factor.
That is why I find it difficult to figure out a pattern. I get frustrated and think maybe the fish are there, I am just doing a little something wrong.
Once again I camped at Blanton Creek Georgia Power campground. Knowing their discriminating rule against boat owners, I reserved a site on the water. When I arrived after 4:00 PM there was a map on the board with my name on it. A sign said set up and check in the next morning.
When I went to my site the wind was blowing fairly big waves into the bank, so I set up and parked my boat on the site, completely out of the road and off the grass. An hour later the campground host drove up in a golf cart to tell me I could not park my boat on the site.
We talked for a while and he was very nice, explaining a few years ago someone with a boat caused a problem how they parked, so Georgia Power made a rule no boats in the campground. So they punished every boat owner for the past four years for the actions of one.
He let me leave my boat there for the night since it was Thursday but insisted I move it first thing the next morning.
Unfortunately, two club members that had reservations to camp but not on the water had to cancel since they could not charge their batteries.
Maybe someday Georgia power won’t punish all boat owners due to the past action of one slob.
B.A.S.S. Announces High-Powered 2025 Elite Series Field with 104 Anglers Qualifying for the Trail
By The Fishing Wire
Birmingham, AL — On the heels of a record-setting 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series, where attendance and viewership numbers were equaled only by record weights and nail-biting finishes, the competitive field for the 2025 season has been set. Although last year’s rookie class took the Elites by storm, the young guns stepping up to the big stage this year are just as fierce. However, the veterans will have something to say about who will be holding the blue trophies when the scales settle.
Two legends will be joining the 2025 Elites, both dragging a Classic trophy alongside them. Randy Howell won the world championship in 2014 and has almost $2 million in B.A.S.S. winnings. Cliff Pace hoisted the Ray Scott Bassmaster Classic trophy in 2013 and has almost $1.7 million in career earnings.
Each event will kick off with the full field of 104 anglers on Days 1 and 2 before the field is cut to 50 for the semifinal round. The field will then be cut to the Top 10 on the final day, with the winner taking home the title and the $100,000 first-place prize.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
Lately bad boat and trailer luck has turned into good fishing luck for me. The last two trips have started as near disasters. And the last one almost ended in a disaster. Add to that Doctor Hopkins diagnosis of “Fisherman’s” or Tennis Elbow causing pain on every cast and it has been interesting!
Last Sunday 11 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our September tournament at Lake Oconee. After fishing from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM we brought 23 keeper largemouth longer than the 14-inch size limit and weighing about 44 pounds to the scales. There were three five fish limits and two fishermen zeroed.
I won with five weighing 12.28 pounds and my 5.63 pound largemouth was big fish. Niles Murray had five at 10.63 pounds for second, Kwong Yu was third with five weighing 7.63 pounds and Jay Gerson placed fourth with two at 4.16 pounds.
I started out pretty good catching two bass before 7:30 but they barely touched the 14-inch line on my keeper board. In the next hour I landed two more keepers about 15 inches long and one short fish. All those fish hit a weightless Trick worm around grass.
By 10:30 the sun was high and I had not gotten another bite. I idled back into a cove where I had seen a brush pile, stopped and scanned around with my Panoptix looking for it. As the beam passed a post out from the bank, I saw a blip that looked like a fish, holding on the side of the post about three feet down.
I cast to the post and saw my jig swing away from it as it sank. The next cast went over a bar on the post and I saw the blip move off. I figured I had scared the fish then noticed my line was following it!
When I set the hook the five-pounder jumped past the bar my line was on and my heart stopped. I just knew it would break my line on the post or bar or get wrapped around it. Since I was fishing by myself I had to ease the boat to the bar, pick up my net with one hand, reach over the bar and somehow pull the fish to the net with the rod in my other hand.
It worked!
I fished hard the rest of the day hoping to cull the two squeaker keepers I had caught early but caught nothing but 13-inch fish. Then, with five minutes left to fish, I pitched my jig to a dock, the line moved off and I landed a 15-inch fish.
Two weeks ago when I went out to get my boat ready to go to Bartletts Ferry my motor would not trim up, the motor was burned out. So Thursday morning I went to Bartletts Ferry near Columbus going through Gainesville on the way to get a new trim motor.
Last Thursday when I unhooked my boat at the barn to load my camper, I saw a flat tire on my trailer. When I got the spare out I remembered how bad it was. Luckily Biles Tire in Jackson had two in stock and quicky put two new ones on to get me on my way to Oconee.
Monday when I loaded my camper I extended one of my jack poles and broke the shear pin. I had to take that leg off and load the camper using three poles, a scary ordeal. When I got to the barn I was able to replace the shear pin, I carry four extra just in case, and after a few mistakes got the camper off the truck.
As I write this I am getting ready to go load up my boat and camper and head to Bartletts Ferry for the Sportsman Club Classic on Sunday.
I hope I have used up my bad luck, but not my good luck!!
Birmingham, AL — In an effort to facilitate better communication and collaboration with Elite Series anglers, the Bassmaster Elite Angler Board of Professionals (ABP) has been created, B.A.S.S. announced today. The Advisory Board consists of six Elite anglers who were voted on by their peers and who will speak on behalf of the entire field in communicating with B.A.S.S. in order to provide a more direct and efficient way of discussing any current challenges and future opportunities.
The ABP was assembled to include competitors who represent every career phase within the Elite Series ranks: rookies, sophomores, multi-year competitors and veterans. The 2025 Advisory Board roster is comprised of Ben Milliken, Alex Wetherell, Lee Livesay, John Crews, Drew Benton and Mark Menendez. See the Bassmaster Elite Angler Board of Professionals photo gallery here.
B.A.S.S. and the anglers who compete in the Elite Series recognize the importance of effective communication between the organization and the competitors in order to advance and promote the sport and better serve the fishing community. Challenges during the 2024 season revealed an opportunity to improve those communication channels, which led to the formation of the ABP.
“B.A.S.S. is the unquestionable leader in professional bass fishing and has been that way for over 50 years,” said veteran Elite angler John Crews. “The professional bass angler has long been the tireless, passionate competitor that simply wants to catch the biggest bass possible. In the past, the competitors and the league have not found a lasting structure to work together to help each other. Until now. The formation of the ABP, Angler Board of Professionals, is an organically created group of Elite Series anglers trying to help B.A.S.S. and the anglers stay in consistent, productive, positive communication. After numerous roles as an angler representative over the years, I am very excited about being selected as the leader of this inaugural group. It’s a truly humbling honor that I do not take lightly.”
The Advisory Board representatives and B.A.S.S. believe the formation of the ABP will ensure that anglers and the league can understand important topics from each other’s point of view, which will help to restore a foundation of respect and trust. The Advisory Board recently had its first meeting with B.A.S.S. to primarily discuss the recently announced payout structure for the 2025 Elite Series. B.A.S.S. and the ABP agreed on multiple options to be presented to the full field of Elite anglers to vote on, which included boosting the payouts through an angler-determined contribution.
After constructive discussion and multiple rounds of voting, the payout for 2025 (which already included an additional investment of $200,000 from B.A.S.S.), was restructured to better meet the current preference of a majority of Elite anglers. For 2025, the pros decided to make an angler contribution of $10,000 for the season, which will be applied entirely to the Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic payouts. Moving forward, B.A.S.S. and the ABP will discuss if an angler contribution continues to be the preference of the majority of the Elite angler field.
B.A.S.S. also announced the creation of a new Angler Services program to assist Elite Series pros with marketing, improvement of pitches to sponsors and professional development off the water. Former Elite Series pro and Classic champion Davy Hite has been named angler liaison lead to ensure that communication channels remain open between all Elite anglers and the league. B.A.S.S. Director of Marketing Will Flowers will spearhead the Angler Business Services program designed to provide angler marketing and brand support.
“We are excited to be working with the ABP to ensure consistent and clear communication between B.A.S.S. and the Elite anglers,” said Chase Anderson, B.A.S.S. CEO. “There have been challenges trying to communicate with 103 anglers who, understandably, have 103 different priorities when running their individual businesses. We consider the formation of the ABP an opportunity to build a more constructive relationship with anglers as we work together to advance and grow the sport of bass fishing. We remain committed to being the leader in the sport of bass fishing and believe that working with the ABP will strengthen our leadership position and better prepare us for the future.”
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
We knew fishing would be tough at Bartletts Ferry for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament last Saturday. The weekend before it took only 11 pounds to win a local tournament with 47 teams fishing. In local tournaments like that there are usually some very good fishermen that know the lake well and fish it several days a week to keep up with what will catch bass.
In our tournament 18 fishermen cast from 7:00 AM to 3:00 Pm to land 51 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 64 pounds. There were three five bass limits and two fishermen didn’t weigh in a fish.
I managed to win with five weighing 7.26 pounds, Doug Acree had five at 7.05 for second and Stevie Wright came in third with four weighing 6.01 pounds. Glen Anderson had three weighing 5.90 pounds for fourth and his 3.71 pound largemouth was big fish.
I went to Blanton Creek Campground on Wednesday to practice and try to figure out something on Thursday and Friday. Blanton Creek is a very nice Georgia Power campground about five miles by land and three miles by water from Idlehour Ramp where our tournaments are held.
I like camping there, it has nice shady sites with electricity and water hookups and a good bathhouse with hot showers. As usual, when I pulled up to check in the attendant said “you know you can not park your boat in the campground.”
I have run into that problem every time I camp there. My boat batteries have to be charged every night or I can not fish the next day. They want me to leave my boat in the ramp parking lot, where there are no outlets. And I have to take off all my electronics and take all my tackle with me. I am very uncomfortable leaving it exposed in a parking lot.
Some trips in the past I have been able to park my boat on my campsite, assuring the attendants I would not park it outside the gravel area or on the roads. This time I had gotten a site on the water, one of only about ten that allow you to keep your boat in the water and run an extension cord to it to charge your batteries.
Although written rules in the campground say no vehicles should be parked anywhere other than on the gravel camp sites, there were six to 12 trucks and cars parked outside campsites beside the road every day.
So they do not allow anyone to park a boat in the campground since someone might park outside their campsite, but they do not enforce the written rules for cars and trucks.
Seems very unfair to me.
I was shocked to win the tournament. My elbow started hurting the week before the tournament and I got a sharp pain in it every time I tried to cast. Thursday I tried to learn to cast with my left hand, and got pretty good at it, as long as I didn’t care where my bait went.
I cast about 20 times Friday and my elbow hurt so bad I stopped. I spent most of Thursday and Friday riding points, looking for places where I could drop a bait over the side or heave it out with no target, let it sink then drag it around with the trolling motor.
I started Saturday morning on a rocky bank where I could heave my spinnerbait toward it and not care much where it hit. I hooked and lost a fish on my third cast, then lost another a few minutes later. That was not a good start.
I next went to a hump with some hydrilla on it and heaved a topwater bait out, and got a good keeper on my second cast with a topwater plug. After that I caught three on Trick worms on seawalls. Fishing them allowed me to cast in the general direction, often landing my bait on the bank, then pulling it into the water.
After the sun got high I got my fifth keeper dragging a small jig on a point with some brush. Then, with less than 30 minutes to fish, I went back to the hump where I caught my first fish.
With five minutes left to cast I hooked and landed a 2.5 pound largemouth on a spinnerbait. It was my biggest fish of the day and culled a 12-inch spot that weighed less than a pound! That made the difference between first and fourth or so.
Sometimes I ask myself, and I’m sure other people who enjoy fishing ask themselves, “Why do we go fishing”? I’ve found in recent years that my reasons for going fishing have changed. In conversations with other anglers, I’ve learned that their reasons for going fishing have changed also.
When I first started fishing many years ago, I went for one reason: To catch fish! I enjoyed being outdoors and didn’t enjoy being around people that much, so I would park my truck, put on my waders, and walk up and down area rivers by myself. I usually caught some fish. Mostly smallmouth bass and northern pike, but every now and then a walleye would bite my bait. And when a carp would try to eat my jig with his tail, that’s when things got really exciting!
Somewhere in the passage of time, my priorities while fishing changed a bit. Maybe more than a bit. I still like to catch fish. The more and the bigger the better. But I’ve discovered other elements of fishing that are taking on a larger role in my enjoyment of fishing.
It was in my late teenage years that I learned that sharing the fishing experience was enjoyable. I started inviting a family member or a friend to accompany me on those walks along the river. I also learned that it was as much fun to watch my partner catch a fish as it was for me to catch a fish.
As I got older and started fishing from a boat, I realized that not only was it more fun to fish with a partner or two, it was also easier. Two people putting a boat in the water and parking the truck was easier and faster than one person doing so.
It also sunk in that when a couple people were fishing, we could try different baits. One angler would use a faster moving bait, the other a slower moving bait. Or one angler would use a bait of one color, the other used a bait of another color. We could figure out faster what type of presentation the fish were most likely to respond to when we had more lines in the water. We caught more fish.
I learned that every now and then, I truly enjoy setting my fishin’ pole down and just watch the wildlife or water fowl. On a fishing trip a couple of years ago, for the first time, I saw a family of otters on a small rock island. I had never seen this many otters(6) this close. It really added to the day on the water. I’ve watched otters, beavers, deer, loons, and a variety of other critters since then and, every time, it’s enhanced the fishing experience.
Some anglers say they go fishing to catch a meal of fish. They say that it helps stretch their food budget. Going fishing probably isn’t the most economical way to obtain a meal of fresh fish, but it is definitely the most fun way to do so.
So, back to the original question: Why do we go fishing? I don’t know! It’s not one big thing that encourages me to go fishing, it’s a bunch of big things. But the biggest thing is that fishing is something that I enjoy and helps me get away for a while from the things that I and many others need or want to get away from. For me, that’s enough of a reason to go fishing.
Photo Caption—This above all: Never forget that fishing is supposed to be fun.
