For the sixth time in my seven seasons on the Bassmaster Elite Series, we visited the St. John’s River in Northeast Florida. In all of my years fishing professionally in the U.S., this body of water has been by far the toughest on me, with one good finish in all of those stops. It’s a tidal river that is known for big bass, but the numbers are not great and the fish are not everywhere. For some reason, it just gives me a hard time.
Last year’s visit was especially brutal for me, when I finished 101st, which was third last, the worst finish of my career. This time around, I left with an 83rd place finish after catching small limits each day. Not how I wanted to start the season, that’s for sure.
Knowing that the St. John’s has given me problems in the past, I came here optimistic and with the attitude that I needed to try and fish new areas than I have in the past. While I did that for the most part, after my practice didn’t go that well and I didn’t find an area that I felt like I could hunker down in, I ended up fishing some of the areas where I’ve found limited success in the past. The results were the same, a big mistake looking back.
In fishing, it’s easy to fall back on places that have been good in the past, but it can be harmful as well. The most successful anglers fish the conditions and keep moving, looking for active fish that are catchable. It’s obviously easier said than done, because we’re often under a time crunch when we’re on the water, whether you’re in a tournament or just out for a few hours after work trying to catch a limit of walleyes for dinner. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you don’t find one of those good areas.
I’ll get to forget about this one quickly because we’re back at it again this week down at Lake Okeechobee in south Florida. It’s a lake that I have fished many times in the past and one that I’ve had some good events at. I’m looking forward to getting back at it, having a good tournament and getting this season turned around.
There is some extra pressure this year because just a few weeks ago, Bassmaster announced that the 2026 Bassmaster Classic will be back in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the Tennessee River, where I won the event in 2023. It’s actually the site of both of my pro-level tournament wins so I definitely want to be in that event. We get points based on where we finish in each event and the top 40 from the 104-angler field qualify for the Classic. There are still eight events left on the season so lots of fishing left, but I don’t want to dig my hole any deeper than it is now.
Despite the tough fishing, it has been nice to be in some warmer weather and get back in the boat. It was also nice to see Canada win that big hockey game last week. I made sure to let my American friends know about it!
