Southward bound

For the past five years around this time in late January, it’s become a tradition for me to hook up my truck and boat and head south.
I’m very fortunate to be able to chase a dream that I’ve had since I was a youngster of making a living as a professional bass tournament angler on the FLW Tour.
Along the way, there have been a lot of ups and downs. But things always have found a way of working out–from finding some great sponsor support to allow me to participate to having friends let me leave my boat and truck with them while I fly home to having friends from home pick me up and drop me off at the Winnipeg Airport when I need a ride.
I could not do it without the support of a lot of people.
Coming off what was, by far, my best season to date, where I finished fifth overall in the season-long points race and qualified for my first Forrest Wood Cup tournament, I’m really excited to get this new season started.
I’m writing this column from a hotel room somewhere in central Illinois–a stop on the long ride south.
In the past, we’ve always started the FLW season in Florida but this year we are starting at Lake Guntersville in northern Alabama, so the initial drive is not too bad (around 22 hours from home in Kenora).
This drive south usually is pretty easy because I’m always so excited to go fishing.
Our official practice for the tournament starts Sunday, so I’m headed down a few days early to spend some time on nearby Lake Chickamauga–a lake a couple of hours north of Guntersville where we have fished a couple of tournaments in the past.
I always head south a little bit early before the first tournament because I have a new boat and motor that I need to break in and run to make sure everything is working. Plus I simply want to get fishing again after taking a hiatus for a few months.
Many of my friends who live down south get to fish year-round, so it puts me at a bit of a disadvantage. But I also feel like the break is nice and when I head back out on the road, I have renewed motivation and excitement to get back on the water.
After the tournament in Alabama, I’ll have a few days off before heading to Lake Travis, just outside of Austin, Tex., for our second event.
Following that, I’m driving back east to Atlanta, Ga., where I’ll leave my rig at a friend’s place and fly home for a week or so. Our third event of the season is in Florida in early March so when I get back, the drive there from Atlanta will be an easy one.
As I said at the beginning of this column, getting to compete in bass tournaments at this level is something I really wanted and worked hard to reach for a long time, so I’m enjoying the opportunity and having as much fun as I can while I get to do it.
The long drives are not very glamorous, and all of the time away from home is hard at times. But for me, there is no way I would rather pursue a living.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a bunch of friends lend a hand as I prepared to hit the road–from helping me rig up my new boat to organizing my fishing equipment to looking after my cat–and I want to thank everybody so much!
Look for the tournament and FLW Tour season preview in next week’s column!