A look back at the 2024 season, part two

In May, we finally got home for a little bit, which was nice. We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the World here in Northwest Ontario and we have amazing fishing so I'm always happy when I get to fish and explore around home.

Walleye fishing is always good!

So is the pike!

And so is the smallmouth fishing!

In June we had two events in Alabama, at Wheeler Lake, followed by Smith Lake. Wheeler did not go awesome, I missed the cut by ounces and lost a fish the second day that would have got me in, but Smith went good. We had a week to kill in between so I just hung out at Lake Guntersville and it was a blast. I had some great days out there and caught a bunch of nice fish during the week and worked on my ledge fishing game. Hopefully we'll visit Guntersville again in the near future. 

Smith in another good spotted bass lake, which I really enjoy fishing. They have an attitude similar to smallmouths but we don't have them in Canada, so they are a unique fish. In most lakes they don't get very big, so it's special when you fish the lakes where they get to be four and five pounds.

In July, I got to fish a couple of tournaments around home at Shoal Lake and then the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship at Rainy Lake. Shoal Lake did not get very good but we had a good run at the FFCBC. 
John Peterson, who founded Northland Fishing Tackle, and I have fished this tournament together since 2007 and have had a lot of good days on Rainy Lake over the years. We ended up finishing fourth this year after a bit of a slow start on day one, it was a good week!

In August we were back on the road for the last two Elite events of the year out in New York. Shelby and I stayed at a really cool place called the Red Rock Lodge, on the shores of Lake Superior on our way out there. Very cool spot.

Heading into the last couple tournaments, I was going to need a pair of solid finishes to make the Classic. We hit Lake Champlain first and it was a great week out there. I love fishing that place because of the numbers of bass there, the place is a factory. The first day when great and then the second day turned into a grind, I just couldn't find them and the day got away on me. Missed the cut again by ounces and it was not looking good for me to get into the Classic with one event left.

I figured I probably would need a top 20 in this final event to have a shot at making the Classic, so I needed to catch some fish. Like many of the anglers, I made the run out to Lake Ontario the first couple days and caught some solid limits. I was in 14th place heading into the weekend. On day three the wind blew hard so I decided I would spend my time in the river where I would be able to fish. It was over two hours for me to get out of my stuff on the lake when it was calm, I just wouldn't have had enough time to fish out there. Fortunately, things worked out and I put together a 20 pound bag in the river and we finished up in 15th place, to qualify for the 2005 Bassmaster Classic!!!

A big congratulations to fellow Canadian angler Chris Johnston on his Bassmaster Angler of the Year win! We've been friends for a long time so I was proud to see him get that trophy. I've had a front row seat to their dominance over the years, it's been really impressive! 

A look back at the 2024 season

We just wrapped up the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series season out at the St. Lawrence River in New York. It was not my best season, but we had a great finish at the final event and squeaked into one of the last spots for the 2025 Bassmaster Classic! So, that makes it a success! 

Now that we're back home for the next while, we're staying busy on the water with some guide trips as well as fishing several tournaments around home this fall. We're also heading out to New Brunswick at the end of September for the Pan-Am Black Bass Challenge. I'll be part of Team Canada, competing against the USA, Mexico and several other nations. 

We started the year with a good finish down at Toledo Bend in Texas. This place is a big bass factory...it was a fun week! Following that, we went straight to Lake Fork and while I had over 20 pounds both days, it landed me in the 60's! Texas knows how to take care of their lakes and their bass better than anywhere I've ever been and it's proven every time with visit. 

The Bassmaster Classic was a special week in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Winning it the year before was a life-changing event so it was nice to enjoy the whole week a little bit more this time around. It's the highlight of the year for bass fishing and I feel lucky that I get to compete again next year for the sixth year in a row. It keeps getting harder and harder to qualify for this event every year. 

Following the Classic, we went to Lake Lanier, GA for the first Touring Angler's Association event. This was a no-waypoints, no practice, no forward-facing sonar event so it was a little bit different but I had a good tournament, eventually finishing up in 8th place. This is one of my favourite places in the World to fish because of the big spotted bass in the lake. It's also a really nice part of the United States and I have made a bunch of good friends in that region. Happy to go back there anytime!

In April, we had back to back events in Florida, at the Harris Chain of Lakes and the St. John's River. Came out of the Harris Chain with a decent finish but we had our worst Elite Series tournament ever at the SJR, finishing 101st! I got zero points at this one, which really set me back in the standings to make the Classic. The rest of the year it felt like we just had a big hole we were trying to get out of. Fortunately, it all worked out! 

That was a good cull from the Harris Chain! 

In May, we visited South Carolina to fish at Lake Murray for the second year in a row. I had a great first day there and then fizzled a bit the next couple of days but left there with a solid finish. It's a fun lake to fish in one of my favourite parts of the country. 

Look for part two of the season in review, coming right up. 

New look for 2024

I'm grateful for all of the support that I get from all of my sponsors or I wouldn't get to do what I do, chasing fish all over North America. For the 2024 season, we have a little bit of a different look on the rig. Northland Fishing Tackle is my title sponsor, hope you like it! 

We Won the Bassmaster classic!!!

I still can't believe it happened but we won the Bassmaster Classic! For anyone who enjoys competitive bass fishing, this is the dream. It's the biggest event in out sport and a legendary event. I owe thanks to a lot of people who have supported me to be on this stage. 

The tournament was held on the Tennessee River, out of Knoxville, TN. For some reason, this body of water and I get along. We put all of our effort into looking for smallmouths and it paid off. The first two days went perfectly, but the third day was extremely tough and I was only able to catch two keepers. I didn't think I would have enough to hang on, but by some miracle, it was tough for everybody else as well. 

The smallmouths on this waterbody had to be 18" to keep so it was challenging to catch keepers. If you got them, they were all big ones however so I went to the tournment prepared to fish for smallmouths exclusively. Fortunately, things worked out. 

It was awesome to share the experience the winning moment with my wife Shelby. She is my best friend and is a big part of the team. 

A huge thank you to all of the friends, family and fans who came out to support us in Knoxville, at the morning blast-offs and the weigh-ins...the crowds were unbelieveable. You guys make the event so special! Huge thank you to Bassmaster for offering this incredible stage for all of the anglers! 

A good season in the Lund!!

Well guys, I have not kept up the blog portion of my website very good the past few months...been to busy in my boat! It was a good season, I probably spent more time in my Lund 2075 Pro-V Bass than I ever have, so no complaits there! Fished as many tournaments as I could, qualified for the 2023 Bassmaster Classic and had some fun catching a bunch of fish! 

We finished the Elite Series season up north at the St. Lawrence River, NY., Lake Oahe, SD., and the Mississippi River, WI. I ended up wit three finishes in the 20's in those, which was good. The last couple were a little disappointing because I had some great starts and then didn't finish as strong but my consistency has been getting better every year. The 2022 season was special because I had my highest Elite Series AOY finish (14th) and I actually managed to catch a limit every day of competition through the season. Only one other angler did that...it's a lot harder to do than it sounds!! 

Live in action on a rough Lake Oahe in August...I'm very lucky that I get to fish out my Lund. It is the most versatile bass boat I've ever been in...it can go shallow, it's great in big water, I can pull it up on the bank for a shore lunch, it's just a great rig. I have it set up with Minn Kota and Humminbird gear, it's a real fishing machine! 

I owe a huge thank you to all of my supporters, sponsors and friends who help me get on this Elite Series stage. It's the dream job for me and I'm grateful for it every day! 

Around home, it was a good season. The highlight was winning the Crow Lake Classic with my wife Shelby. It's always one of the weekends/tournaments that we look forward to most every year...she put a couple of the biggest fish in the boat for us in this one, like she usually does! 

My good friend John Peterson and I have fished the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship together since 2007 and we always have a good time there as well. It's one of the bigger open tournaments in Canada on beautiful Rainy Lake. We had a great tournament, ending up in 2nd place this year...we'll be back again next year! 

When I'm not tournament fishing, I'm still out there, happy to catch anything that will bite. I spend quite a bit of time catching walleye on Lake of the Woods and it's been as good as I've ever seen it the past couple of years...a lot of the walleyes are spending the summer much shallower than they used to, I think because of all the crayfish in the lake and we hammer them with Z-Man soft plastics rigged on a jig head. Lot's of eaters and lots of big ones. 

In addition to bass and walleye, we also have excellent fishing for lake trout, pike, musky and crappie. I spend some time catching them all! 

And crappies!! If you're interested in a guide trip...send me a message. I don't have a ton of free days but I can usually find a few here and there to get out fishing with people. 
Thanks again to everybody for all of the support!