It seems like just a short time ago that I was talking about the tournament season being over and now it’s time to get started again. I spent all of today on the road headed to Toho for the first B.A.S.S. Southern Open. After a 10 hour trip, all I can say is I’m glad to be out of the truck and settled in at the friend’s house that I’ll be spending the week. The start of a new season is always an exciting time and this year should be a good one.
The Southern Opens are going to Toho in Florida, Smith Lake in Alabama and Lake Norman in North Carolina. The Centrals are going to Amistad in Texas, Red River in Louisiana and the Arkansas River in Oklahoma. For the first time in several years, there’s not a lake on the schedule that I’m not looking forward to going to; although some of the drives are no fun at all.
You know it’s going to be a long day when the GPS looks like this when you hit the road.
Each of the lakes on the schedule this year have their strengths and they all have very good populations of fish. It should prove to be an interesting year, with a variety of fishing conditions. Toho has the potential of a really big fish, Smith and Norman had lots of spotted bass, the Red River and Arkansas Rivers both have lots of fish and Amistad has both numbers and the potential for a 10 pound plus bass.
After a couple of years with mediocre results, I have high hopes for this season. As I heard the other day, Hope is what keeps us buying lottery tickets and condoms. Hope is good but execution is going to be key this year. The story of last season was great results on Day 1 and dropping off on Day 2, so this season is going to be about consistency and making better adjustments. So as I hit the water tomorrow for the first day of practice, I’ll be looking to get the year started off right. I’ll have to video running and should have some good stories as the season progresses. Hang around and we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks to the sponsors who make this all possible: Lowrance Electronics, Phoenix Bass Boats, Denali Rods, Bryan’s Marine, BoatUS Angler, Power Pole, Costa del Mar Sunglasses and Mississippi Van Lines. Without all of you, none of this would be possible.
