 KC.com:
You have been on an incredible streak this season. You
are leading the FLW Tour standings, you won a FLW Tour
event in Ft. Pierce and you won a FLW Series event in
Dauphin Island. You have achieved all of this in just
one year.
What has been the secret to your success? What have
you done different this year?
I
think it is just having the right team and being prepared
for these events. It’s like the saying; luck is
when preparation meets opportunity. I think that is
what has happened with us this year. We go out and try
hard at each tournament. We also arrive about a week
early for each FLW Tour event, so we can see what’s
happening and what’s going on. I think that that
is our secret, if we have one.
There
really hasn’t been any huge difference in our
fishing techniques or anything. We changed our prefishing
strategy a little bit. Instead of prefishing more locations
further from port, we have decided to try and fish local
numbers first. An example of this was in Sarasota this
season. Everyone said that there were fish in the Keys,
and we knew that. But we weren’t going to make
that run and this year we started to look closer and
we found some good fish. That’s really been the
only change. We pretty much have the same team as years
past, the root of which is Richard and I.
What
has been your proudest accomplishment thus far?
There
are guys that have fished tournaments for 15 or 20 years
and have not won an event. I have been fortunate enough
to win more than one tournament. But the proudest accomplishment
had to be when we won the FLW Tour tournament in Ft.
Pierce. That was the first tournament that Richard and
I won together. You also look at the guys fishing these
pro tournaments and we are just amazed when we beat
some of these guys. We are seeing a lot of these teams
in magazines and on TV, it really amazed us. We just
try to keep up with these top teams. We view them as
being on this other pedestal and we are always happy
when we can beat some of them.
What
accomplishment would you like to achieve?
We
would obviously like to win the FLW Team of the Year.
It would be great to pull that off. We feel that we
are in a position to do so. Beaufort was a tournament
that we had a Top 5 in last year, and then coming back
home for that last event. I hope we can capitalize on
this opportunity.
We
are really hoping that we can finish the year at number
1. It seems that in the past that that top place has
eluded us. We have had a lot of second, third, and fourth
place finishes, but this year has been something different.
We finally popped that one in Ft. Pierce and then got
another one a couple weeks later in Dauphin Island.
Is
it important to assign jobs on your team?
We
kind of have something worked out where everyone knows
what everyone else does best on our team. We all have
confidence that everyone on the boat can do every job,
but everyone knows that certain people have their strengths.
What
remaining FLW venue are you looking forward to fishing
most?
I’d
have to say Beaufort. Last year we had that mid-30,
which got us fourth place. We also caught a 40 pounder
at the championships last year. We seem to do well down
in that area and I just feel comfortable fishing there.
But we also do like to fish Atlantic Beach, which is
only an hour North of where we live.
Who
do you think the hottest team in kingfishing is?
There
are some people that have said that we are. I would
like to say we have a little something going on for
us. We are really trying to keep this streak up. But
there are a few other great teams that have been on
streak as well. Team Bandit is one that I think of right
away. I do feel that we have been as hot as anyone else
fishing these tournaments though.
How important is cooperation with other teams
on the tour? Which other teams do you work with?
We
do work with some teams on the FLW Tour. I don’t
want to say any names, because I don’t want to
leave anyone out. But there are probably 3 or 4 teams
that we work with. We help them when we can, and they
try to do the same. We just try to share information
the best that we can, when we can. But the information
must go both ways. Everyone fishing this tour has a
little bit of unique information that they can share.
What
do you think tournaments can do to improve participation?
I
think that there are several factors. You can’t
really put your finger on just one thing. You can see
that some local tournaments are drawing 300 boats and
are doing well, while others struggle to get 50. It’s
it just very hard to answer.
I
think one factor is the venues that are selected. I
think Biloxi is a great place to draw a good turnout
because there is a little more then just fishing. I
think that can get the attention of people.
There
are also so many tournaments. It seems like there are
3 or 4 tournaments every weekend. I think that that
is cutting down on the numbers for some tournaments.
I
think it also takes time to generate a good reputation.
There are some new great tournaments, like the FLW Series,
but they haven’t been doing it as long. There
are tournaments that have been at this for 20 years.
I think it will just take time to get a good reputation.
I wish I had a better answer. If I did we would all
be set, but I think that these are the main factors.
Who
will be the Top 5 in the upcoming FLW Tour event in
Beaufort?
That’s
tough there are so many team great teams fishing this
tour. But I’d have to pick:
Papotanic
should do well. They are great fishermen and Bill (Platt)
is due to stick a good one on the FLW Tour.
Team
House-Autry did well in Ft. Pierce and at this venue
last year. I think they will be fishing on day 3.
Team
Land O’ Lakes is from this area and should do
well.
I
can’t pick against us, so I think we will be in
the mix in Beaufort.
The
fifth spot is tough to predict. I’d have to pick
team Triple Gobble here.
Thank
you for stopping by.
Thank
you. I can’t forget to mention my great sponsors.
My sponsors are Yamaha, Wellcraft, M&Ms, Britt Motorsports
and Raymarine.
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