The 2019 season is now officially over after my 37th place finish in the Potomac River Regional Championship last month. You can see how that event went down on my YouTube channel. But my focus now turns to 2020 where it’s time for me to decide what and where I’ll be fishing.
It’s very important for me to keep moving up the ladder. And by that I mean I need to keep reaching for my ultimate goal of becoming a professional angler. The FLW and MLF and merged and have created some exciting opportunities in amateur anglers like myself.
The first thing they’ve done is lowered entry fee’s to $200 per event for the FLW BFL events which I have now fished for 3 years straight. The FLW/MLF has also created 3 additional divisions in the FLW Series. If you don’t know, the FLW Series is essentially the minor leagues of professional bass fishing. Some of the greatest anglers in the country fish the FLW Series.
With the FLW creating 3 new FLW Series Divisions, they have events at locations relatively close to me. So I could take the next step up and fish the FLW Series Eastern Division. It would be a big step for me. However, the entry fee’s for those events is $1700. There’s 3 events. So the costs of fishing the FLW Series would be very high. And if I go into those events and don’t finish in the money… it would be a very expensive trip. And plus I keep asking myself, “Am I ready for the FLW Series? Am I ready to take on the big boys? Am I experienced enough to break down a lake in 1 week and fish and 3 day tournament and have a legitimate shot at winning?”
The answer is, I don’t know… and the fact that I don’t know means I’m not ready. So in 2020 I’ve decided to NOT take the next step up. I’m not ready just yet. I really feel like I need one more year of experience before I try and move up to the next rung on this ladder. I still haven’t won a BFL Event which is my number 1 goal going into next season.
However 2020 will be a critical year for me as I have decided to fish 2 BFL Divisions next year. The North Carolina Division and the Piedmont Division are holding events on locations in where I have had some success in my career so far. With the lower BFL entry fee’s it’s financially feasible to fish 2 divisions. The main reason for me wanting to fish 2 divisions is because I’ll have the opportunity to fish 2 BFL Regional Championships in 2020 one of which will be on the James River in Virginia. The latter being held on Lake Lanier, Georgia.
I love fishing the BFL’s. They truly give amateur anglers an opportunity to experience big time fishing and with the lower entry fee’s in 2020 it has never been a better time to fish. Fishing 2 divisions will be very time consuming and stressful in many different ways. I’ll be fishing a few new body’s of water including Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. My track record of breaking down new water fast hasn’t been good. So I’ll need to fine tune those skills this year to give myself a legitimate shot at winning each of these events I compete in next year.
In 2020 I’m not looking to do “just good enough”. I want to win. I want to win bad. Those who don’t truly know me don’t understand that fishing is my life. It’s what I think about morning, day and night. Competing in these events is my passion.
Our first event of 2020 is February 29 on Lake Norman. Be sure to follow me on YouTube to stay up to date with BFL Season 4.