This year marks the first time I’ve fished in the FLW. I’ve been dreaming of fishing as a pro for a long time, and this year I’m thankful that I finally had the opportunity. I am a Texas Bass Angler fishing the FLW TH-Marine BFL Okie series. Seems contradicting, but when you live this close to Oklahoma it makes sense.
Currently, we are half way through the season. I’ve fished three tournaments on two different lakes, and am sitting in 58 overall for points out of a field of 152. Our next tournament is June 22nd on Fort Gibson, and I’m hoping to do well in that one in order to bump up in points at least to make the 45 cut line.
Fishing these tournaments is an experience like no other. And the BFL is just a taste of what it would be like on the FLW Tour. Although it’s not the Tour, there are a lot of similarities. You still travel, you still have to fish smart and catch enough to keep you in the points in order to make it to the Cup, it still costs money, it still takes time, and we all still get the same butterflies when our boat number gets called. And like my co-angler, Steve Bradfield said, “Yeah you will [keep fishing tournaments] it just gets in your blood.” He’s probably right.
The first three tournaments have been an eye-opener, to see what it’s like to get on a new lake and try to make things happen with only one day of pre-fishing. But the fish can do one thing in practice, and be completely different on tournament day. We’ve all heard the pros say how they’ve been terrible in practice and then kill it on tournament day. I haven’t exactly “killed it” on tournament day yet, but I’m still hopeful, I know it can happen. Right now I just need to stay focused and learn as much as I can about the next lake to try and have a good tournament.
FLW Fishing TH-Marine BFL Okie – 2019 Schedule
Stay tuned if y’all want to follow along on the journey. FLW is broadcasting live from all of our events this year. So you can actually watch the weigh-ins from your phone if you go to this link: https://www.flwfishing.com/ Scroll down to the “Live Broadcasts” section, and look at the schedule for the TH-Marine BFL. From there you can click on any of the tournaments at the scheduled time and watch the event.
Next stop: Ft. Gibson – Wagoner, OK | June 22, 2019