Alabama Pro Using Wildcard and Getting Ready for 2008

 Story by Pete Robbins - Photos by Mark Jeffreys 

Rogersville, Ala. - The 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series wasn't Jimmy Mason's first crack at the bass fishing big time. 

The Alabama guide and tournament angler had fished the tour in 2005 as well, and after a year's hiatus from the big leagues a 7th place finish at last year's Wild Card event on the Harris Chain of lakes put him back in for '07. He was pumped to take that prior experience and turn it into green fish and green dollars, but the result was disappointing – just 3 Elite Series money finishes, nothing above 28th.

Nevertheless Mason is ready for the 2008 campaign. But it looks like he'll have to conquer another Florida Wild Card to get there. 

"I'm hoping it'll go well," he said. "I really hope it ends up like last year. I've had good success at Okeechobee in the past and hope it continues this year."

Tough Start
The monetary demands of a full-season effort weighed on him from the beginning of the year, and often left him as if he "couldn't catch (his) breath."

"Bomber Lures and PRADCO were originally going to wrap just the front quarter of my boat and I was trying to sell the other three quarters to someone else. I worked until the last minute to try to sell that primary sponsor package, but there were 2 or 3 deals that didn’t come to fruition."

The trouble was compounded when he went to pick us his new boat and the wrap was done incorrectly, forcing him to wait for it to be redone.

"I didn't get to Amistad until midnight on Sunday, the night before practice started, so I was extremely rushed, and I've always felt that when you can go in relaxed you tend to do much better."

After a tough 105th place finish, he stayed at Amistad a few extra days before heading out to California.

"I was on the same spinnerbait bite like everyone else, but I spent too much time on the main lake home run areas the first day. I should've pulled out and went and caught a limit with a Yum Dinger, but I stayed to try to catch 5 pounders and only had 2 for 10 pounds."

"I showed up there the next day and Kelly Jordon was on the spot with 23 pounds and culling. It was just a matter of bad timing. By not catching 5 to 7 more pounds on the first day, I had to fish like that again on the second day." 

The Potomac was also a disappointment: "The first day I fished behind Skeet and my co-angler caught a limit behind me fishing a shakey head between the logs. I was a bend or so behind Skeet and he vacuumed them up pretty good, but my co still managed 10 or 11 pounds between the cover."

"The second day I planned to stay in Nanjemoy all day, but after 30 minutes Skeet asked me to leave. It was an extremely hard decision, but I made the decision (to leave) based more on the Angler of the year than on that one tournament."

At Toho, Reese told him that he wouldn't have won had Mason not left, which made him feel slightly better. "I hope that will come around some time."

Some Satisfaction
The Sooner Run was one tournament where his preparation paid off.

"I stayed at Clear Lake for a few extra days to work on swimbaiting, but then I stopped at Grand on the way home. I rode around for three days and never took a rod out of the locker. I just graphed deep structure."

"When we came back for the tournament, it was a flood situation. I was nipping at the edges of the crankbait bite, but I didn't entirely piece it together so I had a one-two deal cranking and flipping. That's my favorite situation to fish, changing conditions." 

Even though he had a tough time in the Erie finish, it was the type of lake that renewed his interest in the sport. 

"If I could pick any lake to go back to for a week's vacation, it would be Erie. It's absolutely the best. Better than the Tennessee River lakes."

Although he hadn't qualified for the Majors, he traveled to Oneida with close friend Timmy Horton "to see how he practices." When he went back to Erie, the rough water conditions damaged his bounce buster, which in turn made it impossible to put down his trolling motor.

"I had two different drift socks out but I still lost some key fish. But it was the first day I ever weighed in a dropshot fish, and on the second day I rebounded really well, so I'm excited to go back.

Toho Upswing
His 2006 season had ended with a successful trip to Florida, and this year the Elites ended in the Sunshine State as well. Even though a spot in the Classic was not an issue, he had an opportunity to regain some of his lost pride and make a check as well, and he capitalized on those opportunities with a solid 28th place finish.

"It was one of the toughest mental tournaments I've ever fished, but it felt good to end the season that way."

He locked down to Kissimmee the first day, but caught only one fish in the lower lake, but when he came back up to Toho he managed 7 keepers in the last two hours and needed only a small weight the next day to make the cut.

"I knew there were some good fish in the area, so on Day 2 I didn't lock down. I went to my main area, about the size of 2 average houses, and I didn't crank the big engine all day. I've never done that before."

"At 1 o'clock I only had 1 fish, just like the day before. It was an afternoon bite and again I caught 7 or 8 keepers in the last two hours. It was real tough mentally to wait them out, but it was the right thing to do."

But despite the negatives, he came away from the season with an overall positive attitude: "I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to 2008," he said. "My mistakes snowballed and I'm not going to let that happen again."

He is heartened by Horton's counsel and consistent catches. "He told me to hang in there, I'm doing the right things. This year was a test. There were 2 or 3 tournaments where I got on the deal, told him about it, and that's how he ended up catching his fish."

"For instance, at Clear Lake, we shared the area I found. He was sightfishing. It was the kind of area where one of us could've won or made the Top 12 cut. On the 2nd day, three of us caught 9 fish over six pounds there." 

"I don't take any credit away from Timmy. He caught them better than I did, but it makes me confident that I'm on the right path. The thing I learned this year is that on the Elite Series you can't have a bad day at all. They catch them at least as well the second day."

Business As Usual
Mason is generally regarded within the industry as one of the best and most tireless promoters on the tour and if anything his less-than-optimal finishes this year made him up his game in that respect.

"It made me feel that I needed to work harder to make sure that they're getting their value. I take every opportunity I can to work with the outdoor media, more even than in the past. I just did my year-end reports and I had 24 published articles about me."

Still, he's mildly afraid of what the fallout could be. "I sent apologetic emails to my sponsors. It's scary and tough. You never expect to have a bad year, but this year it happened to multiple time Classic qualifiers, so it can happen to anyone."

"Even Denny Brauer won the Horizon Award. One thing I learned from his book is that in order to win, you can't be scared to finish last."

Plans for '08
Assuming he's back on the Elites, and he has every intention of being there, Mason has used his winter wisely to avoid this year's snowballing problems.

First, he's hard at work on several potential deals, any one of which might take care of any financial worries he'd have on the road.

Perhaps more importantly, he's reevaluated his fishing, primarily through constant tournament competition. 

"I'm fishing a lot of local tournaments, the Southern Open at Wheeler, some wildcats, a lot of them by myself to keep the drive up. That should help with my decision making processes, because in a twenty-five dollar wildcat you're making decisions the same as in the Elite Series."

He has also realized that the big boys swing a big stick and bring in big bags every day.

"I grew up fishing 4 or 5 tournaments a week on Wheeler in the 90s and I was often fishing for just a few bites. Sometimes that mentality gets me in trouble."

He has also tried to refine his technical skills, particularly with applications that are still relatively new to his arsenal, like dropshotting.

Finally, he plans to simplify his tackle: "Looking over what used and what I didn't, I'm going to be packing lighter, with less clutter."

He characterized 2007 as "humbling, but definitely a learning experience," and while it's certainly not out of his mind, it's firmly in his rear view mirror as he embarks on the quest for personal redemption in 2008.