Photos by Mark Jeffreys & Matt Pangrac

After opening the season on Amistad with a third place finish, Lintner managed just two Top 50 performances the rest of the year. By season’s end, he was mired in a disappointing 62nd place finish in the Toyota Trucks Angler Of the Year standings. 

After a self-admitted dismal performance last season, one would be inclined to think that Lintner spent every waking minute of the off-season focused on regaining his form of previous years. “Actually, since Oneida, I’ve been running my dad’s milk business and fishing some small team tournaments around the area,” explained Lintner. “I haven’t really been doing anything that exciting.” 

The break is exactly what Lintner needed to gather his thoughts and become reacquainted with his passion for tournament fishing. “Last year I had a really poor attitude and it snowballed. When you put yourself in those situations, it takes the fun out of it and you forget why you even started fishing in the first place,” Lintner admitted. 

“I’ve been fishing with my buddies and I’m having a great time doing that. It has started to make fishing fun again.” 

Head Games 
While he refuses to dwell on last season’s performance, Lintner said that he learned some valuable, though difficult, lessons. In an individual sport where many of the players admit that most important factor to success is located between the ears, Lintner said that he was beat before the 2009 season even started. 

“I got really down on myself to the point to where it was stupid for me to be even out there. I had myself beat before I even launched my boat,” he remembered. “With that kind of attitude, you’re not going to do anything.

“Halfway through last year, I just decided that I would rather be at home. It wasn’t anybody’s fault but my own, but mentally, I just wasn’t in the 2009 season at all.” 

Lintner said that over the course of his career on the Elite Series, he started to fish based upon what was “supposed to be happening” on certain lakes. As a result, he drifted from the style that originally catapulted him from the Western Opens to the top level of professional bass fishing. In the 2010 season, he is committed to doing things his way. 

“My first year on the Elites I didn’t know anybody, and I had never been to the lakes. I just went out and fished the way that I like to fish and I did pretty well. I got away from that, but this year I’m going to find the stuff that I like to do and figure out how to catch them my way. Mentally, I feel like I’ve gotten my consistency back.” 

Lintner is confident that his renewed attitude and drive will pay off with a return to the Bassmaster Classic stage. It’s a concrete goal which he has set for himself in the upcoming year. “It’s very important for me to get back to the Classic,” said Lintner, who posted Top 20 finishes in both the 2007 and 2008 Classics. “I’ve missed it the last two years and I got really mad when I saw this past classic on TV,” he admitted. 

“This is the biggest thing in bass fishing and here I am, sitting on my couch. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to make it back to the Classic unless my whole head game falls apart again and I’m not going to let that happen. My number one goal is to get back there. I don’t want to be sitting at home and watching.” 

Back Home to Cali
With the 2010 season kicking off in The Golden State with back-to-back stops on the California Delta and Clear Lake, the 36-year-old pro is well aware of the opportunity presented before him to get the season started on a high note. When the Elite Series visited the two bodies of water in 2007, Lintner posted Top 10 finishes at each tournament. He also captured his only BASS win in 2005 on Clear Lake. Of his nine, Top 10 finishes in BASS Open and Elite Series competition, five of them have come on either the California Delta or Clear Lake. 

It’s hard to argue with that kind of success, but Lintner was quick to point out that he doesn’t expect local knowledge to play a big factor, particularly at Clear Lake. “Because it’s spring, the fish are going to be on the move and they’re going to be feeding,” he explained. “I would bet that out of the Top 12 at Clear Lake, there will be at least six totally different patterns.” 

Prior to the official cut-off, he spent three days on the California Delta. What he found was less than ideal conditions. “I went right after five days of rain and the current was running really hard. Miles of grass was actually torn out in certain areas. I really didn’t learn that much but I did get familiar with some new areas.” 

While Lintner says that Clear Lake won’t play into the hands of local favorites, it’s hard to bet against an angler with an intimate knowledge of a vast tidal fishery like the California Delta. “I’m already rigged up for the Delta,” allowed Lintner. “I have a game plan for all three days of practice and I already know where I want to be, on what tides, and at what time of the day. We’ll see how it goes.” 

And what about personal expectations? “I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself but I think that by living here, I have a good grasp on what is going on. I’ve spent a ton of time on both the Delta and Clear Lake over the years. I don’t want to jinx myself by any means, but yea, I would love to win either one of them.” 

Note: Tackle Warehouse will again be Lintner’s primary sponsor for the 2010 season and be featured on his boat wrap. “Without Tackle Warehouse, I wouldn’t have even been able to think about fishing this year,” said Lintner. “They’ve really stepped up hard for me.”