UPSHAW’S UPGRADED 2012 SCHEDULE

Story by Matt Pangrac - Photos courtesy of Andrew Upshaw

Hemphill, TX - In September, The BASS ZONE ran a feature story on Texas angler Andrew Upshaw, who had just won the College B.A.S.S. National Championship and earned a berth as the first collegiate angler in the upcoming 2012 Bassmaster Classic on the Red River.  To read the initial story, CLICK HERE.

While the transition from fishing in collegiate bass tournaments to fishing in the Bassmaster Classic is no doubt a giant step, high level tournament competition is nothing new to Upshaw, who has competed in BFL tournaments since 2004 and has had success at the Bassmaster Open and FLW EverStart level in recent years. 

Hoping to use his Classic qualification as a springboard to a career in professional bass fishing, Upshaw recently announced that he will be competing as a professional in the upcoming six FLW Tour Majors in 2012. 

The BASS ZONE caught up with Upshaw as he prepared for the upcoming Classic and got ready for a very busy 2012:

The BZ: The Classic is less than three weeks away.  Talk about how you’ve been preparing.

Upshaw: I’ve had a while to prepare mentally for the Classic.  It’s really been a roller coaster ride the last couple of months trying to get everything ready and get all the baits that I’ll need.  I’ve also been finalizing deals with some sponsors and trying to finish up plans for the 2012 season that starts after the Classic is over.  It has been a very busy time for me.

The BZ: Did you get any time to go pre-practice on the Red River?

Upshaw:  I was able to get on the Red River or six days of practice.  Honestly, I think that I could have accomplished the same thing in two days, but I spent a little extra time over there just to reacquaint myself with the River.  I spent a lot of time calculating run time and working on logistics. 

The BZ:  With some history on the Red River, what are your expectations going into the Classic from a fishing standpoint?

Upshaw:  With how hard it is to access some of the backwaters and how long it takes to run to certain areas, I would be surprised if this Classic was won by an angler who was running and gunning.  I think that it’s going to be won out of a specific area.

The key is going to be figuring out how you need to adapt on the third and final day.  You may be able to milk an area for two days, but you’re probably going to need to make some changes on that final day.  That’s going to be the hardest part.

The BZ: What would you consider to be a successful week in Shreveport?

Upshaw:  Obviously, the overall goal is to win, but I would consider a Top 10 finish to be a very successful week.  I’d be extremely happy if I was able to do that.  There are a lot of great fishermen in this tournament and I just want to be able to compete and hold my own.

The BZ: Are you concerned about being able to “hold your own,” or do you think with your past success on the Red River, you might even be one of the contenders that a lot of people are overlooking?

Upshaw:  If I was on the outside looking in, my picks for the Classic would probably be along the lines of a Mike Iaconelli or Brent Chapman.  There are a lot of incredible anglers who have done well on the Red River before. That being said, I feel like I’m an extreme dark horse because so many people don’t know who I am and haven’t seen me fish.

If you look at it statistically, I’m at the bottom of the barrel.  I think that I’m listed as having career earnings of $675 compared to a lot of the other contenders who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings.

From that standpoint, it looks like I’m going to get smoked, but I think that I’m going to fare pretty well.  The style of fishing that I feel like I’ll be doing on the Red River is something that suits me very well.  A lot of times, if I get locked in on something, I can do it all day and not lose confidence.  I think that the angler who can buckle down and really fish slowly will do well.  When I’ve been on the water the last few months, I’ve really focused on slowing down and being very methodical.

The BZ: After the Classic is over, you basically have a week to prepare for the first FLW Tour major of the season on Lake Hartwell.  Talk about your decision to fish the FLW Tour Majors in 2012.

Upshaw:  I’m extremely excited about fishing the FLW Tour Majors.  After winning the College B.A.S.S. National Championship and qualifying for the Classic, I was very fortunate to have some of my sponsors step up.  Because I wasn’t qualified for the Elite Series, I really started taking a hard look at the FLW Tour. 

It was something that I really had to think about because it’s a huge financial responsibility.  It’s also a huge jump from competing in BFL and EverStart tournaments to competing on the FLW Tour.  This season, the FLW Tour Majors really fit my style of fishing.  That’s one of the reasons why I’m so excited about fishing them. 

I really finalized my decision to fish the Tour in late December, but I’d been exploring that option since September.  Some people may see this as an overstep, but I think that it’s going to work out really well.  My ultimate goal is to be on the Elite Series, but just getting some experience with top level competition on the FLW Tour Majors will really prepare me for the future. 

The BZ: What other tournaments are you planning to fish in 2012 besides the Bassmaster Classic and the FLW Tour Majors?

Upshaw:  I’m going to fish a few of the EverStarts and the three Bassmaster Northern Opens.  My main goal is to make the Elite Series next year through the Northern Opens.  I feel like I have a legitimate shot to do that.  The nice thing about the schedule of the FLW Tour Majors and the Bassmaster Northern Opens is that they actually fit nicely together. 

That was the main reason why I decided to fish the Northern Opens.  I thought about fishing the Southern Opens, but when I calculated the mileage, I would have been driving around 18,000 miles to fish all three of them.  When I calculated the mileage that it would take for me to fish the FLW Tour Majors in coordination with the Bassmaster Northern Opens, I’d only be driving around 13,000 miles.  That made the decision a whole lot easier. 

I’ll actually be on the road for about three months straight this year alternating between the Majors and the Northern Opens. 

The BZ: How much time have you spent preparing for the Classic as opposed to the upcoming FLW Tour season?

Upshaw:  Right now, I’d say that about 98% of my time has been spent preparing for the Classic because that’s such a major opportunity.  I have spent some time doing some research for the FLW Tour Major on Lake Hartwell. 

The tough thing is that right after the Classic, I turn around the following week and start preparing for the FLW Tour.  It’s going to be pretty hectic.  Once I make it through the Classic, I’ll really spend a lot of time breaking down the Tour schedule and looking at maps.

The BZ: You had a pretty serious injury in November.  Talk about what happened and whether or not the injury could possibly affect your upcoming season.

Upshaw:  I was playing basketball and I thought that I’d torn my ACL.  I went up for a rebound and came down wrong and my knee went out of place.  I kind of freaked out at first because I knew that I was about to start one of the most important years of my life.

It started getting better in December, so I kind of put it in the back of my mind and went out to my deer lease to get away and take a break.  It’s a pretty mountainous area and I really had a hard time getting around. I immediately came back and went to the doctor.  He told me that I had torn the meniscus in the back part of my knee and needed to have surgery immediately.

The recovery time should have been about two weeks, but after about a month it’s still not 100% better.  In the last EverStart at Amistad, I had a weak moment where I reached for the net and my knee popped.  I ended up lying on the bottom of the boat for a while in intense pain.

I’m really working on trying to get it better for the Classic.  Right now, I think that I’ll be completely mobile and it shouldn’t be an issue.  It’s extremely painful but I don’t think that it will affect me.