2013 Resolutions

I did pretty well on my resolutions this year (5/6 with one DQ). Here are my resolutions for the coming season.

• Win a national championship

I hope to fish in at least two or three of them this year. So, I figure I should have a decent chance to win one. I think I'd most like to the win the College Fishing National Championship. However, I'd rather win the College B.A.S.S National Championship if I also qualified for the Classic. I'm a decent fisherman, getting to my second one seems like as good a time as any to start winning. 

Like these guys (a Stick Jacket team btw...). 

• Catch a 6 pound smallmouth

I might do this in the next couple of weeks on Candlewood. Or I might do it on South Holston in March. Or any day on Claytor. Or I might catch one of the two that live in Champlain. however it comes, I'll love it. Smallmouth are my favorite fish and I can't wait to catch a true giant.

• Improve my skipping skills with a baitcaster

I need to be able to skip a broader spectrum of lures under larger and lower docks. Specifically, I'd like to master skipping frogs and jigs that weigh something other than a half ounce. Docks are an underutilized resource outside of North Carolina (there too actually) and I need to be able to pick them apart as efficiently as I can drop-shot a brush pile.

• Learn my Side Imaging like a koala knows his eucalyptus tree

Pretty soon I'll be installing a 998 and a 858 on the Cat. Together, the increased accuracy of the gps, the ability to share waypoints, and the Side Imaging, will allow me to become a far better offshore fisherman than I am today. I stumbled badly this summer on Kentucky Lake and part of that was my lack of ability with my current electronics and part of that was my lack of good electronics. I need to dedicate the time to know exactly what I see on my screen and how to dial things in (or not) to see things best. In short, I need to apply my electronics as well as I apply a Speed Trap on Champlain in the spring.

And of course, this one still holds:

2012 resolution: promote my sponsors even better than I did in 2011.
— Jody White (@vtbasser) December 31, 2011