Adam's the guy who finished 2nd at the Classic and got there by winning last year's Wheeler, AL Open. Had to find out more about him and the northern/wally-eye connection so here we go:
1. Is it true you used to be a walleye guide?
> "Still am and yeah that's how I grew up making my living – guiding walleyes and muskies, and tournament-fishing for walleyes."
2. What if a walleye guide won the Classic? Would there have been tsunamis and solar flares and the end of the world? 🤣
> "[Laughs] I don't know about that, but it would've been pretty cool I know that. A lot of people all over the country, but moreso WI and MN, are pretty jacked up...grew up around me, seeing where I came from and what I've gotten to."
3. Why are walleye guys and northern guys doing so well now at the higher levels of bass fishing?
> "That's a hard one...I don't really know the true answer. What I would say is just all the different fisheries we have up here. They relate a lot to down South.
> "...what I've learned from walleye fishing and what I took to bass fishing down South, the biggest thing would be understanding bait and forage.
> "Walleyes are the dumbest fish on the planet to catch. All they do is swim and eat. If you find their food, you find walleyes. I kinda took that into bass fishing: No matter what time of year it is, they still have to have food around. I've kind of put that into play in bass fishing and it's working out. Not that I'm fishing strictly bait...has to be bait close by."
4. Have you ever gotten frostbite from fishing?
> "Lots of times. I'm an ice-fishing guide as well so.... We've had lots of frozen fingers and frozen cheeks and all that good stuff."
[Maybe that's one reason the northern guys do well – if the conditions are bad, it's no big deal to them?]
5. Do you want to fish the Elite Series?
> "Yes, absolutely, that is the main goal."
6. Who's your bassin' hero?
> "I would have to say just because I didn't really pay attention to the whole Bassmaster scene when I was a kid growing up...Al Lindner – all the Lindners. In the Midwest they've been huge on the forefront of fishing...every species. That's where I learned some of the early stuff about bas fishing – watching the Lindner videos, the magazines and stuff like that.
> "As I got a little bit older, I started paying attention to Bassmaster.... Probably around the time when I was 15. That's when I got my first real boat – didn't even have a driver's license yet. I bought a 17' Lund tiller, and in the summertime I'd have my parents drop me off every day on the [Wisconsin] river on their way to work.
> "...my mid-30s when I really started pursuing [bass fishing].
> "One cool thing I remember – when I was a kid and had my first boat, I was watching a Bassmaster event. Couldn't tell you where it was. It was the first time I saw Denny Brauer, and he was flipping black/blue jig. We had never even heard about that in the Midwest.
> "I got my hands on some b/b jigs, bought a lighter muskie rod and went on the river, flipping that b/b jig around. I caught some giant smallmouth and some largemouth – it was the coolest thing ever. I was like, Wow this really works."
7. If FFS was banned from tournaments, or some tournaments, would you care?
> "No. I love fishing tournaments so I woulds obviously still fish.
> "I'm going to use [FFS] even if I'm not looking at 'em. It's a tool I keep in my back pocket. At the Classic I fished a lot of brushpiles. I used it so I didn't miss a cast. All my casts were in productive water.
> "But if Bassmaster banned it...I would still fish Bassmaster tournaments."
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