Mercury pro Josh Bertrand one step from B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year
Hiawassee, Ga. – It’s been a season of firsts for Team Mercury pro Josh Bertandopens in a new tab.
Not only did the sixth-year Bassmaster Elite Seriesopens in a new tab angler capture his first career Elite win last month on the St. Lawrence River in New York, he’s also racked up his most Top 10 finishes in a season (three so far) and has finished in the money more times than ever before (he’s currently 9-for-9).
And if Bertrand fishes well at this week’s Angler of the Year Championship on Lake Chatuge in northern Georgia, he’ll record another first that dwarfs all the others: his first Elite Series Angler of the Year title, which comes with a $100,000 purse.
Bertrand is second in the AOY standings with 707 points heading into the championship event (Sept. 20-23), just nine points behind one of his longtime best friends, Justin Lucas (716). It’s already the highest AOY finish for Bertrand, and a position the Arizona pro didn’t expect to be in when the season started in February.
“When I looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, I saw a couple tournaments that I was excited about because I knew I should probably do well, but I was a little indifferent about the rest of the year,” Bertrand. “I thought it was a schedule that I would do okay with, but did I think I’d be in a position to win Angler of the Year? Not in a million years.”
Getting a quick start
Bertrand put himself in this position by being routinely excellent the first two days of each competition.
In five of the eight 2018 regular-season events, he emerged from Day 1 in the Top 12. At the other three events – at Lake Martin, and the Sabine and Mississippi rivers – he recovered from lackluster Day 1 limits to climb an average of 31 places on each Day 2.
“I’ve caught a lot of good breaks, but I think I’ve also made the right decisions on starting spots,” Bertrand said. “Sometimes your whole tournament is dictated by where you start on your first day. I pick spot A, B or C and it ends up being the right spot. I beat someone else to that spot, capture that big bag, and lay a stake to that spot from Day 1. That’s happened several times this year.”
Running “full-out, top speed, all day long”
Bertrand suspects that some of his Day 1 success resulted from a rigorous practice schedule.
Unlike previous seasons, when he would travel to tournament locations prior to the official off-limits period so he could scout the fishery and graph possible fishing locations, Bertrand this season has relied solely on the three-day practice window prior to each Elite event to develop his game plan. That has translated into lengthy, fast-paced days on the water where he’s demanded the most from his 250hp Mercury Pro XS.
“I put a ton of hours on that motor this year, and pushed it harder than I ever have,” Bertrand said. “Instead of having the luxury of cruising around at 4,000 rpm during practice, it’s full-out, top speed, all day long. I’ve never run wide open so much, and we’ve fished some massive bodies of water. Lake Oahe is 280 miles long, and I ran all over that lake. The St. Lawrence River required 40- to 50-mile one-way runs every day. To push your boat and motor that hard every single day and not have a hiccup is pretty awesome.”
NOTES: Mercury anglers have won 10 of the past 11 B.A.S.S. Elite Series AOY trophies … Mercury pros occupy six of the top seven positions in the AOY standings … In addition to Bertrand, the top seven includes Mercury anglers Bradley Roy (657 points), Ott De Foe (634), Brent Chapman (632), Jacob Powroznik (623) and Aaron Martens (619) … The site of the 2018 AOY Championship, Lake Chatuge, is a 7,200-acre impoundment of the Hiawassee River that straddles the Georgia/North Carolina border (120 miles north of Atlanta).