ORLANDO, Fla. – A few years back while traveling to Mexico, Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Chris Groh nudged his girlfriend and told her that rock star Dave Grohl was just ahead of them in the customs line.
She didn’t think so, but ate some crow when they got up to the agent.
“The customs lady said, ‘That’s weird. Same dude, same last name, just went through,’” said Groh, clarifying that he spells his name differently than the Nirvana drummer and founder of the Foo Fighters. “’No, he’s got an L.’ Then I look at my girl, ‘Told ya.’”
Catching up with the 40-year-old Elite rookie attending his first ICAST, Groh affirmed that the Daily Limit was spot on when calling him “our new Foo Fighter.” Groh was doing well on Lake Martin by sitting in 18th after Day 1, and the mentions on Facebook Live and Bassmaster LIVE were in tune – it was Groh who hasn’t been able to hit all the chords.
Groh reported he was doing awesome roaming the ICAST show floor, just working on getting a few more sponsors before his responsibilities to camp at the Gill booth. What bothered him about his inaugural season was not following up on some decent first days.
“I just got to start getting better on Day 2,” Groh said. “I blow up on Day 1, then all the sudden something happens. I get a curse in the boat. I think I’m fishing a lot in a two-day event, I keep swinging and swinging and swinging.”
In the season opener, Groh fell out of the cut to 55th. It happened again to the Spring Grove, Ill., angler on Grand Lake, when he started 10th after a 20-4 bag. On Day 2, he only caught two fish for 4-14 to fall 74 spots. Just 5 more pounds would have given him a cut.
“I think the mental alarm clock has to go off at 11 or noon, and turn a bomb into a 60th or 50th-something,” he said. “You don’t get paid, but in the end, when you do make a 12 cut, your points stack up and life is good.”
Groh reversed the trend on Kentucky Lake when he climbed from 61st on Day 1 into the cut at 49th then finished 50th for his first Elite check. A 106th start at Lake Travis ended in a 94th, then he was a steady 64th on the Sabine. At La Crosse, Groh was 30th with 15-0 then made the cut at 26th before losing points to finish 45th. Filling his limit would have moved him 20 places, as the what-ifs piled up.
“I’m just trying to learn the game a little bit better and maybe swing harder when I make those cuts,” said Groh, who finished 91st at Lake Oahe after starting 58th. “Oahe sucked the life out of me a little bit, but it actually helped bring me back down to earth.
“That taught me to see that this is still fun, this is still what you’ve been doing since you were 10 years old riding around in the johnboat acting like you’re a Bassmaster pro. Now you are, and just go have fun.”
Along with that lesson is that he’s learned better decisions have to be made on the fly. He lamented that he stuck with things for far too long. Adjustments to just catch a limit in several events might have him 100 points higher than his current Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standing at 89th, and that would have put him around 60th in the hunt to be among the top 50 who advance to the AOY Championship.
“Just go get a limit,” he said. “I didn’t know in the beginning, and it came back to bite me.”
At ICAST, Groh said he was going around introducing himself only to people at companies where he uses their product. He went in knowing not to make a big sales pitch.
“I’m keeping it short and sweet, simply introducing myself,” he said. “I’m just trying to get my foot in the door.”
And for the final two Elites of the year, Groh would like to bang out some hits.
“These next two, you’re going to see something,” he said. “I’m far from making the AOY championship, but I’m cashing out and one of them is going to be a 12 cut. Mark my words.”
Like his Foo Fighter lookalike, Groh seeks a strong ending riff.
Roy leads AOY heading into final stretch
At ICAST, you never know how an encounter will come about. Rick Clunn sat down next to the Daily Limit at a hotel diner for breakfast and spent the next 40 minutes, including the walk to the show floor, sharing his wisdom.
Waiting for the flight home, Bradley Roy just happened to be up for a late lunch in the airport. Asking him about his lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year point race was the obvious topic of discussion.
“I think it’s awesome. Coming down the home stretch of the year and to be in contention, that’s what you dream for,” Roy said. “Having the Classic under my belt and worried about AOY now, I think that’s pretty cool.”
With only two regular season events left, Roy was asked how much winning the coveted title is on his mind day to day.
“I’d be lying to say I never did, but I don’t set there at night and just figure and figure, because the points are going to take care of themselves,” he said. “I definitely look at them. I kind of feel like I got the Classic under my belt, so I’m not worried about it. So I look, but I try not to focus on them.
“I try not to take it for granted. I’ve had several guys tell me these opportunities don’t come around very often, so you might have a good year and only finish in the top 10 and not have a chance to win AOY.”
Roy has 617 points to lead a runaway pack that includes Justin Lucas (607), Brent Chapman (602) and Josh Bertrand (597). The next closest are Ott DeFoe, (554) and Casey Ashley (553). Roy agreed that odds favor the first four as he doesn’t think all would falter.
“You’ve got three hungry guys, Justin Lucas, me and Josh Bertrand, who have never won one, who really badly want to win one,” he said, “and then you have Brent Chapman, who’s already won one.”
Roy doesn’t think Chapman holds an advantage because he’s already finished one off – he thinks it’s come down to who has the best two tournaments and AOY Championship. The Elites compete July 26-29 in the Huk Bassmaster Elite at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by Mossy Oak, before heading to New York for the season finale in the Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River presented by Black Velvet.
Roy was 16th on the Chesapeake in 2015, and he made the cut in the first of the last three Elites on the St. Lawrence.
“The fisheries we’re heading to, I like both of them,” Roy said. “The Chesapeake, any time you go to a tidal fishery, it can be an X factor. But the one that scares me the most, and this is a surprise, is the St. Lawrence.
“That’s because it’s such a good fishery, but if you get stuck in that 3-3/4 pound class of fish, you have a bad tournament. If you catch just a little bit bigger, you have a great tournament. You don’t really control that variable as much as you think you do. That one worries me more than the Chesapeake.”
When the dust settles in those, Roy hopes he’s put himself in position, like some other recent AOY champs, to not sweat the AOY Championship on Lake Chatuge.
“I haven’t thought about that one that much, but I’m hoping if I do my job in the next two, I can just go down there and catch bass,” he said.