8 questions with Scott Canterbury

Scott Canterbury may be new to the Bassmaster Elite Series, but he's not new to fishing. After a successful career at FLW, this is the year he's making his mark with B.A.S.S. Tied for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead after four events (he's tied in points with Patrick Walters, but Walters wins the tiebreaker with more weight on full field days), he spent some time answering questions about fishing and life.
Scott Canterbury may be new to the Bassmaster Elite Series, but he’s not new to fishing. After a successful career at FLW, this is the year he’s making his mark with B.A.S.S. Tied for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead after four events (he’s tied in points with Patrick Walters, but Walters wins the tiebreaker with more weight on full field days), he spent some time answering questions about fishing and life.
<B>1. What’s your favorite kind of fishing trip besides bass fishing?
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I don’t get to go very much, but my favorite trip is deep sea fishing. I’ve got a cousin that’s got a boat, and we go tuna fishing out of Orange Beach, Ala. We go about 118 miles out to the rigs and fish all night. We catch a lot of blackfins, and then early in the mornings you can catch some yellowfins. They’re killing the yellowfins right now about 40 miles out — getting a five-man limit in about three hours. It’s an awesome trip.
1. What’s your favorite kind of fishing trip besides bass fishing?

I don’t get to go very much, but my favorite trip is deep sea fishing. I’ve got a cousin that’s got a boat, and we go tuna fishing out of Orange Beach, Ala. We go about 118 miles out to the rigs and fish all night. We catch a lot of blackfins, and then early in the mornings you can catch some yellowfins. They’re killing the yellowfins right now about 40 miles out — getting a five-man limit in about three hours. It’s an awesome trip.

<B>2. What's the biggest bass you’ve caught in a tournament and your biggest five-bass limit?
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My biggest tournament bass was right around 9 pounds — in the lower 9-pound range. I caught it at Lake Okeechobee off a bed in an FLW event. I caught one that was 8-14 or 8-15 in this year’s Elite Series opener at St. Johns. I’ve caught a couple of them right around 9 pounds, but I’ve never broke 10 pounds in a tournament. I guess they were all in Florida.
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The biggest bag I’ve ever caught? I weighed in at Santee Cooper in a Costa event a couple of years ago with five that weighed 32-1. Then I had a bag at St. Johns that ended up weighing 30-4.
2. What’s the biggest bass you’ve caught in a tournament and your biggest five-bass limit?

My biggest tournament bass was right around 9 pounds — in the lower 9-pound range. I caught it at Lake Okeechobee off a bed in an FLW event. I caught one that was 8-14 or 8-15 in this year’s Elite Series opener at St. Johns. I’ve caught a couple of them right around 9 pounds, but I’ve never broke 10 pounds in a tournament. I guess they were all in Florida.

The biggest bag I’ve ever caught? I weighed in at Santee Cooper in a Costa event a couple of years ago with five that weighed 32-1. Then I had a bag at St. Johns that ended up weighing 30-4.

<B>3. You wear an Alabama hat. “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is your walkup song for weigh-ins. You’re obviously an Alabama fan. What was your favorite Alabama football game?
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Boy, there’s a lot of them. We go to a lot of games. My wife, she’s an Alabama alum. We get season tickets. Probably the best game that I’ve been to was when Terrence Cody blocked two field goals against Tennessee, and we won that game 12-10 (in 2009). That was a great game to be at. Everybody wants to win comfortably, but it’s more exciting when it’s close like that and something wild happens. The worst game I’ve ever been to was the 2010 Auburn game when we were beating them pretty bad at home, and Cam Newton brought them back to beat us.
3. You wear an Alabama hat. “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is your walkup song for weigh-ins. You’re obviously an Alabama fan. What was your favorite Alabama football game?

Boy, there’s a lot of them. We go to a lot of games. My wife, she’s an Alabama alum. We get season tickets. Probably the best game that I’ve been to was when Terrence Cody blocked two field goals against Tennessee, and we won that game 12-10 (in 2009). That was a great game to be at. Everybody wants to win comfortably, but it’s more exciting when it’s close like that and something wild happens. The worst game I’ve ever been to was the 2010 Auburn game when we were beating them pretty bad at home, and Cam Newton brought them back to beat us.

<B>4. What do you like to do to blow off steam between tournaments?
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I like to go fishing — that’s no joke. This last year has been pretty busy, and I haven’t been able to do it as much as I want to. But I think the more I fish, the better I fish. The better decisions I make. So I like to stay on the water as much as possible. It doesn’t necessarily have to be bass fishing. But once the season starts, most everything I do is bass fishing. During the winter, I like to do a lot of crappie fishing — and I like to put some in the freezer. One thing I really enjoy about Alabama football is tailgating. I bring a Cajun fryer, and since I’m the chef, I’ll cook crappie sometimes for 30 guys.
4. What do you like to do to blow off steam between tournaments?

I like to go fishing — that’s no joke. This last year has been pretty busy, and I haven’t been able to do it as much as I want to. But I think the more I fish, the better I fish. The better decisions I make. So I like to stay on the water as much as possible. It doesn’t necessarily have to be bass fishing. But once the season starts, most everything I do is bass fishing. During the winter, I like to do a lot of crappie fishing — and I like to put some in the freezer. One thing I really enjoy about Alabama football is tailgating. I bring a Cajun fryer, and since I’m the chef, I’ll cook crappie sometimes for 30 guys.

<B>5. You room with Jay Yelas, and he raves about your cooking. What are you cooking most of the time?
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Anything and everything. We like to grill a lot. When we get somewhere, we usually go to the grocery store and buy enough for three or four nights. I do a little bit of everything. I’ll bring some deer tenderloin, wrap them in bacon and put some peppers and cream cheese in it. We’ll cook some crappie. We do a lot of cooking of wild game, steaks, pork chops, chicken — we like it all.
5. You room with Jay Yelas, and he raves about your cooking. What are you cooking most of the time?

Anything and everything. We like to grill a lot. When we get somewhere, we usually go to the grocery store and buy enough for three or four nights. I do a little bit of everything. I’ll bring some deer tenderloin, wrap them in bacon and put some peppers and cream cheese in it. We’ll cook some crappie. We do a lot of cooking of wild game, steaks, pork chops, chicken — we like it all.

<B>6. What’s your favorite fish other than a bass?
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To catch? It would have to be a tuna, just because of the fight. Bass put up a great fight, but it’s over pretty fast. I caught a 9-pounder at the St. Johns River, and it fought for 15 seconds — and that’s a long fight. It just happens so quick, most of the time on a short line. But I remember hooking a blackfin tuna one night that was probably 80 to 100 pounds. I don’t know for sure because I didn’t land it. I fought it for 47 minutes in 2,500 feet of water. We got it away from all of the rigs and everything, but my line broke. When you can fight something that long, it’s pretty unbelievable. In freshwater, I love to catch crappie because I love to feel that bite. They really thump it. But for the fight, I love to catch stripers. 
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<i>Editor's note: Scott is piloting the boat in this photo.</i>
6. What’s your favorite fish other than a bass?

To catch? It would have to be a tuna, just because of the fight. Bass put up a great fight, but it’s over pretty fast. I caught a 9-pounder at the St. Johns River, and it fought for 15 seconds — and that’s a long fight. It just happens so quick, most of the time on a short line. But I remember hooking a blackfin tuna one night that was probably 80 to 100 pounds. I don’t know for sure because I didn’t land it. I fought it for 47 minutes in 2,500 feet of water. We got it away from all of the rigs and everything, but my line broke. When you can fight something that long, it’s pretty unbelievable. In freshwater, I love to catch crappie because I love to feel that bite. They really thump it. But for the fight, I love to catch stripers.

Editor’s note: Scott is piloting the boat in this photo.

<B>7. Which type of fishery did you have the hardest time figuring out once your started fishing outside your home state of Alabama?
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Either Florida fishing or fishing for smallmouth, which was up north — because we never did that in Alabama. But I sort of caught on to that after a couple of trips. My first trip to Lake Champlain, I finished about 100th place. My next trip was like in the 20s. But then I’ve made three or four Top 10s since then. But the Florida fishing was probably tougher than that for me.
7. Which type of fishery did you have the hardest time figuring out once your started fishing outside your home state of Alabama?

Either Florida fishing or fishing for smallmouth, which was up north — because we never did that in Alabama. But I sort of caught on to that after a couple of trips. My first trip to Lake Champlain, I finished about 100th place. My next trip was like in the 20s. But then I’ve made three or four Top 10s since then. But the Florida fishing was probably tougher than that for me.

<B>8. If you could build a lake house on any lake outside the state of Alabama, where would it be?
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I love the northern part of the country, but I wouldn’t want to build a house up there because of the winters. It would probably be Table Rock. It’s one of my favorite lakes in the country. I’ve done well every time I’ve been there, and I just like the way it fishes. I really like that part of the country.
8. If you could build a lake house on any lake outside the state of Alabama, where would it be?

I love the northern part of the country, but I wouldn’t want to build a house up there because of the winters. It would probably be Table Rock. It’s one of my favorite lakes in the country. I’ve done well every time I’ve been there, and I just like the way it fishes. I really like that part of the country.