I’d heard about Grosse Savanne’s bass fishing before I ever visited, notably from people like James Overstreet, who asked bluntly, “Why should I go all the way to Mexico when I can drive four hours down the road to Grosse Savanne and catch 100 bass a day, every day?” I’ve been around the block enough times to know that few things in fishing are ever as promised, but Grosse Savanne lived up to the hype.

While not all problems can be eliminated, the more seamless you make your journey, the more likely you are to be able to remember the highs and forget the lows. Developing the site has also forced us to think critically about our own practices, and to work to control the things that we can control.

I’ve been honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame since 2018, but even before that I was fortunate to interact with a lot of the Hall’s members. I’ve fished with Kevin VanDam, Denny Brauer, Mark Davis, Paul Elias, the late Ken Cook and 2020 inductee Ron Lindner (in a very memorable FLW Tour event on Lake Minnetonka in 1997). I’ve also ridden with several members in practice, including David Fritts and Gary Klein. And of course I’ve spent many hours in the boat with 2020 inductee Steve Bowman while covering various B.A.S.S. events.

Unless you are retired, or unemployed, or have a massive trust fund, then you probably have a finite amount of vacation time each year. Whether it’s two weeks, or three, or four, or more, it never seems to be enough to accomplish everything that would otherwise be possible.