Lots Of Irons In The Fire

Okay, I know, I 've been a bit quiet as far as my column here on BassFan is concerned. Believe me, it’s not because of a lack of things to talk about.

Since returning from Alaska, I have been one busy dude. Getting married, filming the second season of Sweetwater, prepping for my upcoming season, as well as picking up a little winter work has kept me running around at full throttle for awhile.

Sometimes it’s when you have the most going on that you can’t think of anything to talk about, but now that things are starting to stabilize a bit, I can finally get my thoughts straight.

What A Catch!

Easily the biggest and best thing to happen to me this year was my wedding.

On October 24, Katie and I tied the knot, and I can honestly say that the event was beyond perfect. Despite the flawless ceremony, without a doubt, a wedding has to go right atop the list of the most stressful and difficult events to plan.

I know there are many men who get sidelined while their bride takes the wedding reigns, but with Katie in such a challenging and time-consuming school program, I had to tend to a good deal of the final details.

With the arduous work of wedding planning behind me, I am beginning to understand the magnitude of the partnership that I am now part of, and I couldn’t be happier with my future with this woman.

Some people say that marriage changes a man and his ambitions in life. I whole-heartedly agree with that, but I believe that getting married can benefit a man’s endeavors as long as he remains true to himself and learns to balance professional drive with making good on marital obligations.

I look forward to finding the right balance and having a great new teammate by my side in my journey.

Sweetwater Redux

I got married on a Saturday, and on Monday I was on a plane headed to the southeast to begin filming our second season of Sweetwater.

Being part of a fledgling television show is rewarding, but seeing it become successful and prosper to its second season, is a whole other level.

Filming consisted of a 2-week marathon between several states and some really outstanding fishing destinations. Though the entire trip was a blast, my favorite stop was down in Louisiana where we caught some giant bull redfish.

That was a relatively new experience for me. I’ve heard from many that once you get into some big bulls you will never want to go back to bass fishing. I don’t know about all that, but I can tell you that those are some insane fighting fish.

In fact, while fighting these brutish fish and lifting them up repeatedly for the cameras, I managed to severely tweak my back on the last day of our on-the-water filming. Though I was fortunate that we had reached the end of that shoot, I was in such poor shape that I couldn’t walk at all for an entire day, and even now I am still bent out of shape.

Though it sucked to throw my back out, I can think of much worse ways to do it than catching monster redfish in the redfish capital of the world. But still, why am I throwing my back out at this age? I’m 29, for Pete’s sake!

Pick One

As a tournament angler, once October and November roll around, I start looking forward to the next year and begin making the appropriate preparations.

Being an aspiring professional, the challenge for me has, and continues to be, figuring out which series to fish to achieve tour-level status. This has been a struggle, since I really enjoy fishing both FLW and B.A.S.S. events, but what it really boils down to is selecting the tour that makes sense for the sponsors you represent.

At this point in time, fishing the Bassmaster Opens, in an attempt to qualify for the Elite Series, is the route that makes the most sense for me.

Though I wish I could just jump right in and fish all three divisions to get the best possible chance at punching my Elite ticket, the reality of recovering from the cost of a wedding means that I realistically need to focus on fishing one division.

Looking at the schedule, I decided on the Centrals – one, because they're more cost-effective coming from the West Coast; and two, it's a pretty awesome shallow-water schedule featuring some great fisheries, where I can implement the techniques I love most.

I want to fish as many qualifying events as possible, but for this next year I need to focus on making the best out of one division.

Bringing Home Bacon

I thought my 9-to-5 days were over when I left the Red Lobster following my college graduation. I’ve done a pretty decent job piecing together a living for the last several years solely through fishing and fishing-related work, but with as much financial stress I’ve been under this year, I knew it was time to take up some extra work to recover from an expensive year.

Fortunately, a family friend who I have worked for in the past had a temporary opening at his machine shop, where I can make some good, consistent money and learn some new technical skills.

As much as I wish I were able to make a full living fishing right now, it just isn’t in the cards this time of year. By working this job, I'm able to collect a consistent paycheck, and I find that I enjoy the work because working with lathes and other precision equipment, requires a good amount of focus and hand-eye coordination – which is pretty close to the mechanical skill required for fishing.

Overall, it feels good to get my hands dirty to put myself back in a good position to make a run at the 2016 tournament season.

The Road Ahead

This year has certainly had its ups and downs.

The up that trumps all the downs is that I got married, which is a tremendous personal milestone. On the fishing career side, progress was a bit light, but I’ve been learning that it’s still not going to happen overnight, or over a year.

As this year concludes, I'm overcome by a sense of calm that makes me believe that 2016 is going to be a year when good things happen.

I’m looking forward to it.

(Miles "Sonar" Burghoff is an aspiring tour pro and co-host of the TV series "Sweetwater." To visit his website, click here. You can also visit him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (SonarFishing) and Instagram (@sonarfishing).