No sophomore slump for J. Pow
Category: Tournament
Jun 22nd, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 22nd, 2015 at 12:00 AM
Jacob Powroznik is no fluke in the pro bass fishing world. The Mercury/Livingston Lures pro isn’t one of those anglers who comes in, wins the Rookie of the Year title, a couple events, finishes third overall in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race, then fades to black. Nope, Powroznik seems to be here to stay in the ranks of the Bassmaster Elite Series.
In his sophomore season, Powroznik appears to be poised to stay put in the AOY hunt. With three regular season Elite events and the AOY Championship left, Jacob is in the number 8 spot heading down the home stretch and looking strong.
Sure, the reality of winning the AOY title may be a little bit of a stretch this season, but Powroznik is happy so far.
“I believe the two big goals for any Elite Series pro is to win the Bassmaster Classic and the AOY title,” said Powroznik. “The big key is you need to qualify for the Classic through AOY points. If you don’t qualify, you can’t win. So even if the AOY title is a little out of reach right now, you never know. Plus, the Classic shot is still there. I need to focus on qualifying.
“At each tournament, you know if you can win pretty quickly. You know if you are on winning fish or if you’re fishing to cash a check. Once I know I don’t have a chance to win the event, I switch over to trying to finish as high in the placings as possible. That’s better for my AOY standings and getting qualified for the Classic.”
Powroznik’s win at Toledo Bend in 2014 didn’t convince him that he for sure made the right move to fish just the Elites.
“It’s funny,” said Powroznik. “You’d think a win would solidify in your mind that you did the right thing. I’d been fishing FLW for a while. When I qualified to fish the Elites in 2014, I just knew I had to try.
“I win the Toledo Bend event and I’m feeling great, but it was the next event at Cayuga that did it for me. There’s something like 3,000 fans there. At that moment, I knew I was in the right place.”
No company is a theme for Powroznik.
“So far in my first two seasons on the Elites, there has been nobody on my starting spots except for Kentucky Lake,” said Powroznik. “I’m not saying I’m the only one who found these spots, it’s just been that way. It’s kind of cool.
“Every tournament I fish, I start out to fish to win. Not having competitors on my starting spots has been pretty awesome and helps your confidence when you’re focused on winning. Seemed like at FLW events there were always more guys on top of each other. I like how the Elites tend to fish. I made the right decision coming to Bassmaster.”