Jeremy Starks is going fishing in 2015, just a little later than he’d hoped.
After the West Virginia pro elected to bypass returning to the Elite Series this season, he shifted his focus to the FLW Tour. With stricter field size guidelines in place this year for the Tour, Starks was placed on the reserve list, which meant there was no guarantee he’d fish a tour-level event this season.
After Guido Hibdon and Payden Hibdon announced earlier this week they were withdrawing from the remaining four FLW Tour events, Starks was among the anglers “called up” to take one of the spots to maintain a full 154-pro field.
He said it was an agonizing couple of months not knowing his status, but he’s thrilled the call finally came.
“I knew going in this was possible,” he said. “I didn’t want to have to wait, but I knew it was possible. It took a little bit to get into FLW, but I’m here and I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to the future. It was tough to sit out a couple of events, but there are reasons for everything and I feel like it’s a whole new season for me and I get to start from scratch.”
Jim Dillard will fill the other spot in the field. It was initially offered to and accepted by Bradley Hallman, another former Elite Series angler, but he later withdrew, opening a spot for Dillard.
A two-time Elite Series winner, Starks doesn’t anticipate any change in the level of competition, but he will be seeing some of the venues for the first time. He’s never seen Beaver Lake, site of the next Tour event later this month, and he’s never fished the James River, which will host one of the Northern Rayovac Series tournaments (Starks is fishing the Northern Rayovac schedule as well).
“I’ve never fished Beaver, but I’ve had success at Bull Shoals and Table Rock so maybe they might fish similar,” he said. “I’m just going to go there with an open mind and go fishing.”
He faces an uphill climb to earn re-qualification status for next year through the Tour. He’ll need to finish in the Top 100 in points or finish among the Top 10 in points in the Rayovacs in order to secure a Tour spot for 2016.
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” he said. “I’m going to take it one tournament at a time and I’m going to fish the Rayovacs and see what happens.”
Starks said he used the spare time this spring to work out more and says he’s in the best physical shape of his life. He also took a couple fishing trips to Kentucky Lake and Lake Pickwick to stay sharp.
“You have to keep yourself in tune and keep the feel of casting and keep your senses up of when to switch gears,” he said. “It’s not like riding a bike. If you don’t use it , you lose it.”
