Kenney Now Proving His Staying Power

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Photo: FLWOutdoors.com J.T. Kenney learned a few key lessons his rookie year, and has put them to good use this year.

In January 2002 J.T. Kenney was just getting by as a bass-fishing guide on Lake Okeechobee while trying to break into the big leagues of professional bass fishing. He had fished some BFL events and a few Bassmaster Opens, but without much success. Then his luck changed – in a big way.

At the last minute, he got into the 2002 FLW Tour event on Okeechobee from the waiting list. Four days later, Kenney, a rookie from Frostburg, Md., made a come-from-nowhere charge to win the tournament.

With a national victory and $100,000 in his pocket, Kenney was sped off into professional bass fishing's fast lane. But he quickly ran out of gas.

Despite starting the year with a bang, his other finishes hardly broke the 100th-place mark and he finished the year at 94th in the FLW points.

Reborn in 2003

But this year he's proven his staying power, even without financial support from sponsors. He started the season as a two-tour pro. When the infamous split in the tours occurred in April, he chose the FLW Tour, giving up a 24th-place position in the B.A.S.S. points and a 4th-place position in the B.A.S.S. Rookie of the Year race. At the time he was also 24th in the FLW points.

Here's a look at his 2003 finishes so far:

B.A.S.S.
> Harris Chain – 98
> Okeechobee – 32
> Seminole – 73
> Toledo Bend – 38
> Eufaula – 55
> Santee Cooper – 49

FLW
> Okeechobee – 45
> Atchafalaya Basin – 8
> Murray – 86
> Beaver – 42

He's collected 8 checks out of 10 tournaments, was 13th in the FLW Tour points after Beaver and somewhere along the line managed to pull off a 2003 BFL All- American qualification. He says fishing two tours, shorter practices, and fishing on the fly have all helped his fishing.

No More Straying from his Strengths

When he started running with the "big boys" last season, Kenney said he lost focus of his fishing strengths and began trying what other pros told him to do.

"For instance, I'd go to a lake and a pro would say, 'They bite Shad Raps good here,' so I'd go buy a bunch of Shad Raps and try to learn how to fish those things in 2 days," he said. "But that's just not me. I can't fish the way someone else tells me to fish. Plus, when there's an $1,800 entry fee on the line, that's not the time to be trying something for the first time."

In listening to other pros he also got caught up in the "technical side" of bass fishing.

"I was worrying about things like if my jig had eyes painted on it, if I had the right-sounding rattles in my bait or if I had the right amount of a certain color in a skirt. I was all caught up in the inconsequential aspects of this sport, which can consume you. I'm not saying that being versatile is bad, but having a few confidence techniques that can be taken anywhere is a better plan for me."

After analyzing his poor performance from last season, Kenney noticed a trend: he always did much better the second day of competition. "I'd always spend my first tournament day trying to do all the things other pros told me about – trying to do what was 'supposed to work that time of year,'" he said. "After I bombed the first day, I'd just give up and go fishing the way that felt comfortable to me – usually shallow-water jigs or spinnerbaits – and I always did much better."

He also recognized another fault in his fishing: he kept looking for the glory hole. "Winning Okeechobee imprinted something on me that has been hard to shake," he said. "After that tournament, I went to the rest of the lakes looking for that one glory hole like I'd found on Okeechobee – that magical 100- yard stretch laden with big bass. I practiced to find areas, not patterns. I was trying to find 20 bites in one area instead of 10 bites up and down the lake on key patterns."

Bad Habits Corrected by Two Tours

Starting in 2003, Kenney became a two-tour pro. He requalified for the FLW Tour by finishing in the Top 100 in FLW points, and qualified for the BASSMASTER Tour through the Opens. And while fishing both tours has hampered the fishing of some pros, he feels that the rigorous schedule is what helped his fishing the most.

"When you spend that much time on the water – on all kind of lakes and in all situations – you really begin to get an intuitive feel for the water, almost like a sixth sense for what the fish are doing," he said. "It's hard to explain, but the more time I spend on the water, the more I feel right at home on it no matter if I'm on Okeechobee or Beaver Lake."

Having a limited amount of practice time at each tournament this year has been another positive factor in his fishing. BASSMASTER events are limited to 3 days of practice, and two-tour pros rarely had more than 3 days to practice for FLW events.

"After fishing two tours this season, I realized that the amount of time I spent practicing on the FLW Tour last year was a real detriment," he said. "I would practice for 8 or 9 days. My biggest problem was that I had too much time on my hands – too much time to fish places out, too much time to re-check areas over and over, too much time to get on too much.

"One thing fishing B.A.S.S. taught me is that when you only have 3 days to find fish, you don't fool around with all that technical stuff. You don't re-check places, you don't have time to completely fish places during practice. You learn to fish on the fly, and how to find the key stuff quickly. Above all, you learn to really understand what the bass are doing instead of only where they're located."

Another thing he learned from B.A.S.S. tournaments was how to trust his intuition. "Last year I wouldn't fish somewhere unless I had fished it in practice," he said. "Now I've learned how to key in on something, but keep my mind open enough to listen to my intuition. If something suddenly looks right because of a condition change, I'm not afraid to try it in the tournament."

No Regrets

When asked about his decision to give up a possible BASSMASTERS Classic berth or B.A.S.S. rookie title to pursue the FLW Tour, Kenney has no regrets.

"I'm not out here fishing for prestige," he said. "I'm all about the Benjamins. Fishing is my job, and FLW is where the money is. I learned a lot from fishing the B.A.S.S. Tour and I would've loved to have gone to California for the experience, but that decision was a no-brainer for me. I'm paying my own way in this sport, and I couldn't afford to go."

And the All-American?

During the summers Kenney resides in Frostburg and has just enough time to dabble in the Northeast Division of the BFL. This year he garnered an All- American berth from that dabbling.

"The regional for my division was on Buggs Island," he said. "I was fishing the division not so much for the All-American, but because I wanted to win the boat and truck on Buggs. Instead, I finished 4th and now I'm going to the Mobile Delta for an all-expenses-paid shot at $100,000.

"If I had not made a check in nearly every event this year, I don't know that I would still be fishing," he added. "I've made about $50,000, but I've spent about that much too. So I sure could use another 100 grand."

Kenney is sponsored by: Ranger Boats, Mercury, Solar Bat sunglasses, Berkley Trilene, MinnKota trolling motors, Gambler worms, Shimano reels, Lowrance electronics and Lil' Hustler baits.