By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Austin Terry's initial season on the FLW Tour in 2013 was the very definition of a mixed bag – three finishes of 26th or better and three of 98th or worse, with absolutely nothing in between.
The young Texan's second crack at the circuit this year was marked by a much greater degree of stability. There were no triple-digit placements (his worst outing was an 81st) and his four finishes ranging from 15th through 51st allowed him to end up tied with Ramie Colson Jr. at No. 16 on the final points list and easily qualify for his initial Forrest Wood Cup.
That was a 54-place improvement from the previous year.
"I think I was a little more patient and I fished with more confidence," he said. "I wasn't always trying to catch a big bag right off the bat and if things didn't go the way I thought they should, I didn't panic. It was more of a mindset of catching five – all I needed was five bites and I'd go out and try to put the first one in the boat, and then No. 2 and No. 3.
"A couple of times it'd be 11 or 12 o'clock and I didn't have much and I'd go to the next spot and catch them, and a couple of times it was about knowing when to stick it out on an area and waiting for the afternoon bite to turn on. I made a lot of decisions that just worked out."
Nice Recovery
Terry posted his two lowest finishes of the campaign in the first two events – he was 72nd at Lake Okeechobee and then logged his 81st at Lake Hartwell. He turned things around from there, however, making two Top-20 cuts (at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in his home state and at Pickwick Lake) in the next three derbies.
Sandwiched between those was a 43rd at Beaver, where he said he should've done much better. He'd finished 11th there as a rookie and had an excellent practice this time (he said he was catching 15 to 17 pounds a day while "barely even fishing), but his big bites all came on a single swimbait in a specific color, which he declined to reveal in the hope that it'll be effective again there next spring.
He lost that bait on the final practice day and was unable to procure any more for the event. He caught only four keepers for less than 7 pounds on day 1 and found himself in 120th place, then rallied to move up 77 slots with a 13-pound stringer the following day.
"That was definitely a turning point because it got me a good check and a ton of points," he said. "I'm really excited about going back next year because I plan to really smash them there. I've learned a lot about each section of the lake and the different types of stuff that each species (largemouths, smallmouths and spotted bass) holds on in each section. The majority of the fish I caught in the tournament came from the same places where I got a bite in practice – not just the same point, but the same cast – and the fish seemed to be the same size they were in practice."
He's enthralled by Beaver – a venue that's often maligned by veteran tour pros due to its fickle nature.
"It's just a place that clicks for me – there's a lot of patterns you can run in a lot of places and you can run them all really fast. Some places you can get 30 to 60 bites on a shaky-head, then show up the next day and not get a single bite. That's why some people hate it.
"The fishing's gotten a lot better there," he continued, "but you're still depending on the big bite and as far as I know, nobody really knows how to target them. Most of the time you just go fishing and hope they happen."
Ready to See Day 4
Terry has made four 20-cuts during his 2 seasons as a pro, but has yet to crack the Top 10. Along with making the Cup again, that's his primary objective for 2015.
"I'm going to be pretty made if I don't make a Top-10 next year," he said. "There's a pretty big pay jump there and if you don't get to the final day, you definitely can't win."
He hopes he can add one major event to next year's schedule – the Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork. Only the Top 15 from the previous year's tour-level points lists are invited, but there are three double-qualifiers (defending champion Keith Combs and two-tour pros Jason Christie and Casey Ashley), so he's hoping that he and Colson will get bids, along with 16th-place Elite Series points finisher Matt Herren.
"I have a buddy who lives on Fork and I spent a lot of time there this year on my way to and from tournaments. We did really well and it'd be another chance to make a good check.
"I watched quite a bit of it this year from the water in my buddy's boat and it was awesome."
