By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


Brandon Coulter’s nature is to always be seeking out new challenges and opportunities. He formerly launched and ran an advertising agency, then sold it. He then dabbled in construction before selling that company to focus on building a career as a professional angler.

He’s several years into his latest endeavor, and while there’s been no shortage of hurdles to overcome, he sounds as revved up as ever to embark on the newest chapter – his rookie season as a Bassmaster Elite Series angler. After spending the last 8 years on the FLW Tour, the Knoxville, Tenn., resident earned his Elite Series spot via the Northern Opens in 2014. He’ll be one of four newbies this coming season to bring multiple years of FLW Tour experience to the Elite Series.

“It’s a new challenge for me,” he said. “It’s the next step. FLW gave me a lot of opportunities, but I just see this as the next step in my evolution. I just feel like if you’re going to be in it for 15 to 20 years, this is the step to make. I’ve always been independent in that I go get my own deals and work my own marketing and promotion and I think B.A.S.S. offers me more opportunities that way.

“With FLW, I don’t want to say I got bored with things, but I’m constantly looking for new things,” he added. “The (Northern) Opens set up nice with an opportunity to fish Douglas (Lake) to start, then go to Champlain and Erie, both of which I’m pretty familiar with so I figured, ‘Why not?’”

Mind Was Elsewhere

As amped up as Coulter is for what lies ahead, he said the offseason between 2013 and 2014 will serve as a constant reminder of how quickly things can slide off the rails fishing-wise.

Following the 2013 FLW Tour season, he was consumed by a boat giveaway he was running and also ironing out details for a team tournament series he was helping to launch. In-person appearances and local media commitments ate up a good bit of his time.

“It was a lot bigger commitment than I thought,” Coulter said.

By the time the 2014 FLW Tour season kicked off, he was well behind in his fishing preparation for the year.

“The first 10 days that I picked up a rod were the 3 days of practice and 2 days of competition at Okeechobee, then the th3ree days of practice and 2 days of competition at Hartwell,” he said. “If that’s your first 10 days fishing after a few months off, you’re going to get your butt kicked.”

And he did. He was 94th at Okeechobee and 130th at Hartwell. Not exactly the start he was looking for or needed.

“I love doing my giveaway program. I had a blast, but it just dominated my offseason,” he said. “I don’t look to make that mistake again.”

Turning Point

By the time the calendar was ready to flip over to May, Coulter had posted one money finish (28th at Beaver Lake) and three bombs in four Tour events.

“When I came home at the end of April and looked at the season and I said, ‘This is really bad,’” he recalled. “I had to make some changes.”

As he looks back now, he knew the month of May was truly going to determine his future. If he didn’t see some positive momentum, he said it would be time to consider moving away from pro fishing.

The turnaround began on May 3 when he and his father won the Tim Irwin Food City charity tournament at Fort Loudon, becoming the first father-son duo to win the event.

“I’ve been wanting to win it since moving (to Knoxville) in the 1980s,” he said.

The following week, he took 10th at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork and then finished the month with a 28th-place finish at the first Bassmaster Northern Open at Douglas Lake.

“As far as fishing, I didn’t miss the rest of the year,” he said. “I hit everything I fished the rest of the year. It ended up being a really good year after the first few.”

Different Mindset

Coulter finished off the Opens with a 25th at Champlain and a 19th at Lake St. Clair to wind up 5th in points. He said he approached the 3-day events much differently than he did Tour events.

“You fish them completely different from a 4-day event,” he said. “I fished them like they were mine to lose. The schedule set-up suited me more than maybe any other guy fishing them.

“I fished very conservative in all three. At Douglas, I didn’t press or try to force anything. At Champlain, I didn’t run to Ticonderoga since I thought I could catch smallmouth up north, and I did. At St. Clair, I knew I was in a good position in points and thought maybe I’d make the run to Erie, but I didn’t need to. I stayed on St. Clair and maximized my fishing time.”

With the Elite Series season opener drawing closer, he’s excited for the new challenge ahead.

“Maybe it’s just a change of atmosphere,” he said. “It’s no different than other things in life, like being married – you have to mix in a date night now and again. The caliber of fishermen is the same on both sides. When you do something one way for so long, a change of environment can be good. I know I’m excited, if nothing more for a change of scenery.”

Notable

> This will be the second year for the Tennessee Team Trail that Coulter launched along with a local boat dealer. The schedule will expand from four events to five for 2015, he said, and the circuit is linked up with the Bassmaster Team Championship. He said Ranger, Triton and Stratos recently signed on as sponsors of a $50,000 contingency program as well as earmarking a boat/motor package for the winners of the circuit’s championship.