By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


Tommy Biffle was on his typical late-season roll last summer when his world came screeching to a halt. In March, he'll try to pick up where he left off when the 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series campaign gets under way.

Biffle helped his wife of nearly 35 years, Sharon, rehabilitate from a heart attack and subsequent quadruple bypass operation. He admits he'll be somewhat reluctant to leave home anytime soon, but Sharon's recovery has gone smoothly and his daughter and her husband will be available to handle any need that may arise.

"I'd rather not be gone," he said. "That's not real good, especially when you're somewhere that you can't just hurry up and get home."

He doesn't believe his performance will be affected by too much due worrying about what's going on back home in Oklahoma, though.

"I don't think so and I hope not," he said. "She's doing pretty good, so I think we'll be all right."

Momentum Halted

After a strong 2013 campaign that saw him finish 15th on the Elite Series points list, Biffle, a 19-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier got off to a miserable start in 2014. He cashed just one check (and that was for a 50th-place finish) through the first four events and found himself at No. 78 in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race. He also finished near the bottom of the pack at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic all-star event.

Always a strong second-half performer, he warmed up as summer approached and posted back-to-back 30th-place showings at Dardanelle and Chickamauga (BASSFest) in May and June. Then, just prior to the tournament at the Delaware River, Sharon had her heart attack, causing him to miss that derby and the regular-season finale at Cayuga.

Sharon spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and things were touch-and-go early on. There have been minor setbacks since (such as Tuesday night, when she thought she was having another heart attack but turned out to be experiencing only a gall bladder irritation due to something she ate), but things have gone well overall.

Well enough that her 56-year-old husband has gotten back to business and is focused on getting off to a better start in 2015.

Altered Approach

Biffle has pre-fished very few venues over the course of his long career, but he'll likely make an exception for the Sabine River in Texas, which will be the site of this year's Elite opener. He finished 84th there 2 years ago.

"A place like that has so much stuff that you can't look at it all (in 3 official practice days) and then expect to catch them," he said. "It's one of several places (on this year's schedule) where you could have a bad tournament and put yourself in a hole.

"Everything there looks good, but there were so many places that didn't have any fish or they weren't biting there. It's a great place to flip, which I love to do, but you've just got to be doing it in the right places."

He's thought about making an early visit to the two West Coast venues as well, but time constraints will likely prohibit such a trip.

"I don't like the (California) Delta near as much as I like Clear Lake, and then there's going to be that long run involved there," he said. "Finding your way (down the Sacramento river from the launch in Old Sacramento) shouldn't be much of a problem with the GPS we've got now, but when you run that far to get there, you'd better be on them good enough to catch them in a few hours."

His only prior experience at Havasu was the 1989 Arizona invitational. He was one of several dozen competitors who zeroed at that event.

"For years and years we said that was the sorriest place we've ever been," he said. "The guy who won it (Ted Miller) caught them in the marina, and he was about the only one who knew you could fish in the marina.

"If you caught a few fish, you got a check. There were rumors of bass clubs catching fish from other lakes and putting them in there just so we'd have something to catch. I know it's a lot better now."