By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Back in 2010, a 19-year-old Bradley Roy enjoyed a modicum of success as the youngest angler to ever compete on the Bassmaster Elite Series. There were a lot of struggles over the course of the next 6 seasons, but he put together his best campaign to date this year to qualify for his first Bassmaster Classic.

"I don't know if it's fully hit me yet, but I'm very excited," Roy said of his impending trip to Texas' Lake Conroe in March. "It's something that's been a long time coming and it's taken a lot of hard work."

After earning Rookie of the Year honors (and narrowly missing a Classic berth) for a 40th-place finish in the points while still a teen, he landed in the 60s on that list in 4 of the next 5 seasons. The other year (2014) he dropped to 85th.

In none of those years had he opened the season with a placement better than 50th. The 19th he logged at Florida's St. Johns River last March laid the foundation for his best season to date.

"That didn't hurt anything, for sure. It gives you confidence and makes it a lot easier than having to try to come from behind. You don't have as much pressure on you.

"I also feel like, having done this for 7 years, that I might be maturing a little bit as a fisherman. I'm able to trust my instincts and my gut feelings instead of just going places and doing things that I think I'm supposed to."

Learning to Capitalize

Roy said that a bad trend had plagued him for much of his Elite Series tenure.

"I'd find good areas in practice, but then I wouldn't really know how to fully exploit them," he said. "This year I was able to capitalize better on what I found. Again, I think it goes back to experience and maturity and being able to wait it out and all that stuff."

The highlight of his campaign occurred in the mid-season derby at Lake Texoma, where he finished a season-best 12th and made his first final-day appearance since 2011. Ironically, he wasn't on a lot of quality heading into that tournament.

"I had a tough practice and I was thinking I wasn't going to have a good event. But then I made the Top 12, and at that point I knew I had a shot to make the Classic if I could finish the year decently strong.

"I was flipping and pitching flooded brush, which was what the majority of the field was doing, but at first it seemed like I couldn't settle into one area. The first day I ran around and hit a bunch of waypoints, but I caught all my best fish in one area. The next day I went back to that same area and limited out there."

The key point in the day came at 11 o'clock, when he caught a 4-pounder and then a 7 from consecutive bushes.

"That totally changed the outlook on the day and the season. I think that (type of quality) was there for me the whole time, but on the first day I just wasn't patient enough."

Can't Wait for March

Roy looks forward to his initial Classic appearance with great anticipation. It'll come on a venue that's entirely new to him.

"I've never been on Conroe, but I think it'll set up pretty well for me," he said. "I enjoy Texas a lot and I've done pretty well there, so I think I'll feel comfortable with it.

"I plan to make a scouting trip, but I'll probably wait a little further into the winter, like maybe December when it's close to the (off-limits period), which will be in January sometime."

However that event turns out, he's hopeful that more such opportunities are in store for him down the road.

"It's certainly something that I'd like to do every year, and now that I understand what it takes I'll have more confidence that I can do it again.

"It's not going to get any easier, but I at least want it to be something that I'm in the hunt for."