By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


John Crews shifted his Bass Cat into neutral, killed the engine and shifted his body to face the passenger seat. He kept his life jacket on. He didn’t seem comfortable.

Maybe he knew where the conversation was headed. Maybe he knew the questions would start to come about the recently-completed Elite Series season, the one that saw him plummet 24 spots in the Angler of the Year points over the final two regular-season events and finish 62nd in points, snapping his streak of competing in the last six Bassmaster Classics. It’s his lowest points finish since 2009, when he was 74th.

“My performance this year wasn’t Classic-worthy,” Crews said recently at a media gathering held by some of his sponsors. “I’m not upset about it. The way I fished, I didn’t deserve to make it.”

He got off to a solid start this season with three finishes in the money, including a 3rd-place result at Wheeler Lake in April. As spring turned to summer, however, Crews’ Classic hopes started to evaporate. He had just one top-50 finish (20th at Cayuga Lake) over the final five events and in three of the other four, he was 85th or lower on the leaderboard.

He was 38th in points (inside the projected Classic points cut) following Cayuga, but a 90th at the Potomac River and an 85th at the Mississippi River took him out of contention for not only the Classic, but also the AOY event at Mille Lacs Lake.

When asked what he’ll remember about the season, he didn’t mince words.

“Probably the multiple bombs I had this year,” he said. “At the end of the year, you do reflect on everything you do. I still feel like I have all the best equipment and best baits and I had no mechanical failures that cost me anything. I lost very few fish, but I feel like there were a few practice decisions that could’ve been better.”

Surprised By Failure

Crews said if given the opportunity, he’d have wagered money on himself cashing a check at either the Potomac or Mississippi. He’d posted a couple of top-20s at the Mississippi and had been close to cutting a check at the Potomac on his two most recent tournaments there.

“I didn’t find any of the conditions being an issue,” he said. “I was in the Classic until those last two events and I stunk it up. If I cash two checks, I ease in. I couldn’t do it and that’s what it boils down to.”

At La Crosse, he felt like he didn’t adjust well enough to the rising water. He caught nearly 11 pounds on day 1, but managed only three keepers on day 2.

“I would’ve practiced in some different areas that wouldn’t have been as susceptible to the rising water,” he said. “I knew it was coming up in the areas I was in and they just had too many areas to go to when it came up.”

Crews pre-fished for the Potomac River and went into the tournament feeling confident in a couple of the areas he’d found prior to the venue going off limits. When the competition began, the fish scattered and he failed to adjust.

“I got locked into a couple areas that I just knew were going to produce,” he said. “I had gone and pre-fished and a couple areas were really loaded. The fish moved the week of the event and I didn’t have an open enough mind in practice to develop patterns in other areas.

“That’s a complete trap that happens in a place you know really well. I fell right into it. I know better than that.”

Focused on Future

In years past, Crews has been able to shrug off events where he’s not been on quality fish and came away with a decent number of points. This year, it seemed like there was no recovering from poor starts.

“I might have one what I consider bad event, but even in those events I could salvage a 60th or 70th,” he said. “This year, when it went south, it went way south.”

Some of that he attributes to his own performance and decision-making, but he also believes the increasingly quality depth of the Elite Series field also can’t be ignored.

“I feel like it was somewhat cyclical,” he said. “In a couple of those bombs, I never caught a break. I never got that one bite that clued me into what I needed to be doing. I feel like I just was so close and barely missed it. In some, I was in the right area. In some, I was doing the right technique, but never had that one key bite or couple bites that clued me in or got me dialed in.”

It’s those one or two bites and building on them come tournament time that’s gotten to be so crucial in the Elite Series, where the level of competition has ramped up in recent seasons.

“The margin of error at the top level is so slim that it is so amazing what a difference it can make,” he said. “This year, you saw the result of some of the guys not being invited back and that showed up in the criteria to make the Classic. It’s not to say my performance wasn’t part of it.”

Just a few weeks removed from the close of the season, Crews is already shifting his mindset to bouncing back in 2017. BassFans will recall he won the season opener in 2010, the year after he last failed to qualify for the Classic.

“I still feel like there are few guys that work harder than me and few guys who are more prepared than I am when I show up for a tournament,” he said. “My system works. I’m not going to work any less and any different (next year). Over my career, I’ll look back at 2016 as an anomaly. It came down to two events and I didn’t get it done.”