Cali's Lintner Best True Rookie So Far

(Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 2-part Q&A with BassFan Rookie of the Year Race leader Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif.)

A quick look at the Bassmaster Elite Series points standings shows what a tough year it's been for rookies. Two (Conrad Picou and Brooks Rogers) dropped out, and a bunch of others are sweeping the crawlspace underneath the basement. Not Jared Lintner.

The California newbie has cashed a check in seven of 10 events

so far and has fared better than 80% of the field. He's 20th in the Elite Series points – which means he's darn near a lock to make his first Bassmaster Classic.

But he also leads the BassFan Rookie of the Year (ROY) Race, which is the only race of its kind that measures true rookies across all major tours and series. In the BassFan ROY race, he leads fellow BASS competitor Bill Lowen by 10 points with one BASS event to go (Table Rock), plus two FLW Series events (which neither fishes).

So who the heck is this Lintner guy? Well, he's a California stick with one AAA-level win to his credit – the 2005 Clear Lake Bassmaster Western Open. He received his Elite Series invite through the Western Opens, and after an agonizing process, decided against paying the entry deposit.

He learned a week after the deadline that his wife Keri had sent the money in.

So he hit the Elite Series with no experience on the lakes, and a whole lot to prove. Here's a look at his Elite Series performance so far, starting with the most recent event:

> Potomac River – 20th
> Lake Champlain – 27th
> Oneida Lake – 20th
> Kentucky Lake – 34th
> Grand Lake – 82nd
> Clarks Hill – 7th
> Lake Guntersville – 39th
> Santee-Cooper – 54th
> Sam Rayburn – 64th
> Lake Amistad – 31st

Notable is the 7th at Clarks Hill, plus the string of 20-somethings over the last three events. And within those finishes lies the story of a rookie who reached. He hasn't grabbed all the fruit yet, but has tasted success.

What follows is a Q&A with Lintner about his season so far – the start, the middle and the near-end.

BassFan: This is your first year at the tour level. How did you reach your decision to enter the Elite Series?

Lintner: I got invited to do this through the Western Opens last year. At first I was thinking, "Man, $55,000 is a lot to pay in entry fees with a minimum of monetary help."

But I also knew it was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime deal. BASS canceled the Western Opens, so if I didn't do it this year, I knew I couldn't qualify again.

I talked about it in many conversations with my wife Keri. She said, "Look, if you can at least pay the entry fees, and supplement it with other money you won last year through the Opens, and we can still pay the mortgage, and if you feel like you can get five or six checks, then go for it."

So that was my main goal this year – to try to make my expenses back.

You've cashed seven checks so far. How close are you to that – breaking even?

So far I've done that, so it's worked out great. I had a real interesting year – I learned so much stuff – and at the same time it's been one of the most stressful situations I've ever been in.

I've never had to compete to the point where it's my job. In the Western Opens, regardless of how I did, I'd come back Monday and go to work and get a paycheck.

When you're counting on fish you found in practice and whatever you catch to make your living, it's kind of stressful. I have a lot of respect for the guys who've done it for 10 or 15 years now. It's a lot of hard work.

When things don't go your way for one day, it's pretty stressful. But then some days when you're driving, you think, "This is all worth it."

You talked about your wife Keri. How important is her support?

She's my number-one supporter. She does all my paperwork, my hotel reservations. And without her, I never would have done it.

When it was time to put in deposits last January, I got home from work and had it set in my mind I wasn't going to do this – it was too much money. I was all bummed out. Then, a week later, she hands me a little note that says, "I went ahead and paid the deposit. Don't worry – you're in."

She did that on her own. Maybe she was just trying to get me out of the house. But without her pushing me, and keeping me focused, it would have been a lot tougher year.

When you were thinking about the Elite Series, did you feel you had the skill set to compete? Was that a factor in your decision?

Being from California with Clear Lake, the Delta and Shasta, you have to be very versatile. That's one thing that helped me this year. I can turn around and throw a dropshot rig, but at the same time, my strength is power-fishing – flipping, frogs, spinnerbaits.

With such diverse lakes out here, you have to be able to do it all to compete. So I felt good about that – being able to compete skill-wise.

What I wasn't prepared for was the magnitude of the lakes – the size of them. It's so insane out there. It's hard to locate and find the sweet spot on those giant lakes. The most overwhelming thing is you're looking out across an ocean, and you're like, "Oh my gosh, there's so many trees and grass and laydowns and bushes. Where do I start?"

Obviously you were able to cope with that. You cashed a check at Amistad, then again at Guntersville. And you finished 7th at Clarks Hill.

The only way I found to cope with it was to get maps. I'd sit down at hotel rooms with them, and I did a lot of map study before I even left.

Then, depending on what the season was when we'd be there, I'd pick out three or four basins and try to dissect them instead of running the whole lake. With no experience, you can't even break them into thirds – they're so big. Clear Lake would be a cove on some of them.

Along those same lines, you were able to swim when a ton of other rookies sank. What are some other things that brought you success?

I've known Skeet Reese for a few years now, and I'd see him after a day of practice or the partner pairing, and I'd ask him, "Hey man, this is about what I think I might be able to catch. Is this going to be worth it, or should I start chasing something different?"

He's been a great help to me. Obviously, he hasn't told me where I should go or what I should throw, but he kind of steered me in the right direction.

Skeet and John Murray too – they led me in the right direction by saying things like, "If you're not catching 3-pounders here, you'd better change up your game."

What about your execution? Have you had an overall strategy to stay in the money at each event?

What I've generally tried to do is have an area or spot where I could run to and catch two or three fish fairly quickly. That freed me up toward the middle of the day, and would get me off to a good start so I could try to go after better-size fish instead of sitting out on a point and trying to catch as many keepers as I could.

Notable

> Lintner celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday. His wife Keri's birthday was the day before.

> He and Keri have two children: a daughter Allese who's 8, and a son J.C. who's 5.

> He got a big lift from sponsor Certified Freight Lines this year. "They're a nationwide trucking company," he said. "They gave me a gas card. That's huge."

– End of part 1 (of 2) –