Glenn Delong was one of several Bassmaster Elite Series pros who never could quite break through. He made a cut here and there, but stayed largely mired in bottom-third finishes.
Certainly, the Elite Series is a struggle for anyone, but especially for a third-year northern pro like Delong, who calls Bellville, Ohio home. Nearly each of the fisheries he visited was new, and often downright alien.
Delong, a former top-level Motocross pro, departed the Elite Series after last season and now fishes the FLW Tour, where his stats compare to his Elite Series record like night and day. After two FLW Tour events, he's 11th in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year race, with finishes of 13th and 45th.
In the Q&A that follows, Delong talks about the league change, the current state of his fishing, and the upcoming Norman FLW Tour, which will mark the midpoint of the season.
BassFan: First, can you be specific about why you changed from the Elite Series to the FLW Tour?
Quite simply, I just lost my title sponsor from last year (Jackson Geothermal – Ed.) and I lost some other sponsors. I did pick a few more up, but I got a call and had a chance to fish the FLW Tour, and it was just the right time for me to make a move.
As a business decision it was pretty simple. I had to go because I just couldn't afford the travel for the Elites. And I have one sponsor who'd sponsor me on the FLW Tour but not the Elites, so that was another deciding factor.
Were you worried about fishing fewer events – going from 11, but now eight events, to six?
No, because I'm still fishing the BASS Northern and Southern Opens. It just felt like a good move at the time and obviously it's paid off.
What do you think has contributed to your immediate success – the fast start like you never had in the Elite Series?
But to be perfectly honest, I've fished two events and had two really bad tournaments.
The first tournament at Guntersville, I was sick as a dog – literally throwing up and all that. To come that close to a Top 10, I was really pleased with my finish. But it could have been a lot better. I lost a lot of good fish that could have made it way better.
Then at Table Rock I lost probably 20 to 22 pounds of fish on the second day. I think that was the cold, and I may have had a bad spool of line. I didn't bring any (other line) with me on the boat – no mono, no braid. The fish were there and it was like every cast, but I just lost so many big fish, like 4s and 5s.
This year I'm just trying to put everything else aside. Last year, I was fishing out of my pocket for 90% of the year. I was really worried about where I was going to stay and what I was going to eat, instead of what lures I was going to buy and what I can and can't do.
And it's not that way this year?
This year so far – I think it comes down to a couple of things. One is being a little bit more relaxed. Two would be I'm a little more focused on just trying to be consistent. And that's really my main goal this year – to be consistent and try to qualify for the Cup and go from there.
The midpoint of the season is in a few weeks at Norman. Have you begun to prepare yourself for that event?
Before the cutoff, I contacted several people and gathered as much general information as I could about the lake. I didn't get a chance to prefish it – I had some other stuff going on – but I guess the fish are going to be doing just about everything at the same time – pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn.
This is one of those tournaments that, when you get there, you'll kind of get to see which bite is better for you.
How about your goal there? Are you more trying to avoid a bomb that might take you out of the Forrest Wood Cup, or more trying to avenge your missed Top 10s from the first two events?
I'm just trying to go there and stay consistent. If I stay in the Top 50 in every tournament this year I think I can make the Cup. And long-term, my goal is consistency. If I can make the Top 50 in every tournament, what happens from there is whatever happens.
Notable
> Delong said Motocross is structured a lot like pro fishing, where pros have to qualify through minor leagues first. He raced the 125s and 250 Pros, and said the 250 Pro circuit is equivalent to the tour level in fishing. "I won a lot of races, but never a title or championship," he noted. "And it's also a lot like fishing in that (racers) are right now are all trying to get the team deals and non-endemic sponsors."
