By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Charles Sim never really thought much about competing in the Bassmaster Classic until he attended the 2013 edition at Oklahomas's Grand Lake.
"To be honest, I never really put it as a goal," said the 43-year-old Canadian. "I didn't think it was realistic, and I don't like setting unrealistic goals for myself because I don't like disappointments.
"Then I went to the one in 2013 and I said, 'My goodness, I need to fish one of these.' It was just the whole atmosphere and the environment. The closer I get to that tour-level environment, the more I want to be there."
Come March, the winner of the Eastern Division at last month's B.A.S.S. Nation Championship will become just the second angler from Canada to compete in the sport's premier event. The first was the late Hank Gibson, who finished 41st in the 1990 Classic at the James River.
"The response from the Canadian angling community has been amazing. Hundreds of people have told me they're going and one guy's chartered a bus trip. The support I've gotten from the B.A.S.S. Nation is just blowing my mind."
Has Some Top-Level Experience
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Sim, who works a day job as a computer programmer, won't be a total stranger to tour-level competition when he goes back to Grand as a participant. He fished 2 seasons on the FLW Tour (2009 and 2011), enjoying some modest success in his initial campaign as he ended up 56th in the points and missed the Forrest Wood Cup by just four places.
He sat out 2010 ("I had to catch up on the pile of bills from '09," he said with a chuckle), then came back the next year. That season didn't go so well, however, as a 69th was his best finish in five events.
"My head and my body weren't in the game and it showed in the results," he said. "Something in my head was keeping me from being fully committed and I certainly wasn't performing the way I wanted to."
In the interim, he's won numerous high-level events north of the border. In November, he averaged just over 10 pounds per day at the Ouachita River in Louisiana en route to topping his division at the Nation Championship and finishing 10th overall.
"Even earlier this year, it didn't seem like I could make it (to the Classic)," he said. "It all happened so fast over the span of 2 months."
Some Catching Up To Do
Sim's biggest hurdle in regard to the Classic is he has virtually no experience fishing for any species of bass during the pre-spawn phase. The season in his home country doesn't open until June, so he has little first-hand knowledge of how the fish behave as they prepare to head for the beds.
"I'm very comfortable throwing a jerkbait, but being from Canada, we're not even allowed to fish under those conditions," he said. "I've been reading everything I can – magazine articles and tournament stories about fishing at that time of year. I won't really have an idea of how the fish react, though, until I get there and actually see what they're doing."
He'll spend 5 days pre-practicing at Grand during the middle of this month (it goes off-limits to competitors on Jan. 1). The drive from his home in Ottawa, Ontario is 22 hours each way.
"I'll probably spend most of that time looking – I want to get a feel for running the lake end to end. You can learn only so much by studying a map, so I want to see as much of the lake as I can. I also want to catch a few fish while I'm there."
When the big derby finally arrives, he hopes he won't be overwhelmed, as many first-timers have been.
"I'm hoping my experience from the FLW Tour will allow me to not get caught up in the enormity of the event," he said. "I've heard people talk about how you can get taken out of your game mentally, and I hope I've fished enough big events that I might be able to avoid that."
Notable
> The reason that Sim attended the 2013 Classic was because he was in the vicinity picking up a boat for a friend. "It was only a few hours out of my way. I stayed all 3 days and endured the (frigid) blast-offs and just soaked up the whole thing."
> He never met Gibson, who died of cancer in 2001.
> He believes he's a much better angler now than when he last competed on the FLW Tour. "I think I'm calmer and more relaxed and I think my decision-making has improved."
