Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Editor: iBass360 likes to highlight break-through bass anglers, and Bryan New is one such up and coming professional currently fishing the FLW Tour. He also has fished the FLW Rayovac Series, BFL's, B.A.S.S. Open Series, and many local tournaments. He recently won the first 2020 B.A.S.S. Eastern Open on the Kissimmee chain, and he shared his thoughts on the win with our Kevin Carwile.
iBass360: Bryan, congratulations on your win at the Kissimmee chain. Can you share your thoughts going into the first B.A.S.S. Open tournament of the year?
New: First, I have been an FLW guy, and as always I wanted to have a good enough tournament to not lose money- finish in the money and set the stage for the year ahead. I never want to dig a hole economically. But more importantly, I really wanted to get a good jump on qualifying for the Elite Series, get a jump so I could keep my momentum going- maybe even qualify for the Classic.
iBass360: So, Kissimmee conditions were all over the place. Tell us about the conditions, especially on the final day compared to Day 1? How much did it impact your game plan?
New: The first day it was sunny, hot, and the water was slick. The last day it was cloudy, cool and extremely windy. I had some good offshore spots, and I started there and caught a limit, but after
that I had to stay in the most protected areas I could find and be efficient. My game plan didn’t really change because the game plan was really to just fish the conditions as best as possible. Fortunately, the conditions did not keep me from adding my one offshore spot.
iBass360: Full moon in January usually means classic big bass ready to spawn, but the timing wasn’t quite right. How did you deal with that, what you’re your go to lures and fishing methods?
New: I didn’t have just one go to. I used Greenfish Tackle’s G2 Squarebill and their TAT Prop bait. I also used a classic Florida pattern- Zoom’s Old Monster worm rigged on a 5/0 Owner All Purpose Worm hook. With these three, I basically just worked my spots given the conditions of the moment.
iBass360: Now that you have won, please walk us through what this means for you and the season.
New: In addition to doing all my normal tournament preparation for the various events I plan and need to fish, I will need to step up to a lot of media work- building sponsor relations and doing
promotions so I have the right team to support me going into the 2021 Classic and a potential Elite Series berth.
iBass360: Can you talk about how long have you been fishing and your home lake?
New: I have been fishing the waters in my native North Caroline as long as I can remember- basically my entire life. As for a home lake, mine would be Lake Wylie- a man-made impoundment straddling the North Carolina/South Carolina border formed when predecessor power company to Duke Power built the Dam.
iBass360: Do you have any advice be for anglers wanting to start tournament fishing?
New: Just to spend as much time on the water as possible. You have to always try to learn new things, new presentations, new baits, under a lot of different conditions and in different types of water. Then you need to keep track of why certain things worked and when they worked, as well
as what did not work and why. This will help you form plans on the wide variety of water a tournament angler is going to face.
There are a lot of opportunities, more than ever before, to fish the bigger tournament series-
BASS NATION, the various High School and College series, the Open Series, The BFL’s, the Costa, TH-Marine and other regional series. The different organizations, B.A.S.S, FLW, MLF are all working hard to be the best that they can be and this means good opportunity for anglers.
iBass360: Bryan, again we at iBass360 appreciate your time. Congratulations on your win in Florida and good luck for the rest of the season.