It’s a new year and we have our new boat.  Picking up my new Skeeter at Nixon Marine was a  nice Christmas present.  It’s been a great holiday, we were able to spend time with Tiffany and both of our families and friends.  We went to her parent’s house this Christmas.  Her parents had just built a new house with a giant heated garage that I can pull my whole rig into which was pretty cool.  

The family all helped over the holiday as we heated up the wrap and peeled it off in preparations for our 2018 one.  It’s always nice to be able to work of this kind of stuff while also being able to spend time with everyone.  They were all a huge help.

When we went to break in the new boat, it was quite the adventure.  As you can imagine, Idaho in December can be pretty cold and snowy.  We hit the water while the temperature hovered around twenty four degrees.  Luckily, people hadn’t been using the ramp much so going in wasn’t the hard part.  But, after driving around the lake and putting it on the trailer, it was a sketchy time to say the least.  We posted a video of the whole escapade.

In other news, different from last year, we won’t be having much of a transition sponsor wise.  However, the one that will be changing is a big one.  We’ve worked with Rigid Industries for a while now and it’s been a great relationship that I’m thankful for.  Rigid will still be involved with what we are doing, however we are currently working out a new title sponsor deal in 2018 and will announce a couple other new deals this month.

The season is fast approaching and although it’s been a slower month past, we’ve still been chipping away everyday behind the scenes getting ready.  I made it out hunting a couple times for elk and mule deer; including my first muzzleloader experience which was pretty old school, but fun as well.  Other than the couple hunting trips, we’ve been working on the sponsor deals, organizing tackle, and rigging the new boat as all the accessories trickle in.  

Also, I was able to approve a new bait with Storm that we’ve been working on for the past three years and I’m very excited to get it out on the market.  We’ve been constantly tweaking until finally it’s the way I want it to perform.

Now that we are into 2018, things are going to get a lot busier as the season nears.  I’m headed out for my first boat show on Thursday in Illinois.  It’s the exact same show that I kicked off with last year in Collinsville and I’ll be representing Skeeter/Yamaha for Dupo Marine Center.  Every weekend in January is booked up with boat shows and it looks like I’ll only be home a grand total of ten days all month.  We’re on a tight schedule for a lot of these shows, so I’m hoping we don’t get any weather delays.

Both the new year and new season are here and it’s about to be going full force.  Before we know it the Bassmaster Elite Series season will be kicking off and I can’t wait.