With every business or company that keeps books, the first 3 months of the year are called the first quarter. It is a time to reflect on how the year started and will give a basis to see how the rest of the year will go. And like many sports fans out there, you can draw that analogy about seeing the scoreboard after the first quarter of play.

Bass fishing is really a combination of both because there is a business side and a competitive side. Here is a first quarter look at both:

From my business prospective, my sponsors are pretty stable. Most all my fishing industry sponsors like SPRO, Vicious, Bass Cat Mercury, etc. are long relationships. Some newer ones are starting off very well, such as Pinnacle and Bass Minder. These companies all have products that I believe in and it makes them easy to promote. With the launch of Missile Baits, all these companies have gotten extra coverage.

On the tournaments side, the first quarter has been so-so. A 30th place finish at the Bassmaster Classic was disappointing. I was around good fish and caught a bunch but did not catch anything over 3 pounds. The first Elite on the St Johns started off right as I was in 8th place after day 1. The next 2 days were tougher and I was only able to manage small limits so I slipped to 27th. That was a little frustrating. Then we went straight to Okeechobee and I missed the cut in 60th. If you fish Okeechobee and don’t catch a fish over 4 pounds, you can’t expect to do anything. I caught a bunch of fish but just missed it. I feel like a batter that got served a hanging curveball and popped it up.

A bright spot for the quarter has to be Missile Baits. Everything is going very well in our first 3 months of business. I could not have expected more. Ish won the Okeechobee Elite on the D Bomb. That was huge. Even before that, we have sold to a lot of dealers. Many popular web sites have added them. We have even sold a good amount to Japan and have deals working for a number of other countries. We are on the cusp of working out a big deal that I thought would not even happen in the first year of business. As I said, things are going very well. Stay tuned for more news about Missile Baits.
 
The best part about the first quarter is that my family grew. My wife gave birth to our little Ivy Larson Crews on January 26, 2012. She is perfect. We love her so much. Even if nothing else happens good in 2012, it will be a great year because of her. She is a little one but is growing nicely. God is very good.

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