“Don’t take it for granted.” It’s what I kept telling myself after waking up from an unexpected surgical event two months ago. I sat around the house for nearly 6 weeks, resting and thinking about fishing. The one time I went to fish, I lasted fewer than four hours and had to leave. Lifting the kayak was a task that required assistance. I wasn’t ready for the grind.

And then I was. Rest, some light exercise, the support of family, and that feeling that you got a new start: those were the ingredients that have gone into these past 6 weeks of my renewed tournament season.

In 5 events, I’ve had 3 top 10 finishes that include two consecutive 1^st place finishes, all on different lakes. I also fished two team events in that time span. I landed limits and placed scoreable fish on the leaderboard in both – in one of the two, I was the team’s top angler.

If that’s not a hot streak, it’s a very good run. It could continue; it could end with the next tournament. I could blank at my next event and win the last four after it. You can’t know, so I don’t care.