Doing Things His Way...Even When Others Try To Stop Him

That's how bass pro Keith Poche responded when a disgruntled angler tried to block his access to a small backwater ditch he was fishing during a Bassmaster Central Open tournament on the Red River.

Someone overnight between day two and the final day went and pushed rocks into the opening of the ditch to try and block Poche from entering what ultimately would be his three-day, 37-pound 12-ounce tournament-winning hole.

Unlike the multitude of pro anglers who fish major tournaments out of high-priced, flashy fiberglass boats, Poche fishes all year from an 18-foot Gator Trax boat, which fits his style of fishing backwater areas like you find in his home state of Louisiana. Some anglers think it's an unfair advantage, but he uses the boat all year, which often puts him at a disadvantage of not being able to make long runs on big bodies of water. In short, he plays the odds that he can find shallow areas to fish all to himself.

"To do it like I like to do it; to just go and get back into stuff, I fish more comfortably like that," said Poche, who's originally from Natchitoches, LA. "They say fishing is (largely) mental, and it is. It's making good decisions on the water--and when you're comfortable, you're going to make good decisions."

The backwater area where he spent the majority of his Central Open tournament time was only about 10 minutes from takeoff. Having found the area with a drone during pre-practice, he described it as a long, narrow ditch that led to a deeper backwater with shoreline vegetation and laydowns.

Approaching the area required Poche to traverse a treacherously shallow zone. This barrier, he said, likely would prevent a heavier fiberglass boat from reaching the fish, but Poche's vessel was ideally suited for the task.

"I run an 18-foot Gator Trax boat with a 90-horsepower Mercury, and that's the toughest aluminum boat on the market," said Poche. "That boat is perfect for getting into little places like this. I do what I do--it's a style of fishing; it's who I am.

"There's so much that can go wrong; you can break down or get stuck. I'm just so happy it worked out OK."

For his persistence in doing things his way, Poche took home the $48,100 top prize and earned an invitation to fish the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic held in Knoxville, TN, March 24-26.