At age 61, Jim Tutt is having the best season of his 22-year run on the MLF Pro Circuit (formerly FLW Tour). He gives some of the credit for his success to the time he's spent competing in local tournaments in Texas with his 15-year-old nephew, Andrew.
Andrew Tutt, the youngest son of Tutt's youngest brother, is a bass-obsessed youth who won the TBF State Junior Championship as a 13-year-old.
"He's really open-minded because he hasn't learned any bad habits yet," Tutt said. "He's also got two other guys who he fishes with all the time who know what they're doing.
"We fish tournaments on several lakes and we've won some and made a lot of checks. He usually wins big bass or comes close and he catches most of the fish."
The elder Tutt is 6th in the Pro Circuit Angler of the Year (AOY) standings with only next month's regular-season finale at the St. Lawrence River remaining. His previous best finish in the points standings was 15th in 2012.
There's been nothing spectacular about his campaign – he's finished no higher than 18th in any of the five tournaments. His worst outing was a 66th in the most recent event at the Potomac River and he actually gained a spot in the AOY standings after that one.
"I've just been consistent," he said. "I've made the (Top-50) cut in every tournament but one and in that one I still made a check. I've been making the right decisions at the right times.
"I had some health issues recently that made me rethink some things, but one of the things that's helped me the most is only getting the 2 days of practice this year, and that's been the opposite of what I thought was going to happen. I've had to force myself to keep practicing in the tournaments and I haven't been dying on the same group of fish or the same patterns or whatever."
