By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Adrian Avena had all of Monday to savor the first victory of his 12-year tour-level career. A day later, it was back to business.

The 32-year-old from Vineland, N.J. was dozens of miles off his home state's shoreline on Tuesday, running a guide trip for tuna, sea bass and flounder. This is the busiest time of the year for that and his two boats (he has three other captains who work with him) will combine to make about 150 trips over the next several months.

"Whenever I'm home, I'm out there every chance I get," he said. "I love it."

His long-awaited initial victory came in last week's MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Cayuga Lake in neighboring New York, where he caught 58 pounds worth of bedding smallmouth in the Knockout and Championship rounds combined to eclipse runner-up Spencer Shuffield by 1-05. He entered the final day with a 2-ounce lead over running mate and World No. 1-Ranked Jacob Wheeler and closed the deal with a 28-10 haul.

"I feel like I put in my dues for sure and it feels good," he said. "I'd made a lot of championships and had a lot of good events and I'd kind of become known as a guy who was consistent, but this was definitely something that was lacking in my career.

"I follow this sport pretty hard and there's a lot of anglers out there who I consider household names who've never won. To check that off my list and get that first one kind of solidifies things a little bit."

Was he nervous going into the final round with such a slim lead over the ever-looming Wheeler? Maybe just a bit.

"I had a bunch of buddies come up and my family was there with me, and I told my best friend I was going to win the tournament unless Jacob caught that 7 1/2-pounder again (which he'd done in the Knockout Round). I really stuck to my game plan and didn't waste my time on 4 1/2- to 5-pounders that weren't going to help. I committed to the big ones and I was able to catch five of them."

Those big bronzebacks were pretty easy to catch, but difficult to find. Environmental conditions weren't favorable in the early stages of the tournament as the practice days were windy and smoke from the Canadian wildfires exacerbated matters.

He employed a flogger to pinpoint specimens of the quality he sought at depths ranging from 8 to 12 feet. On the second day of his Qualifying Round, with the sun shining for the first time all week, he caught a good bag early and went on the hunt for the remainder of the day, which resulted in the pinpointing of half a dozen good ones that he caught in the Knockout Round.

"That was the turning point of my tournament, when I was able to spend half the second period and all of the third period flogging. I found close to 30 pounds and I knew I had the potential for doing something special."

He found a few more in the Knockout Round that he utilized to clinch the victory. He had to release a 5-12 that day that he'd hooked outside the mouth, but he went back and caught it legally in the Championship Round.

"The good ones were pretty spread out," he said. "I had one area of the lake that by the end of the tournament I was calling a community stretch – a lot of guys were fishing it and I had some deeper ones in that zone. I had another zone in the midlake region that had three different nubs (humps or points) and I did a lot of damage there.

"Those ones in 8 to 12 feet, I could tell they hadn't been caught. They were one-casters for the most part."

The win moved him up to 10th place in the Angler of the Year standings. The remaining events are on Northern fisheries where he'll be among the competitors expected to fare well.

"I've been fortunate to have a good season and I think I basically just need to show up at the next two to make (the 2024 REDCREST Championship)," he said. "People ask me if I always fish to win or if I do this or do that, but now there's not a whole lot of pressure.

"I can take some more risks and that can go really good, or else it can go really bad."

Gear Notes

> Avena caught the spawning smallmouth on a dropshot rig featuring a 4-inch Berkley Gulp! Minnow (chartreuse). He used a 7-foot medium-action Abu Garcia Fantasista rod, an Abu Garcia Revo Rocket spinning reel (size 30), 10-pound Berkley x5 braided line and a 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader.

> He said his Redfin polarized sunglasses were a critical factor in scanning potential bedding areas.