"Guys that have been catching them may end up stumbling a little bit. Or I may be the one that goes out and stumbles, or I may be the guy that goes out and catches them. Somebody is going to earn a new title tomorrow and it's going to be fun vying for that.”

He's the only angler among the Top 16 who knows what it's like to spend a year as the reigning Classic champion, and that's something he wants to experience again. One of the perks that resulted from his first crown was a trip to the White House.

“It would be real important (to win again) because I can look back now and see how important it was to win the first one. It was one of the highlights of my life. You know, the year of a championship is a whirlwind year for the champion and is full of all kinds of great and unimaginable things. I would love to relive part of that again – it’s every fisherman’s dream.”

He's hoping that his championship experience will help soothe the anxiety of contending on the final day.

“I’m going to try and not let the nerves get to me, and maybe having been there before will help me deal with that. I’ve got a job to do and I’m going to go out and fish my heart out and I’m going to take whatever fish the Lord puts in my livewell.”

He said that while there are good numbers of bass where he's fishing, big bites are hard to come by.

"I’m going to stick with that area. One thing that I am going to have is more fishing time than anybody else because I’m literally burning a thimble-full of gas from takeoff. I’m less than a half a mile from the ramp. I’ll be in my area fishing before anyone else gets to their spot.”