Caleb Sumrall, who has taken one life-changing trip to fish for bass, left town this past week on another journey that could do the same and so much more.

The New Iberia outdoorsman hauled his boat to northwest Alabama, where he planned to practice Friday, Saturday and today for this week’s Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville. A win there is worth $300,000, plus a sky-is-the-limit potential for endorsements and sponsorships the rest of his pro bass fishing career and, probably, after.

Sumrall, 32, had a life-changing experience a few years ago when he traveled to South Carolina after qualifying for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship. Recently out of a job in the oil field industry and staking his family’s future on that opportunity, he notched an exhilarating win in October 2017 at Lake Hartwell to launch his career as a Bassmaster Elite.

His first year as a pro, he fished the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Opens, stretching himself thin. He missed qualifying for the 2019 Bassmaster Classic.

In 2019, he concentrated on the Bassmaster Elite Series. He finished 21st in the Angler of the Year standings and, most importantly, punched his ticket to the Bassmaster Classic.

That Sumrall qualified for the prestigious Bassmaster Classic, the world championship of bass fishing, makes him proud. He’s pumped to be in the 53-angler field for the 50th anniversary Bassmaster Classic.

“Oh, yeah. You don’t want to miss any but the 50th, you don’t want to miss that. I’m pretty excited. It’s going to be pretty special and I think B.A.S.S. is going to pull out all the stops,” Sumrall said on Feb. 18.

“I’m thinking about it a good bit (but) not stressing about it too much,” he said that Tuesday morning at his home in rural Iberia Parish. “One day at a time. I’m getting prepped for it. I’m just organizing tackle. I’ve been doing a lot of working out, staying in shape.”

The man who has left challenges in the dust before wants to do more than have a good showing this week in Alabama. His goal, his mission, is to be the best, to win it, he said.

“Obviously,” he said, emphatically.

Since the 2020 Bassmaster Elite Series opener in February at the St. Johns River in Florida, where he was 48th with 18 pounds in the 88-angler field, Sumrall has been doing his homework on Lake Guntersville. He has pored over maps and researched the lake of 107.81 square miles near Birmingham, site of the weigh-ins Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Sumrall had more time than expected on his hands after the opener. The Bassmaster Elite Series’ second scheduled tournament of the year at Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee was postponed to March 19-22. Flooding and the forecast for more heavy rain in the region prompted the decision announced Feb. 10 by B.A.S.S. The tournament was scheduled to start that week.

Sumrall took the time to be with his family, including taking a few outings in his new Xpress X21 Pro Series boat with Jacie, his wife, and their children, Clélié and Axel. Getting fishing tackle organized and running for miles each week filled the rest of the down time. His family is expected to join him later this week in Birmingham.

His plans were to arrive Wednesday night and stay at a cabin in the midlake area with friend and fellow Bassmaster Classic qualifier Lee Livesay of Longview, Texas. After more prep work to get everything in order on an off-day Thursday, he was going to scout Lake Guntersville, where he enjoyed his highest finish ever, fourth, last year on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour.

What probably will be missing on his return visit is the grass that he fished to pull in 77 pounds, 10 ounces, for $15,000.

“Yeah, I would be pretty excited if I knew the grass was going to be back up but I don’t think there’ll be much grass to play with,” he said in mid-February.

During the three official practices days this past week and today, he planned to just idle around, mostly, and see what the lake looks like the first week of March. He expected to encounter a lake “with a lot of prespawn and staging fish” and said any success would be a matter of finding “the right group of prespawn fish.”

“That’ll be the key to the whole game. It’ll be whoever can keep an open mind, keep something going,” he said.

The fourth and last official practice day is Wednesday. Thursday is Media Day.

In all likelihood crankbaits, jerkbaits and bladed jigs will come into play during the tournament, he said. The water conditions and other factors will determine what he offers the bass.

For sure, he has a positive, optimistic mindset going into the grand event, which will stage its grandest show ever. While he does have one Bassmaster Classic, in 2018, under his belt, he realizes the pressure will be there still.

“You try to look at it as another tournament, try not to let your nerves get the best of you,” he said.

On Friday, Sumrall will leave No.5 in Flight 1. The drawing for takeoff position was held recently at B.A.S.S. HQ.