Elite Pro Nate Wellman of Newaygo, Mich. Photo Bassmaster.com 

-what tips or tricks have you learned about traveling across the US?

As far as tip or tricks for traveling that I have I would start by making sure your packed the day before to give you plenty of time to get the stuff your forgetting. also try to plan your trip with the big cities in mind get an idea of what time you will hit certain towns and leave earlier or later or plan a dinner stop to avoid rush hour traffic.  When looking to stop for fuel and or food pic the truck stops and try to stop in the gas station town (the ones that only have stuff for travelers not really a city).  
 
-could you detail your strategy at Pickwick?

I went to Pickwick with the idea of a prespawn tourney in mind the first day of practice I fished drops points anything i thought staging bass would be on but i couldn't get them to go at all. In mid afternoon the first day of practice with very few bites to show for my effort I took a look at the conditions and went to the flooded coves. I got a lot of bites the rest of the day but I wasn't getting the big bites i needed. I knew about the are I was in from a few yrs past and cashed checks there before and I went there and there was plenty of fish and fisherman on day 2 of practice. I just stuck with the bank fishing and flipping was the best plan for me i caught a few fish on cranks and spinnerbaits but flipping was the best.the first day of the tourney I went to the slough just thinking i was gonna get me a solid 15lb limit then go to other stuff but i had 20lbs by noon then left and ran a few other secondary spots and couldn't upgrade my plan after the first day was to  milk my spot for she was worth and I did.  what made the final day cut was on day 3 of the tourney at 325 i caught a 6-9 and i had to be in by 4pm. the final day I knew i was out of fish but do to boat troubles i was able to get there and i stayed all day and was able to get back my plan was to fish a few other places that day./
 
-biggest challenge so far this year?

My biggest challenge this season is fishing against the best in the business these guys are better than i thought I studied most of them my whole life and the still surprised me and still are other than that everything has been great and Ive done all the traveling for a few yrs already so i knew what i was up against there
 
-what events are you looking forward to that are left on the schedule?

I really looking forward to most of the season now I like rivers and backwaters and I like deep water also the rest of the season is how I like to fish we'll see how it goes its up to the fish not me I can only fish as hard and smart as I can