One quote you’ll probably never hear a bass fisherman say is “I’m glad I got beat.” But if you were in JJ Dicken’s shoes at the 2022 TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Championship you might understand a little bit more.

JJ Dickens qualified for the 2022 Nation Championship via the B.A.S.S. Nation Southeastern Regional held on Smith Lake back in the spring. He was the winner of the co-angler division among 99 other co-anglers. Along with that he undoubtedly was the highest-finishing co-angler from West Virginia granting him the spot in the Championship.

Coming into the 2022 B.A.S.S. Championship JJ had brought his boat down to practice himself to prepare for the event. He claims that he had phenomenal practice and shared information with Wil Dieffenbauch to help him advance to the Bassmaster Classic. The story of the event for JJ wasn’t the practice or Day 1 of the tournament, but what unfolded on Day 2 is something no bass fisherman ever wants to be faced with.

After Day 1 of the event, JJ was sitting in 3rd place with 5 pounds, 12 ounces, less than a pound back from the leader at the time David Porter. He would then be paired with a different boater for Day 2 who eventually would run into mechanical failures.

“On Day 2 I caught three for around seven pounds,” said JJ. “I felt like I might have a chance to get the win and then disaster struck.”

JJ and boater were due back in at 2:15 on Day 2 and around 2:00 they had made a stop to fish one last spot about 5 miles from check-in. At 2:05 they had decided to leave and when the boater attempted to crank the motor, the cranking battery died and left JJ and the boater stranded with only 10 minutes to check-in.

“We tried everything we could to get it to fire. We even trolled down to some catfish guys to see if they could jump us and the battery was so dead that even they couldn’t get it to jump,” said JJ.

Fortunately, another competitor Johnathan Dietz stopped to pick up JJ and his fish, but it was too little too late. Johnathan picked up JJ at 2:16 and didn’t make it back to check-in until 2:26. Upon arriving at the ramp JJ knew that he very well could’ve lost this one just due to a mechanical failure.

“When I went across the stage on Day 2, I could think about was that I could have won this thing had it not been for the dead battery,” JJ said. “I was sick to my stomach for an hour or so, I was completely distraught.”

JJ would’ve had three fish on Day 2 that would’ve ultimately given him the lead and a shot to win the co-angler side, but his weight was disqualified after the late check-in. He would have held the lead until co-angler Pheerayout See would weigh in a big bag on Day 2 and finish with a total weight of 14 pounds, 10 ounces that would have edged out JJ from the win.

“I’m glad Pheerayout beat me with the weight he had,” JJ said. “That is a quote you’ll probably never hear me say again, but had I lost just due to a mechanical failure I would’ve been heartbroken for a while.”

Winning the event on the co-angler side would’ve given JJ the opportunity to fish Day 3 as a boater for a shot at the Bassmaster Classic and he would’ve also won $10,000 plus entry fees covered for all nine of the 2023 Bassmaster Opens.