Tournament Yesterday

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Scott Hammer TOXIC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2002
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Location
Warrenton, VA
I was going to post this last night but my wife came in and found me asleep at the keyboard!! LOL.



Went out yesterday with "at risk" kids who were in a "bridge program". If they keep their noses clean, have perfect attendence and get good grades, they get rewarded by participating in a fishing tournament on lake Anna every year. Each child is chaperoned by a school official or teacher (or in my case, a school board member). All of the "prominent" lake guides participate, the Mid-Atlantic HawgCaller Pro-Staff (I am also in this group) as well as a group of tournament fishermen depending on how many kids make the cut. We had NITRO, Ranger, Skeeter, Triton, Gambler and Bullet boats there



I was blessed to have an 11 year old girl, LaVonnelle and a school board member (can't remember the lady's name) neither of wich had ever had a fishing pole in their hands. Ya just goot love my luck of having all of the raw luck catagories covered..women, kids, non-fishers!!



It was a pretty awsome sight with 20 boats all docked at the marina and all of us swapping lifevests and gear as the Guide/Student draw was made. We had 11 year olds that were 240lbs. and 40lbs. We loaded them all up got them in their vests and motored out to the center of the lake in front of the nuclear powerplant and every captain gave a little speech on how the lake was formed, how the plant uses the lake and nuclear power 101 (that was pretty tough for the Ranger guys but we gave them crib sheets....LOL...now I can get Rob AND Mac in the same slams!!). Then it was blast off time (limited blast off, most of these kids had never been in a boat). Everybody goes BLASTING off up lake, downlake, mid-lake and I just sit there. They are both looking at me and I wihsper shhhhhhh, my secret spot is right over here. Their eyes were as big as saucers as I idled up to the restriction buoys for the powerplant and started down the bank. The lady was asking me if the fish were irradiated and I told her they were but there weren't too many because they glowed in the water and were easy to catch at night. We got a good laugh out of that. The rule was that if I hooked a fish I could hand my rod to the student to reel in. The chaperone lost a 3+ at the boat and I thought she was going in after it!! This was only a 1/2 day tourney with weigh in and lunch at noon. We fished right up to the limit, I couldn't get them to put the rods down, once I got them casting my trusty Zebco 202 and Shakespear, LOL (I only got my ear pierced once!!). I had them all pumped up for the weigh in and I blasted into the bay of the marina at a good clip and did the sideways slide to a stop. Had everyone's attention and did the fast idle and parallel park thing between 2 Rangers, a brand spankin new 521 and a NASCAR edition, I knew the owners and watched them fill their drawers as I did it!! We got out and I started yelling "Team NITRO's here, make way, the money boat has docked"!! I was talking trash all the way to the scales doin the moonwalk and the "don't hurt em' Hammer/Can't touch this song all the while my "team" was pumpin their fists and singin along (I saw my partner Teddy and he was trying to crawl under a picnic table, he is in charge of all the Mid-Atlantic HawgCaller pro's so he was in full tourney attire and tryin to be Mr. Professional, LOL. Everyone else was in full hysterics. We were last to weigh in and guess what......WE WON!!



If I live to be 100 I don't think I will ever see a repeat of the look on that little girls face or the feelings I had when we were the last to be called up at the award ceremony and she opened her envelope to find a $50.00 bill as first prize. She broke down and cried and hugged me for 10 minutes. Let me tell you, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. There's no tellin how many Christmases, Birthdays and Holidays have passed this liitle girl by and I can guarantee you she had never held a fifty dollar bill<
 
Great story Tox.



I believe strongly in everyone paying their fair share of civic rent. When you can do it, and get the type of payback that you did, is even better.



Your description was superb, and made me feel like I was watching it in person.



Tex
 
Tox...



That is a great story... a truly great story





PS. Post some pictures so that the follow along while we "splain it all to you crowd" (that would be Ranger guys) can get some of it....
 
Good strory Tox...kinda' makes ya' feel good all over! I love it when someone is introduced and they are in it for life possibly.

TEE
 
Hey Tox, You Are Not A Bad Guide, TOX IS A VERY GOOD GUIDE Seriously my eyes welled up reading this! way to go, you da' man! kb
 
I am a succer for these types of stories. Really warms the heart, in a world that is not all that heart warming at times.



I am going to look into finding any programs like this in my area. I would love to participate in one.



Wolf
 
Nice Job Tox! Plus anytime you can slam those Ranger yahoos, well that is just icing on the cake! LOL



Rich D
 
Good story Tox...makes you feel good all over. You did a good thing by giving your time to teach others the value of the great outdoors. Plus you stuck it to the YaHoos that trashed ya'!



Donnie
 
That is just AWESOME! Congratulations, Tox.



(Good story telling, too!)
 
Cool...YOU de MAN!! It's deffinetely true that you get back a ton more when you give!! Now you know why i give so much!!..LOL....The return on my "investment" is 1000fold!!

Keep it up dude!!!

Mac
 
Tox, when you going to post "the rest of the story"? I have been waiting all day! I only have a couple hours and I am out for the weekend! Friday off and maybe Monday! Woo Hoo...Now bring on that story..I will have to leave in a while and may not get to read it untill Tuesday. This sure is a cliff hanger!



Donnie
 
Great story Tox, sounds like you and your team members had a ball.
 
Tox, that is just fantastic, that girl will never forget that day, although, I'm sure as time passes the fish may "grow" a bit, but hey, that's a good thing, right?



Good for her, good for you, and kudos to whoever put that whole deal together...... a real feel good story... egMike
 
TOX -



I'm as touched by that story as I was amused by the story of the origin of your nickname!



You are truly a Good Person, Mr. Hammer!



me!
 
OK, now for the rest of the story. I'm feelin' all cocky, winnin the tourney and we take the kids from one sponsoring marina to the other sponsoring marina for pictures. BTW there was a freelance writer there and he is doing a newspaper article on the event and wants to go out with me so he can do a story in Virginia Game & Fish magazine. So, to say the least I am pretty stoked. A bunch of the guides are standin around after the kids left talkin' and passin the dip can around (the guide equivalent of having a brew with the boys) and all of a sudden we are all gonna go out and have another tourney between us ...Sure after we just got done talkin about all MY spots, LOL!! (I think they wanted a little revenge). The next thing you know, it is like the Indy 500....We all run for our boats, and it's...."Gentlemen start your engines" and we are all WOT flying across the lake (about 10 of us). 2 boats pull into one of my honey holes, I'm cussin em' but laughing under my breath. I decide to run up the North Anna river and pull up to a favorite shore, get out a cigar and start the pattern. I keep getting strange looks by passing boats and then I remember I have my bright white "sponsor" shirt on with patches and such all over it. I also have on one of the bright red NITRO hats. An old timer in a johnboat (dang tin Mosquitoes LOL) motors up and asks if I am catchin or fishin, LOL. I'm feelin good so I toss him some HawgCaller plastics and move on down the bank. Then it hits me, I dug that koi pond for my wife's Mother's Day present (that's another story). I realize that since the cost of this little outdoor aquarium is quickly approaching $1,000.00 with pump, filter, liner, etc., I might be able to save a few bucks by "transplanting" some water lilies from the lake to my little pond. I'm thinking how excited my wife will be and at $70 per plant, I could save some serious scratch. Well, ...there's only one cove that I know of on Anna that has water lilies and it just so happens it is up the North Anna. So I make the run and swing into the cove and think, boy is it gonna be hard to fake like I'm fishin when the water is coffee colored and a lot of debris floating in it besides, the wind has now come up and is rippin'!! So, I fake fish my way back into this cove, 2 feet of water and some pretty big pads. I think, I'll just let the boat get blown along the pad line, reach down snag a couple, drop em' in the livewell and nobody's the wiser. Sounds like a plan. The plan was great; it was my execution that was a little flawed. I took my NITRO hat off, I didn't want it to land in the lake, positioned the boat to get blown down the pad line, get on the front deck (which on a 929 is what, 2 feet off the water?) Now here is where my execution gets in trouble (can you tell where I'm going with this?). I get down on one knee and put my hand on the side of the boat just as a pretty significant gust of wind gets it moving at a good clip, I reach down and grab a big clump of pads, (is it becoming more evident?) I give a tug and it is at this point in time the second gust of wind hits the boat and the pads don't move an inch which of course pulls me off of my knee and towards the water (I wish I had read up on them and known they have a root ball the size of a pineapple!!). I immediately thrust both of my legs straight out behind me to get some leverage and my only chance of remaining on deck (my toes were struggling to get out of my tennis shoes and grab deck carpeting)) but all this did was effectively turn my body into a human spear (wasn't smart enough to let go of the pads, monkey/jar thing) and allow me to, in slow motion, slide over the edge and knife into the water jamming my head into what is now 1.5 foot water and the muck at the bottom. I extract my head from the muck just in time to see my boat scooting across the lake at about 5 knots. Do you know how hard it is to swim in tennis shoes and wind pants? It is a lot of
 
Oh, what a good chuckle this early on Friday morning. Only would have been better with a video camera, but your description was priceless.



New name:



Lillies Toxic Fishing Guide Service



You might not catch fish, but it will darn sure be entertaining!



Tex
 
AAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tox,that's a classic......

So,did you ever get the lillies?
 
And, I thought Neeley's flies and my dead deer were the only priceless gems of "I did a dumb thing. today" worthy of posting... Alas, you have risen to the Pantheon of "dumbies"... welcome lad... you are in some serious company! LOLOLOL



Henceforth, we shall form a special "group" of NTOWS "dumbies"... a crest will be designed... black flies, spike buck horns and lilly pads....
 
That isn't the same technique you showed the clients that slammed you on the BFHP is it? LOL



Harpo
 
Wow...what a great story...made me tear up and then laugh my butt off!!!

I don't care what everyone says about you TOX, you're alright in my book, but my book is screwed up too!!!

 
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