I made the Nationals!!!

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Teri C.

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Fished as a co-angler on Lay Lake this weekend in the BASS Weekend Series Regionals. Day 1 I was paired with a nice guy who fished very heavy, thick matted grass all day. Pitched a 1 oz pegged weight and a sweet beaver. Not my thing. I tried and had no success with that or a jig. He had 5 bites all day which turned to 4 fish and missed one. I weighed 1 fish for 1.68 lb that I caught on a senko on the edge of the grass. I thru everything down the grass line and couldn't get anything. I also broke my favorite rod trying to get my jig unstuck. It was not a good day for me. In my mind, I was done tournament fishing.



Had a reality check with myself in my hotel room. A friend of mine from the women's series died in her sleep Oct 13. She had made her regional too and was super excited about it but she died the week of the tournament. She didn't even get to fish so I should feel blessed to even be fishing. Got my attitude in check and just wanted to "go fishing".



Day 2 I was paired with a great guy. Really enjoyed fishing with him. We pulled up to his spot after running thru serious fog. 1st time I've ever been nervous in a boat cuz you couldn't see past the front of the boat and these guys are still going 50mph, 75 mph if there is a remote clear spot. Anyway, when I saw we would be fishing shallow timber all day, I felt confident I would catch fish, much more my style. He caught the first keeper on a shakey head with finesse worm. I had a shakey worm texas rigged and made a slight adjustment. Put on the lightest weight I had (1/8) for a slower fall with no wind and wanted a bit more tail action on my worm. For the 1st time, I felt like an adjustment I made was crucial. I caught my first keeper right away. He saw what I switched to and said, "what is that stupid little thing you are fishing with?" and laughed. I ripped off 2 more keepers so I had my limit of 3 within the 1st hour. That NEVER happens to me. He said, "ok you have 3 and I have 1, give me one of those!". Not so stupid anymore are they. Ha! I gave him some and he had his limit pretty quick. There were 2 other boats in this area and we were the only ones catching fish. Later, I switched to a brush hog to try to upgrade my spotted bass. I caught 2 largemouths on that and culled. We left that spot with an hour to go and went to flip grass. Neither of us caught anything.



Fishing was tougher on Day 2 for people. I ended up weighing 3 fish for 5.56 which was enough for me to make the cut for the Nationals on Guntersville the 1st week of November. I am soooo excited and proud of myself for my accomplishment and not giving up!



Now, I have to go tomorrow and ask my boss for a week off.....:p
 
I forgot to add I met JimmyE from this site. I enjoyed talking to him at the weigh in and have met another great person from here.
 
Nice results Teri! Contratulations.

Have fun fishing :)
 
Teri-

Awsome news, Congrats !

Also, excellent report. After reading I felt like I was right there with you ! Thanks.

Also, If you ever get to the Potomac River or Northern Va let me know ahead of time . I live 1/2 mile from the river.
 
Fan Frickin Fantastic. Way to go and adjust. We always say fish your strengths but sometimes you have to adjust to what the fish want not just what you feel comfortable throwing.



TOXIC
 
SWEET! Great progress Teri, you ROCK! First year in the Womens Bassmasters tour you made their classic, and now first year fishing the BASS Weekend Series and you make thier Nationals! GetRDone!
 
Great.... Now go pro as boater..You can do It......
 
Great job Teri, sorry about your friend, that had to make it hard to stay focused...but the big message is that you thought out weather and water conditions and changed your set up using your knowledge and gut feeling and Wahoo it worked...best of luck in the up coming events....
 
Great job Teri.



Don't ya love it when a plan comes together?



See ya in bright lights.



Randy!
 
Congrats!!!

Glad you were able to make an adjustment that gave you the fish you needed, nothing develops confidence like success.

 
Great job and was good to meet and talk to you. For those of you that haven't met her, she is just as nice in person as she is here. I was only 49 places out of making it.:(
 
Congrats... We'll all remember when we knew you when you were just a "nobody"... LOL



j/k You have always been a "somebody" to us and we wish you the best of luck...
 
Thanks for all the congrats! I am on cloud 9 today and will be until the tournament starts. I was a nobody when I joined this site years ago. Don't even know how many years but I was fishing with Zebco's back then. Lol! The guys on this site have brought me along way...but I am still a nobody! I did pick up 2 sponsors at the Regionals for next year. Free product is a start!



The tournament is the week of Oct 31 - Nov 6 on Guntersville in Alabama. I won't be able to get there for Sunday practice but have to be there for Sunday night registration. The tournament is wed, Thurs, Friday and the top 25 fish on Saturday.



I was invited by the guy I fished with on Day 2 and his wife to stay with them at the house they rented on the lake with some other tournament anglers. They were a hoot and it will save me alot of money. Brian also invited me to prefish with him Monday and Tuesday so I couldn't be happier. Guess I made a good impression! Must have been when I got a hard yank and didn't have time to set the hook before it spit it out and I said, "Fudge (well not really)! That sneaky son-of-a-beach did a hit and run!" He was laughing at me all day. Not sure if that's good or bad but he did catch his limit early because of me and my bait I gave him.

 
I'd be happy to tell ya what Eli and I learned last weekend, but the weather is cooling and the grass/frog/top-water bite SHOULD be on like donkey kong! Our biggest was 5lb but we had to hunt/fish hard for each one, and ran 1 tank of gas each day from Mud Creek to Goose Pond looking for fish.
 
Way to go Teri!:cool::cool::cool:

I knew you were somebody when we met at the Moors Tourny years ago!:D

Good Luck and win one for us Middle Tennessee anglers.;)
 
Great job, Teri!



Tragic about your friend. Make every day count.
 
TC be very careful on the sponsors....especially free bait backyard builders. The reason I say this is that when I started getting sponsorships, I limited them to only very visible, top tier company's and I devoted a lot of time and effort to them. BPS took me 4 years of free seminars and appearances to get. Yamamoto took 5 years of buying baits directly from the company and when the time was right made my pitch to someone who could make it happen (at a time when they were cutting pro-staff). SPRO/Gamakatsu was a matter of just working hard. Some have gone by the wayside Hawg Caller/Lunker Lure who sold and the new management and I didn't agree. I have one sponsor, a distributor/Rep company, that carries 20 or 30 lines of baits. I have to be very careful that there are no conflicts. For example they carry Culprit and that is in definite conflict with Yamamoto so I do no work for that "line". I could have 100 backyard sponsors but it would definitely affect my relationships with the others. Something you need to remember when it is time to upgrade your stable!! You and I need to talk if you are serious in the sponsor game.



TOXIC
 
Great news about the Nationals Teri! Sorry to hear about your friend, but keep her close to heart and she'll be right there with you. Good luck and if I can help, just let me know. ;) I am very proud of you! Way to go!! :D
 
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