Thanks for all the comments on the site. I really appreciate you following me and all your support. I gave this site and a few people from here a shout out at the day 1 weigh in. The fishing was certainly tough for most of us, and I think I have a Day 3 curse. I was humbled with a big fat zero on day 3. It was going to happen but dang it if it happened when I was in 4th place. I was fortunate enough to only fall to 6th overall. I am currently 3rd in points so making the Classic is looking pretty good so far. I hope I can keep it up.
Day 1
Paired with the youngest pro on the tournament (21). She is very nice but almost killed the both of us with her driving. No joke! Going about 60mph around an S curve we fished tailed, she over corrected, and I was about a foot from smacking into a very large tree that was a few feet out in the water. She even thought we were going to hit it as she said "Hold on!" right as we were about to hit. Some how we missed it, shew! We laughed about it after but dang it was too close.
We went to a very remote area. Thru thick brush and trees. Getting there was crazy, rocking trees to get unstuck. I don't think I could have put my boat thru that. Most of the pictures from Day 3 on ESPN are of her (Meta) and her spot. They must have followed her back there. Not sure how. I ended up with 3 fish and was in 9th.
Day 2
I was paired with a pro who decided to take a 16 foot jon boat instead of her Legend boat. We took about a 45 minute ride to a very remote part of the river and I ended up on the front of the boat shoving brush and trees out of the way. Lots of spiders and snakes. YUCK! We ended up a her right by her spot which was blocked by a very shallow area. She said she knew what she was doing and we would gas it, end up on top of the shallow part and push pole our way in. Looked way to shallow to me but what do I know. Ha! Long story short, we ended up stuck, stuck, super stuck. She was going to get help but we would be disqualified so I said NO. So, for about 45 minutes I was knee deep in mud rocking that jon boat and finally was able to shove it back off. After it was unstuck she said, "want to try one more time", um NO ! We never made it in so we were in this jon boat for nothing. We didn't wet a line until 9:30ish. I ended up with 3 fish so I can't complain but it was a miserable day on the water. Got soaked on the way back. I did feel bad for her because she broke a rod, one fell out of the boat while driving and she lost her cell phone in the river.
Day 3
Fished with the most knowledgable pro yet. I really enjoyed fishing with her. No troubles, great day on the water, but no fish for me. She has a nice limit pretty fast. Guess I need some stress to have something for weigh in. Ha! I caught 2 bass but they were short. I hooked 3 that felt like they would have been keepers but I lost them. Seemed to be a common problem for everyone. I did learn alot from her and I did have my chances. Just off my game I guess. Sure was hard to go to the final weigh in with nothing. Humbling for sure.
I am totally enjoying this experience and I can't wait for the next tournament the first week of June.
Here's my biggest from Day 2.
Day 1
Paired with the youngest pro on the tournament (21). She is very nice but almost killed the both of us with her driving. No joke! Going about 60mph around an S curve we fished tailed, she over corrected, and I was about a foot from smacking into a very large tree that was a few feet out in the water. She even thought we were going to hit it as she said "Hold on!" right as we were about to hit. Some how we missed it, shew! We laughed about it after but dang it was too close.
We went to a very remote area. Thru thick brush and trees. Getting there was crazy, rocking trees to get unstuck. I don't think I could have put my boat thru that. Most of the pictures from Day 3 on ESPN are of her (Meta) and her spot. They must have followed her back there. Not sure how. I ended up with 3 fish and was in 9th.
Day 2
I was paired with a pro who decided to take a 16 foot jon boat instead of her Legend boat. We took about a 45 minute ride to a very remote part of the river and I ended up on the front of the boat shoving brush and trees out of the way. Lots of spiders and snakes. YUCK! We ended up a her right by her spot which was blocked by a very shallow area. She said she knew what she was doing and we would gas it, end up on top of the shallow part and push pole our way in. Looked way to shallow to me but what do I know. Ha! Long story short, we ended up stuck, stuck, super stuck. She was going to get help but we would be disqualified so I said NO. So, for about 45 minutes I was knee deep in mud rocking that jon boat and finally was able to shove it back off. After it was unstuck she said, "want to try one more time", um NO ! We never made it in so we were in this jon boat for nothing. We didn't wet a line until 9:30ish. I ended up with 3 fish so I can't complain but it was a miserable day on the water. Got soaked on the way back. I did feel bad for her because she broke a rod, one fell out of the boat while driving and she lost her cell phone in the river.
Day 3
Fished with the most knowledgable pro yet. I really enjoyed fishing with her. No troubles, great day on the water, but no fish for me. She has a nice limit pretty fast. Guess I need some stress to have something for weigh in. Ha! I caught 2 bass but they were short. I hooked 3 that felt like they would have been keepers but I lost them. Seemed to be a common problem for everyone. I did learn alot from her and I did have my chances. Just off my game I guess. Sure was hard to go to the final weigh in with nothing. Humbling for sure.
I am totally enjoying this experience and I can't wait for the next tournament the first week of June.
Here's my biggest from Day 2.
It sounds like you did as well as could be expected under the circumstances and you're still in the hunt right?? AND you look darn good standing there holding that bass!!
