Over the past 21 years I would say that I have probably fished somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 tournaments. I have had some real good tournaments and I have had some real bad ones. I have also had some good streaks where everything I did, went my way. One year I cashed ten checks out of twelve events. I have also been on the backside of that where I could not catch a fish in a pay lake. That is tournament fishing. You win some, you lose more. Everyone has had those tournaments where they lose a giant at the boat, or you hear someone say they should have won the tournament but their line broke or whatever happened. We have all said it and or heard it at a weigh in. I know of several tournaments where I could have done better but somehow screwed it up. But there is one tournament where I screwed up so bad that if it would have gone the other way, it could have been a life changing event.
In 2005 I entered my first B.A.S.S. event. The tournament was held on West Point Lake in Alabama. I was nervous and excited to say the least. My practice went fairly well. I had found two different patterns that seemed to be working. I wasn’t over confident. I was just glad I had found some fish. I sat in my boat waiting in anticipation for my boat number to be called. I was shaking. I couldn’t wait to get out and start fishing. My boat number was finally called and I took off to my first spot. I was stroking a jig on an offshore brush pile. Within 15 minutes I got a bite. I set the hook and fought the three pound fish all the way to the boat. As I reeled him in closer the fish decided to jump and got off. Trying not to get too upset I kept fishing. I should have played him better but that was only mistake number one. An hour or so went by and I went to start flipping trees. I had found some fish on the ends of some pine trees that were lying in the water. I flipped into this tree and my line kept going down. I finally realized that I had a fish and set the hook. I pulled the fish out of the tree and had him coming toward the boat. In the clear water I could see that this fish was over six pounds. I don’t remember if I gave him slack or what but ten feet from the boat the fish just came off. Now I was sick to my stomach. I ran around the lake for several more hours trying to get that thought out of y head but it wasn’t working. I started throwing a topwater when a nice three plus pound fish smoked it. I set the hook and he came off. The fish came back two more times and I missed him again and again. Things were not going my way. With ten minutes to go I finally caught my first keeper on a jig. At the weigh in I weighed my one fish for three pounds knowing that I should have had sixteen or so pounds putting me in the top three for day one. Instead I was in the 70’s. I was beyond sick that night. I called my wife and told her that maybe I don’t belong here. She tried to cheer me up telling me not to give up. Day two and I had a fresh start. I picked up my top water and went to work catching three two pound fish within a couple of hours. My confidence was coming back. It was now time to go to my trees and flip a big one out. And then it happened. I got a bite and set the hook. It was big. Four pounds plus and he came screaming out of the tree. He made one jump and broke my line. Oh, did I mention that the night before I took off my twenty pound test and replaced it with fourteen pound test because I thought I would get more bites? At the weigh in my six pounds got me a few places out of the money. With all of the fish I lost I would have been sitting in first or second place. I don’t know what would have happened on day three but if I would have won the event I would say that it could have possibly changed my life. That was and still is the only B.A.S.S event that I have ever had a chance to win. I believe that one event has actually helped my fishing. There are just some things that you have no control over. Someone a lot higher than me does and if you fight it, it just gets worse. I realized that after that event and I am still going strong hoping that one day it will go my way and I know it will. Never give up, even when you think you are at your lowest point. Your next cast could be a life changer.