I fished quite a few tournaments while laid off from the mill, working in factories with weekends off. Once I got called back to the mill, I had to work shifts and weekends so that pretty much ended tournaments for me. My last tournament on pool 19 was heart wrenching, another tournament slipped through my fingers and getting 5th place with one fish short of a limit. This was one I deserved and needed to win, but it was a fail with no fault of my own.
I was working 330-midnight shift, so I had to stay up all night. I got off work, loaded the truck and hooked the bass boat up and drove 2.5 hours, getting there around sunrise. The guy I fished with previously on that pool was going to be there the day before me so I knew he would be fishing my spots, so I had my work cut out for me. He fishing with his nephew, 20 years old.
I launched my 1086 Champion bass boat at Burlington Ia., and I went out looking. I checked my spots that my partner likely fished and didn’t catch any. I checked around for miles, fishing was tough. I noticed one small ditch about 20′ wide with no structure. I didn’t catch any at the mouth, but it had clean water and looked good. I Thought I’d push pole my way back in and see how far back in I can go. I push poled my way back in until I came upon some fallen wood. I made a cast and caught a nice bass, so I pushed my way back out to leave the fish alone. This is a great spot because it was a pro-am event, so the amateur would have to stay in the back of the boat and cast cast up front.
I kept looking but didn’t find anything else. I quit around 4pm, totally wore out from no sleep, the heat and the sun all took their toll. I had plans to share a room with my old partner. When I walked in , his nephew was laying in my bed! He refused to move until I told him I would get my own room. That evening there was a meeting to draw out amateur partners for the pro-am bass tournament. Just my luck I drew out that same kid!
So at blastoff I ran to my new hotspot. I pulled in that narrow ditch and things are looking good, amateurs can’t stand up front and fight you for fish, so it was all mine. I pushed poled back in and made a cast and caught a nice bass. I unhooked and the amateur partner jumped up front and stood on my poles! I yelled, you can’t do that! Get back in the back! He ignored me and he broke three rods! All the eyes were crushed and rods cracked. I managed to catch 4, but he took 2 of my fish by casting up front elbow to elbow. I should have filed a complaint for breaking rules, but he was related to my old partner, so I had to take it on the chin.
At the weigh-in I was angry, tired and upset. The director could see it in my face and since my amateur partner got first place in the am division, he knew what had happened. He told me not to give up, you’ll win next time he said. There would be no next time, I was done. The kid won a pole and tackle box and cost me $1500!