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Date: August 14, 2006 at 20:28:48
From: canalyaker, [user-0c2i2pc.cable.earthlink.net]
Subject: Some of those Tournament Fishermen really irk me! |
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I had the opportunity many years ago to fish a two day blind draw freshwater bass Tournament of Champions tournament on Winni in NH….”Pro” ran his boat. “Amateur” aka “me” fished from the back. FIsh were not combined for total weight. Amateurs had a separate prize pool.It was a two day event with a banquet on the evening between the fishing days. I had signed up with a few friends who were a little more versed in the “players” than I, and when they found out at the banquet that I was paired with the first day tournament leader for the final day they all said Mr. XX is ruthless and has won many a tournament…he probably won’t let you make a cast and will “front end” you all day.
The next morning was frosty and we all wore stocking caps to find our pairings. I found Mr. XX launching his boat with some pals and we introduced ourselves. I was smoking…he said, “No smoking on my boat” as he pulled out a pack of Winstons:-)
We took off a 7 am and he had last takeoff in a field of 125 boats or so. We headed out and pulled into a cove and stopped behind an island…He didn’t take out a rod. Just looked through the trees along a rock wall were someone else had started fishing. He said, “OK we have to go fish now and find a different spot”. His non-boater from the day before had brought a competitor to his first day spot. He wasn’t upset. Just very calm like he was watching a sunset.
We ran to Paugus Bay. He had two rods on his deck. Spinner bait and a jig rod. No frills. We started spinnnerbaiting some massive docks for about an hour to two with no strikes.
I am saying to myself this doesn’t look good.
Moved to a point and he reached into his rod locker and pulled out a finesse rig with a weenie worm. We wormed and wormed to no avail. He still hadn’t broken a rod over his knee!
Went under a bridge to fish some slop with the jig. No strikes.
It is noon or a little later. No fish.
He said “Maybe I should switch strategies and go for some smallmouth” He went to another set of docks and tried another potential largemouth area. We saw the second place fisher at the dock area. They asked each other how they were doing. And we found out that his competitor had his five fish limit. There was no BS only the truth. The heat was on!
About 1:30 we went to the smallie area. He drifted a weedline in 14 feet of water throwing the jig. On about the fifth drift he gets a bite. I net his first fish. Then I get one and it goes in my livewell. He picked up 3 more fish on subsequent drifts. He is one short of the limit.
Next drift he gets a bite on the jig. Fish was moving towards him on the hookset. This fish jumps twice and he drops it. It was about 5 pounds. He asked kindly for one of my cigarettes. He says “I have found that when they get going like that and you lose one the smallie bite shuts off”
Having confidence in his convictions we tried one more spot to no avail.
He lost by 2 ounces.
He never considered asking for my fish to fill out his limit. Just needed cigarettes!
He was gracious at the weigh-in and didn’t whine an iota.
He went on to fish the BassMasters Tournament trail and won a few.
A true Sportsman. I will never forget that day and I am still friends with Mr. XX
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