2007 Elite Wildcard Tournament

November 29 - December 1, 2007

Lake Okeechobee, Florida

     This tournament was one that I will remember for many a year. There was so much that happened, that I only hope I can recall as much as possible about all that went on during those three days on the Big “O”.

     Let’s begin by my learning of the invite I got about three weeks before the tournament. I did not qualify as high as I wanted to, but that didn’t matter as the co-anglers were chosen by those who applied for the entries by placing a $100.00 deposit down payment which would have been returned if I wasn’t drawn. After learning of my entry, I paid the remainder of the $300.00 entry fee. That became a done deal.

     I received an envelope from BASS that told me where and when I would be attending the pre-qualification meeting and the subsequent pairings briefing. I had never been to the north end of the Big O, and had to look at a map to find lodging locations and directions to that location. Again, this was accomplished.

     I called Ron Klys (one of the pros entered) a week before the tournament and asked If I could practice with him one day before the tournament. I had fished with him on Lake Wheeler, and had enjoyed his fishing style. He called back and said that he would be glad to have a back seater for Wednesday before the tournament. Great news to me ! Now I was getting really excited to be fishing the three day tournament, but also to gain some confidence fishing early.

     I got down to my motel on Tuesday afternoon, and got instructions from Ron where to meet him on Wednesday morning. I met him at the ramp at about dawn. He was respooling from the day before to make sure he had no kinks in his line. I noticed that his skeg on the lower unit was all but gone. He had hit a rock the day before and had to spend the rest of the tournament as it was.

     Now is a good time to mention that the lake was 3 ½ to 4 feet lower than full pool and there were some really shallow locations that warranted the utmost caution when running the lake. Elton Luce Jr. found that out one day of practice when he noticed a very small bird wading where he was running and was too late to avoid running hard aground. It took a very large airboat to tow him off at the cost of a couple of days of practice, not to mention $700.00 or more (rumor). He finished in the top ten and had big bass of the tournament, so he was not handicapped too much. Glad he wasn’t hurt. There were a couple of other incidents, but they were not as spectacular as the aforementioned event.

     Picture this. This tournament was for Southern and Central tournament trail anglers who finished in positions 6-25 in each division as well as some of the Elite anglers who did not qualify high enough to be exempt for the 2008 Elite Series tournament trail. That trail consists of 10 regular tournaments which anglers have to qualify for on an annual basis. They are also privileged to pay $55,000.00 entry fees to be able to attend those ten tournaments. Very pricy !

     Many of the anglers have sponsors who pay for the entry fees in return for advertisement and event attendance by the anglers. The better you are, the more sponsors, and the more sponsors, the more comfortable the angler is, and won’t have to worry about entry fees, lodging meals, ETC. Do you get the drift of this ? Good ! Then you understand that the Elite entry level anglers, no matter how good they are, have to come up with all the money required to fish with the “big boys”. I wish them all the best of luck in that area. I have met many wonderful angers, and have learned so much about fishing from them.

     I got to talk with Harry Potts, and congratulate him on winning a $50,000.00 boat package as a co-angler this year on Kissimmee. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy !

     I met Harry in 2004 on The Harris Chain in Leesburg, Florida. He was, and still is, the leader of the “Dirty Dozen”. No, they’re not as bad as the Lee Marvin group. They have been ferrying 12 Triton boats to all the tournaments since the days that I became acquainted with Harry and his cohorts.

     They used the boats back then for the top 12 anglers on the third day of a four day tournament, and the top six who fished the last day of the tournament. Now they have become a rescue team who take their boats to stranded anglers in the Elite Series, and swap boats so the anglers will not be totally out of the tournaments, especially with the entry fees I mentioned before.

     Harry and two of his gang attended this tournament as there were several anglers from the Elite Series anglers fishing for 10 slots to re-qualify for next years Elite tournaments. It was good to see him, and got a few chances to thank him and to learn of what they do to help out the anglers. Harry was assigned to be the camera boat and take the still photographer around to photograph the anglers in action. Enough about Harry !

     Wednesday I said I was practicing with Ron Klys. He explained that he had lost his in-dash GPS and had moved his bow GPS to the dash, but the GPS didn’t work well, and his depth recorder on the same graph was also not functioning and that he had been in contact with the Lowrance rep and would be spending some time at his trailer.

     We went out to the end of the rim canal where it met with the main lake and proceeded to fish in that area so we could be close to the ramp when THE professor would be available. I caught a fish on a lipless crankbait while we were out there, and was feeling pretty good. Then we got a call, and it was time to “go to school” with THE professor.

     We pulled the boat, and drove to the Lowrance trailer and I got to meet Wilson Frasier. What a character and I mean that in the nicest way ! We spent about 3 hours listening to him and helping pull wires and watching a master at work. He rewired the GPS, added two new transducers, one through hull, and one transom mount, and put a new Lowrance GPS antenna on the boat.

     I was some impressed with all he knew and the way he went about his business. There were a few things I’m not real sure about, but I’ll leave it at that. I learned a mountain of information from him, but I’m not too sure how much I have retained. If it is only 10% then I am way ahead of the game !

     Anyway, we got that taken care of and went in search of fish. Had a great day, and, as always, learned a lot from Ron. I’ll take a moment here and thank him for his time and instructions. Had a great day on the lake !

     When we went in for the registration, we all got another surprise. We all received a new Mustang PFD as we went through the line. I’d wanted one of them seems like forever. Now I have my very own ! Thank you, Bassmasters !

     My first days paired partner was Dave Parsons from Texas and who guides on Lake Fork, a very famous big bass lake. He told me we would be using lipless crankbaits most of the time, and that we would be making a long run to the other end of the lake. I’ll tell you now that all three of my partners made that long run, and even though they did not fish in the same exact areas, I passed by some of the spots I had fished as I sped down the lake with my second and third days partners.

     After the long run we stopped on a flats area and began casting our baits. I saw him doing something that I thought was a bit different that the straight retrieve that I was using, and, of course, he was whacking the fish one after the other. He had three in the boat before I had a bite. I did catch up, for a while anyways, with two of my own, one of which was about a three pound fish. We had a great day, mostly in that area, and were headed back near the ramp, to fish out our last hour.

     When I left my motel to meet Dave, I put my rods in the bed of my Avalanche and pulled my hand back across my rods. I stuck a lipless crankbait into the meaty part of my hand passed the barb. I had to pull that out, and not without pain or a lot of blood. What a way to start my day ! I had to get my keys out of my pocket while bleeding everywhere, and went back in my room to put a bandage on my hand.

     My fiancée had bought me some Curaid spray-on bandage, and I had never used it. Man, let me tell you that it worked wonders. As soon as I sprayed it on, the bleeding stopped, and I was saved. As Jeff Foxworthy would say “git some” ! It really works. Used it again later, but I’ll elaborate when I explain that situation.

     I was getting the net for my partner as he had a good fish on later that morning, when I slipped and fell on my rods by my seat. He lost the fish, and I was some glad. I had driven another hook, this time from a large crankbait, into my left buttock. Ouch ! I asked Dave for help, and he said “looks like you’re gonna die” ! Just foolin’ya ! He extricated the hook and I asked if I was bleeding from the wound. He said that he was not even going to look. I understood. Do you realize that I was lucky to survive the day !

     On the way back we noticed the gas gauge was almost on empty. This is how good these guys were. We stopped about 1 ½ miles from the ramp. Dave told me that, on high, his trolling motor would pull the boat at about five MPH, and that, if we ran out of gas, we could still make it back on time if we headed back with 30 minutes before the check in time. I never would have thought about that. That is why he does what he does, and I do what I do. I got two good hits just after we stopped, but couldn’t get either one in the boat, so I ended up the day with four fish that weighed 7 pound 12 ounces. Dave had five that weighed about 11 pounds. Good day for me, but the fish I missed would haunt me later. We did not run out of gas. Hurrah !

     While we were in line, Ron Klys was just in back of me. After he checked his fish and we were in the forward tanks, he told me that he had brought six fish to the scale. I knew exactly what that meant. You lose your biggest fish, and you get one more culled. I felt so down about that, but he did say he would never have that happen again. I think a friend of mine had that happen to him as well ! I think it must be the heat of the battle that sometimes makes us forget the correct count in our livewells. Please keep that in mind and learn from others before it happens to you.

     My second day’s partner was nowhere to be found after the first day weigh-in, but he called me later. I was to meet him at his motel at 5:30 AM the next morning. I asked if there was anything I could bring him in the morning. He said “yes, bring me a check for $1,000.00 for gas. I told him that I would see if I could find my checkbook (I couldn’t). We, as co-anglers, should help with expenses and I habitually provide $40.00 to help defray the cost of gas when I fish with them.

     I met Billy Brewer (also from Texas) at the appointed time, and put my gear in his new BassCat boat and we motored off to the lake. We made the long run across the lake and stopped at a location that had me wondering " why were we here." I found out. Billy lost one good fish early and broke his line on another before he started making me look like what I am, a co-angler. He was throwing worms. I can usually do that fairly well with that bait, but he was toasting me. Hence the name co-angler !

     I did catch one keeper there, and Billy was on his 10th or 15th keeper at the time. We moved several times and finally went into a fairly large cove area and began worming in there. Billy was still catching, and I was looking. We went all around the cove, and were just about finished when I got a tap, and pulled in a five pound fish. Now I was enthused. Billy was happy that I got the fish, but I knew he could have used an anchor fish like that. He was in fifth place after the first day, and was hoping to stay there. That was the end of our day, and I got big fish for the day, and Billy went from fifth to 10th. I went to eighth place with my two fish, and feeling good about where I was.

     We had to pair partners again for the third day beginning with the first place boater, after the second day, being drawn randomly with co-anglers, and progressing down the list of boaters. I figured it was always good to draw as high as possible. They kept pairing and pairing and I got drawn with the 26th angler. Oh well ! So much for drawing close to the top ! I drew John Cox of Florida.

     Time to talk about a friend of his and my buddies’ son whom I met through my buddy, who works with me at Verizon of Florida !

     I had fished with Kyle Fox before he came out on the Bassmaster tour. I was introduced by his dad, Brad Fox. I was impressed with Kyle from the beginning. I just didn’t realize how good he was. The first tournament on Kissimmee this year, he finished seventh and had big bass of the tournament (12 pounds five ounces). He slipped a bit at Santee Cooper, but finished fifth in the third stop at Lake Wheeler in Alabama. He’s a fish catching machine ! His mom and dad have been a big help in getting him where he is today.

     He and John Cox were rooming together, and I got to chat with Kyle before John and I left for the ramp to fish the third day. Made the long run again, and John said we would be fishing lipless crankbaits where he was fishing. John said that we would have to idle past the first and second place anglers and he did not want to disturb them. We got passed them with out incident.

     We were on another flat and he began taking me to school on the lipless crankbait. I think he must have had 15 fish to the boat before I realized that I was fishing too. I began asking questions, and the answers surprised me. I use 17 pound test line most of the time when throwing that bait, but I was curious as to what he was throwing. He was using 12 pound test. I had some 10 pound test line in my tackle, so I sat down and respooled one of my rods with 10 expecting to best him because I was using even lighter line. Wrong !

     He was using a technique that I had not tried. I watched him and began to emulate the action he was using, and, son of a gun, I started getting whacked. He was culling ounces as he put 30 or 40 small keepers in the boat. I was impressed ! I finally got four in the boat, but I just couldn’t get that limit fish in the boat.

     We were on that flat for a long time and would occasionally get hung up on a stick or a piece of grass. That happened to John about; I’m guessing, 11 AM. He starts working slowly over to the stick to see if he could get the bait unhooked. He placed his thumb on the spool to keep it from moving, and just then, the “stick” swam away. He had hooked a gator, and it had just burned his thumb. I sprayed some of the spray bandage on his thumb, and all he could say was that it stung. I’m sure it did, but it also allowed him to use the reel with little discomfort. He did say it wore off as the day went by. If we had reapplied it, I think it would have done even better !

     Now comes the special part of this story. You remember I mentioned that I would have liked to have been drawn higher. Now, I wouldn’t change anything, even if I could have. It was about noon, and we trolled down the bank towards a bridge and onto another flat. John had told me that there might be some fish that might be confused. I didn’t know about the fish, but I sure was. He got a hit, and we knew it was a good fish. I was almost stupid enough to knock the fish off with the net, but we somehow got her in the boat (8 pounds 15 ounces).

     I begin to think that it would be nice get my anchor fish and fifth fish like he had just caught. Darned if it didn’t happen ! Got a six pound nine ounce fish and John professionally netted Her. Then I was on cloud nine. I had five in the box, and we could leave anytime. But, wait, there’s more !

     About 15 minutes later, John got another monster, and he is up on that same cloud I’m on. What an hour. Three fish that would go about 24 pounds by themselves ! WOW again ! I was able to cull two more before we left, and I was getting anxious to head back in case we had a breakdown, there would be time to get a ride back with our fish.

     Before we weighed in those fish, I want to tell you about the awesome sight I saw on the Big O. I had never seen so many alligators in my life. I bet, over the three days, I saw well over 300 of these reptiles, the largest, I estimated at 12 feet long ! Don’t know if it is because the water is down, or that they are just multiplying so fast, but they were truly awesome to see.

     We got back to the ramp early and took our fish up to the first tanks of treated water as my large one was not looking to well. She revived well and we had no casualties. We were the first two to weigh in and John went from 26th place to leading the tournament with his 20 pound + creel on the third day. I also became the leader on the co-angler side, but only for a short time. I ended up in sixth place on the co-angler side and John ended up in third on the pro side.

     I had but one regret, in hindsight, and that was on the second day with Billy Brewer. He used a “shaky” rig to catch some of his fish on a spinning rod. I had spooled my spinning rod with braided line for frog fishing, but did not remember that I had a spare spool with 10 pound line on it. I may have gotten some action on that, but, like I said, that was hind sight !

     My fiancée did not attend with me because she had a line dance class to teach on Wednesday, and a GG’s (God’s Girls) breakfast on Friday to attend. She wanted me to tell Chris and Lurch that she had a great time on Lake Wheeler helping with the weigh-ins, and she also made me promise to tell them of our engagement. I did so, and they mentioned it every day on stage. Phyllis was thrilled that they did, and really wanted to thank them both. So I did so for the both of us.

     This leads me into my thoughts about Chris and Lurch. They are a great team up on stage, even if they do embarrass me sometimes when I am weighing in my fish. They have fun with everyone, and do it while being ever so professional. I want to thank them for their friendship and the way they conduct the Bassmaster tournaments. You guys “rock”.

     I have learned so much this past year, and have made so many new friends ad got reacquainted with people I had met at earlier tournaments. I am looking forward to the 2008 season with both the Bassmaster Southern Tour and the Bassmaster Weekend Series.

     You people in local clubs should come on out and try this. You will be better fishermen, and you might even cash a check now and the. It’s really a great rush.

     Goodness I’ve used up a lot of words tonight, but I just had to tell you all this story of pain and agony and victory. It’s been a pleasure my friends. You will be hearing from me again soon, but for now, God bless and keep each and every one of you healthy and happy today, tomorrow, and forever.