Editors' note: Over the next three days, ESPNOutdoors.com will be rehashing 2007, highlighting the good, bad and ugly stories in these three categories: bassmaster, hunting and fishing.
The Good
Kevin Wirth saves his co-angler's life
It was an event that changed the rest of Kevin Wirth's season. Shaken with a sense of perspective, it was easy to see the effect it had on his approach to fishing. Here's how it went down on Day Two of the Bassmaster American:
When Wirth left the launch point at 6 a.m. Friday morning, he was accompanied by a young observer named John Clift. It was still early when Wirth headed to a point near the shore, instead of turning toward open water, as he had been considering. The two arrived at an area near a dock about four miles away, near the High Rock Dam.
Wirth had made about six casts when he heard a noise from the back of the boat, a grunt, and a thud. He turned in time to see Clift's head overboard, sinking. "I'm thinking he just slipped," Wirth said. "We do sometimes."
Wirth ran to the back of the boat. It took a second for the bubbles in Clift's rain suit to buoy him. When he resurfaced, he was on his side, with his face in the water. "I could see where he was in convulsions," Wirth said.
Wirth jumped in, stuggled with the co-angler and pulled him to shore. The man had a full recovery, but Wirth was visibly shaken and definitely done fishing for the day.
Back at his hotel, Wirth encountered a housekeeper named Sunday. Without knowing anything else about his day, she noticed that he looked forlorn. She wrote for him a note, which Wirth took from his pocket Friday afternoon with trembling hands, and read.
It began with the old bromide: Work like you don't need the money, Dance like no one is watching, Love like you've never been hurt. At the bottom, she added, "Everyday above ground is a good one."
In a few steps Wirth caught up with her, and he hugged her hard.