Right now I’m packing my boat to head back to Falcon. But this time it’s for “business.” I’m hosting my annual charity event down there. I recently returned from Falcon, as well.
Little Alton and I went down there and caught some nice ones last week. He needed another day to pre-fish for the year-end Bass Champs Championship on Falcon, and I decided to go down there with him. The north end of the lake is more accessible to fishing because it’s close to the ramp; however, when we arrived, every place you wanted to pull up on was full.
There were lots of competitors practicing. I could only stand about 30 minutes of that, then we put the boat on the trailer and headed to the other end of the lake. There were fewer boats but the fish were plentiful.
I don’t like to fish in crowds, and there is definitely something to be said for getting away from them. The first place we pulled up on, Little Alton whacked a 10-pounder; then a little while later, I caught one! Shortly after, we both lost really big fish from that same spot. I go down to Falcon and fish for three days, and if I’ve caught a 10-pounder, I feel pretty good. But having caught two in a day is unreal!
My charity event is LifeLine’s Fish with the Pros. It’s an event for 10 guests who have paid to spend time with five Elite Series pros, in this case Gary Klein, Matt Reed, Keith Combs, Byron Velvick and me. All of the money goes to LifeLine; we’re there donating our time.
At tournaments, we get to see each other a lot but don’t get to hang out in a non-competitive environment. That’s one of the things that’s always been special to me about this event – not to mention the fishing will be out of this world.
I’m going down a day early to “get ready” for the event. OK, so I’m already on plenty of fish, but Jimmye Sue bought it!
Little Alton caught this 10-1 from the same spot.
We’re going to be staying at a real cool place called La Perla Ranch, a division of Tecomate, the group who has the TV show The Bucks of Tecomate. It’s a big ranch with high fences and loads of huge deer running around; it’s amazing. Our days will be loaded with fun. The guests will arrive midday on Friday; we’ll eat lunch at the palapa; we’ll have a shooting competition (which Gary Klein always wins); and later have a big dinner. After that, there’s a poker tournament for prizes (no money); the next morning we’ll wake up and go fish Falcon. After doing that for three days, we should sleep pretty good the following week.
Next week, I’m honored to have been asked to be the featured speaker at the Fishing For Freedom tournament down at Fort Hood. I’ll also get the privilege of fishing with a Purple Heart recipient, Ernie Chaney. We’ll talk about that more next week.
We’re now down to two puppies that are for sale. It’s a lot easier to manage two than 10. It’s sad to see them go, but it’s great to see the looks on the faces of the families who buy them. Plus, some friends have bought some, so we’ll get to keep up with them. Little Alton is keeping one. Its name? What else — Baylor!