Wishes

As you guys know, I love to fish docks. It's my favorite way to fish. Fort Gibson was my wish, my favorite way to fish — or so I thought.

My mother often said that I should be careful what I wished for. It might come true. Well, now I know what she was talking about, and believe me she was right on the money. As you guys know, I love to fish docks. It's my favorite way to fish. There's nothing quite as satisfying as skipping a plastic bait into an impossible place and pulling out a keeper.

Fort Gibson was my wish, my favorite way to fish — or so I thought. Guys were fishing the docks. They were catching them, too. It was a great pattern. The problem is I outsmarted myself. I saw my fellow competitors catching them on certain docks. I thought why fish those docks when there are plenty of others that haven't been touched? I'll just move over a ways and fish fresh water. There's no reason to fight the pressure when you don't have to. It turns out there was a good reason why those docks weren't being fished — there were no fish under them. Duh!

Regardless of that, however, I do have one great story about the docks that I'd like to share. I broke a fish off on the hookset. She took about 8 feet of line with her when she snapped my line, snapped it like sewing thread. I continued to fish and caught a couple of other bass from that same spot. And then I somehow snagged my line from the previous break-off. She was still on the other end. What an experience. (No, I didn't land her. She escaped twice. Thank you for asking!)

BASS certainly didn't have my problems, though. They swapped venues with less than 48 hours preparation. Everything went off without a hitch. It was absolutely seamless, very impressive. And the Elite Series guys, what professionals they are. There were several anglers vying for a Classic spot and another group trying to make the Top 12 in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. The lake fished small. No matter the stakes, everyone conducted themselves like professionals. I'm not aware of any problems on the water. Every angler understood that he was the face of professional bass fishing and conducted himself accordingly.

I also want to say something about the Oklahoma fans. They are the best ever. We had a ton of anglers in boats following us around the lake. Not a one of them picked up a rod and reel. They didn't need to show us they could catch them just like us, from the spot we were fishing. These guys are a class act all the way. They earned our respect. Well done to all. All that said, another Elite Series season is over for me. It's time to spend a few days at Signcom and then look towards the Opens. Maybe I can still make the Classic. I'll keep you posted.