8 days in the life of db

Hey, welcome to the Elite Series tour. Hang with me for a few days, 8 to be exact, for an insider’s feel for a B.A.S.S. Road Tripâ¦so on Easter Sunday I get up at 4 a.m., say goodbye to our EasterSquatch and…

â¦catch a plane south, first to Atlanta, then on to Little Rock, Arkansas, where I parked my Tundra while I took a 12-day break back home up North so…

â¦I jump in the truck and make the 4-plus-hour drive south to Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Bass Pro Shops Central Open, but not without first stopping in Hope, Arkansas, for this shot for a friend, BTW, a secret, drove down the ex-Prez’s street while listening to the sax music of “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons’ “Jungleland” on repeat on the iPodâ¦back on Interstate 8 Memphis, Speakers on high while driving to…

â¦hereâ¦the shindig on the Red Riverâ¦.Win the derby and…

â¦you get this and a ticket to the Bassmaster Classic circa 2015.

As soon as I got out of the Tundra, I was brought over to see this new gadget from the folks at LEERâ¦I think it’s a pretty cool storage system but I’m also thinking somehow my wife Barb knows these guys and talked them into inventing something that will keep me organized, which according to her and most who know meâ¦I’m not.

I have to tell you, for me personally, the best thing about the Bassmaster Tour is the family I have on the road including…

<p>â¦this dudeâ¦Denny Brauer. Another secret you never heard aboutâ¦the last year Denny was on the tour, at every launch that I was at, whenever he drove his boat by me, we would look at each other and then suddenly put our hands on top of our heads and wave at each other like chickens. True story. Check out <a href=

â¦this dudeâ¦Denny Brauer. Another secret you never heard aboutâ¦the last year Denny was on the tour, at every launch that I was at, whenever he drove his boat by me, we would look at each other and then suddenly put our hands on top of our heads and wave at each other like chickens. True story. Check out the story I wrote about my friend.

<p>Me with Swamp People, er, Person, T-Roy Broussard. Really nice guy, who told me stories about airboats and alligators, who I then told him my own stories about airboats and alligatorsâ¦think I shocked him that I also knew how to drive an airboat since the first time I took one for a spin I wasâ¦7. If that surprises you too, you can <a href=

Me with Swamp People, er, Person, T-Roy Broussard. Really nice guy, who told me stories about airboats and alligators, who I then told him my own stories about airboats and alligatorsâ¦think I shocked him that I also knew how to drive an airboat since the first time I took one for a spin I wasâ¦7. If that surprises you too, you can read about me and the ‘glades right here.

I took this photo because when I was at the Central Open I was never really sure where I wasâ¦if B.A.S.S was smart, whenever they send me to a story, they would take a photo like this and send it to me with a caption that says, “You Are Here,” and when I figure out how to put those number things in my GPS, I would really be able to get to where I’m at.

Dear Barbâ¦you are the bestest wife in the whole wide worldâ¦and, oh, BTWâ¦my birthday is coming up andâ¦you being so beautiful and allâ¦I just happened to notice a For Sale sign on thisâ¦and…

I had a dream the other night that after weigh-in, when we put the bass back in the lake…

â¦they go back to the log or the bank or the point they were at and tell the other bassesâ¦dudes, you should have seen the biggin bite I got todayâ¦must have been 165 pounds easy. Must be the NyQuil.

This is what it looks like when all the boats come in for check-in…

â¦and this is what it looks like when your boat breaks down and you have to get a ride back to the weigh-in…

â¦and this is what it looks like when your Daddy catches a big fish…

â¦and this is what it looks like when great fans stick around for a rainy and windy weigh-in.

Shout out to all the volunteers who come and help out…

..and to one of our own, Maxâ¦who works backstage at the tanks checking the fish of guys like…

â¦himâ¦Elite angler Cliff Crochetâ¦who looks like that because he is getting married soon and, BTW, has massively out kicked his coverageâ¦just saying.

Max works backstage checking in the fish making sure the bass are the right size and how many are in the bag. In the sport, it is called Bumping, but to tell you the truth, Max is a real gentle man. And I have never ever seen him even just slap a fish let alone bump one, so Max is a bumper who doesn’t bump.

T-Roy. I’m thinking, if you are a gator and you get this look, you are about to become a handbag.

This is how you normally see one of the best photogs on the planet, James Overstreet. When I began doing this gig, it wasn’t until I was at my 4th tournament that I saw the dude’s full face…

â¦which looks like thisâ¦him and T-Roy are budsâ¦that’s full face Overstreet on the left there and he is thinking exactly this, “Bah-Rhone, I’m going to get you for that full face remark.” So expect a really bad shot of me to be in some photo gallery soon.

Hats off to the military, for all of you who serve, or have served, this photo essay is dedicated to you because without what you do the only photo essays we would ever see would be ones controlled by the Commies. Thank you.

That, my friends, is the look of a man about to get his ticket punched to the Bassmaster Classic. His name is Stephen Browning and…

â¦you see that lady holding up the pink camera thingâ¦that’s his wife taking a before-the-weigh-in shot and this…

â¦is the dude from Allstate who is about to present the trophy to…

â¦Stephen Browning. Browning won back-to-back Open tournaments on the Red River and is onstage thanking…

â¦his familyâ¦that’s his wife Tammy, and son, Beau, at the moment they found out…

â¦he won. Got to tell you, this is what bass fishing is all about â family and the love of fishing which we hope to pass on…

â¦to our children. Hey Beau, someday, man, someday your name will be on that.

Good night, Central Open…hello…

â¦a very windy, Toledo Bendâ¦Sunday on the Bend…

â¦saw 53 mph gusts but I’m back with the family Elite including…

â¦one of my sort-of-sons on the tour, Brandon Palaniuk, and his girlfriend, Tiffanie. Hang this shot on the wall, guys…but not…

â¦this shot of my friend and Co-Founder of Tackle The Storm, Skeet Reese, since up there in the lefthand corner is a pretty good shot of my finger over the lens.

On Sunday, Elite Series angler Dennis Tietje, who frankly is scaring the bejesus out of me with those mud bug things, invited us to a “Crawfish Boil.”

Mitch Shoffiett of Crown Oilfield Construction & Marine Services brought 500 pounds of the things to the party of which…

â¦Elite angler Greg Hackney knocked off several pounds as did…

â¦all the other Elites who showed up.

For the record, I didn’t eat, or touch, a one. But also for the record, in my entire life I never ate as many boiled pieces of corn on the cob as I ate that Sunday since I was really hungry but prefer to not eat things that have either the word “mud” or “bug” in the name.

At about 5 p.m., Shaw and I split the “Boil” after Shaw ate about 450 pounds of the things and head to…

â¦Hemphill High School with several other…

â¦Elite anglers who gave up their night to come and answer questions from…

â¦students of the brand new Hemphill Hornet Bass Club, including Rudy Weaver of Hemphill, Texas, a huge Ish Monroe fan, andâ¦

â¦senior Dawson Kreger, who got a kick out of Mike Iaconelli’s answer, and…

â¦this young manâ¦also a senior, Emre Hamilton told me, “I appreciate the Elites coming here; it was very inspirational for me.” But another secretâ¦Emre, my young friend, you are the one who is inspirationalâ¦the young man has joined the Air Force and wants, “to serve my country.” And to this 18 year old, all I could do was to shake his hand and say, “Thank You.” Couldn’t have been a better way to end thisâ¦8 days in the lifeâ¦of me. Thanks for tagging along. db