The Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship was the most unusual event I’ve ever fished. And not because of any lack of organization or execution – in fact B.A.S.S. did a fine job of running this event and managing what turned into a really challenging situation for everyone involved.
I doubt anyone could’ve imagined three consecutive days postponed by weather. We all knew going in that these big northern lakes can be pretty sporty in the fall, but when you have winds up to 35 mph and 6- to 8-foot seas, that’s a different deal altogether.
This is big water and it would be different if we were here in June when the water temperature is up. But right now, the water is in the mid-50s and if you did end up out of your boat you wouldn’t have a lot of time before hypothermia became a serious issue.
Personally, I think tournament director Trip Weldon made the right decision each day he decided to postpone the fishing. All of us competitors want to fish – that’s what we do and I’ll admit, it’s really hard to look at your boat sitting on the trailer.
But Trip has a tough job and I know he makes decisions based on the safety and wellbeing of the entire field. He and his team want us out there competing just as much as we want to compete, but they’re looking out for us and I appreciate that.The hardest part for me is going to bed at night and not knowing if you’re fishing or not the next day.
The first day, I made it all the way to the boat ramp. You’re getting ready and then you get that text that you’re not going and your adrenalin just drops.
The second day, I was outside my cabin and I’d just gotten the boat uncovered when one of the guys staying across from me hollered at me and said “We’re not going.” On the third day, we got the postponement text before we got out of bed at 5 a.m. Soon as I got that text, I turned my phone off and went back to sleep.
I’m telling you, by then it was kind of like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day where he keeps playing through the same events over and over.
Probably the most difficult part of this extended schedule was the unexpected time away from my family. When I’m on the road working, it’s just part of the job that we all understand and work through as a family. But passing the time during a postponed event really makes you miss your loved ones.
My middle daughter’s birthday was Sunday and even though that was a scheduled event day, it’s still hard being in Michigan when she’s at home celebrating her birthday back at home.
So, what do you do when you can’t do what you came to do? Well, the simple answer is that it doesn’t take long to run of things to cook and pretty soon, you’ve watched about all the TV you can stand. I did spend some time touching up a few things on my boat, coordinating upcoming commitments and updating family and sponsors on my schedule.
Saturday we had the Bassmaster University and I really enjoyed hanging out at the BOOYAH booth, signing autographs, giving away t-shirts and talking fishing with the local fans. Most of them agrees that postponing for three days was a good call.
Funny thing was the comment I heard the most was “I can’t believe you guys fish this water in those bass boats.” The local fishermen are used to those deep-vee walleye boats so they think it’s pretty bold that we’d fish here in our tournament boats.
Their consistent advice: “Respect the water.”
As for pure recreation, we just don’t get that during a regular Elite Series event schedule because we arrive usually on a Sunday; practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; fish the tournament and then head home. But my roommate Edwin Evers and I took some time on Saturday and went on a field trip through the beautiful and unspoiled countryside of the Hiawatha National Forest. This was a really relaxing drive and I thought it was pretty cool to know that the Escanaba area offers some genuine outdoors experiences like that.
The landscape is just incredible and along the way we saw some turkeys and deer. We were looking for a bear but never found one.
We did meet an interesting fellow when we stopped and asked directions. We had pulled into this guy’s private driveway and I’m wondering what his reaction’s going to be, but within five minutes, we’re inside his house taking a tour of the place.
He built his home to be completely energy independent because he lives so far back in the boonies.
He had solar-powered generators and a really interesting design that you wouldn’t notice from the road. Getting out and seeing stuff like this is a rare treat that helped ease the anxiety of waiting on the weather.
Of course, when they finally let us fish again, I found that getting my motivation back was no problem at all. In fact, I think all of us were so excited to get back on the water, it was almost like we had left one event and were just starting a whole new one. It was time to go to work and I launched my boat as eager as I’ve ever been to go fishing.
I definitely understood those tough decisions that Trip had to make, but I sure was happy when we finally got the green light to get back to the big waters – with a healthy dose of respect.