Sometimes a fellow has to look in the mirror, take a long, hard look at himself, and do what works for him. That’s why I’m at the beach this week with the family. I’m tired of messing with the fire stuff. It’s time to get it off my mind for a while.
Today, while some of you are reading this, will be an exciting day for Cal, some of his cousins, a few other family members and me. We’re going offshore to fish for dolphins. I’ll give you a full report next week. Right now, though, I have bigger problems. I can’t find a suitable white tee-shirt to wear for our family photos.
You would think that if you’re at the beach where there are lots and lots of vacationers around, there’d be hundreds of those things. Not so, at least if there are, I can’t find them. Honestly, this is a problem. Am I supposed to go back and tell the family that I can’t find a white tee-shirt? What kind of a story is that?
The thing is — about knowing yourself — is that I’m not going to let a boat fire affect my family’s vacation plans. We’ve had this trip in the works for a while. Changing it would have caused a lot of disappointment for everyone. I can’t do that. It’s not me.
Besides, there’s only so much you can do to put things back together on short notice. When all is said and done, it will be done. We all know that. There’s a deadline for the next tournament. We launch our boats on Wednesday, June 11. I’ll be there, on time and ready to compete. That’s done.
The days between when we get back and when we launch will be a little hectic, however. Despite everyone’s best efforts, I still need some stuff. It should come in this week, and I don’t think it’ll come any quicker if I stand at the front door looking for the delivery truck. I can get the rest of my stuff from the Bass Pro Shops over the weekend.
So anyway, that’s my thinking for going to the beach instead of sitting around worrying about my fishing. A little downtime will do me more good than packing and repacking my boat.
Other than that, I don’t know much to say. The doings at BASSfest next week should be interesting. It’s a different kind of format with a lot of the Opens guys competing. I’d say you should watch the action pretty closely.
There are plenty of fish in Chickamauga Lake, and I understand that some of them are really big.
I’m guessing it’ll be an exciting tournament with a possible giant or two brought to the scales.
The weather is getting hot and the grass is growing fast. It won’t be long before we start to see heavy mats. Next week I’ll start giving you my thoughts on how to fish summer vegetation with one of my favorite lures, a frog.
Chris Lane’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook or visit his website, www.chrislanefishing.com.