If you listen closely, the gnawing sound you hear is that of 100 Bassmaster Elite Series anglers champing at the bit to get a line in the water and begin this derby known as the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake.
Serving as a Bassmaster Marshal this week, I was prepared for anything except the waiting game. I packed a week ago and prepared for warm, cold, wet and dry. I arrived in town on Wednesday. I settled in here at the hotel and prepared for my first day of the event. I received my Marshal text with my Day 1 pairing which is Gary Clouse aka Mr. Phoenix Boats.
The thought of delaying the start of the tournament never crossed my mind until Mr. Clouse and I were sitting in his shined up Phoenix in a boat slip at McFarland Park on Thursday morning, and he was discussing the finer points of current with me. A little while later, the announcement was made that tournament officials were “assessing the situation” and Clouse looked at me and said, “We’re not fishing today.” A 6:45 a.m. takeoff was delayed until 7 a.m., and by then we had the boat on the trailer and I was back at my Tundra. Experience is the best teacher and he just knew based on his understanding of wind and current that a postponement was inevitable.
With Mr. Clouse off to the service yard and a full day ahead, what’s a Bassmaster Marshal to do during a postponement? You lean on your friends for entertainment and that meant it was time for breakfast at Big Bad Breakfast in Downtown Florence which served as the landing pad for anglers such as Matt Arey, Scott Canterbury, Scott Martin, Derek Hudnall, Matt Herren, the Lowens and so on.
I found a seat at a corner table and was soon joined by Dave Mercer and Davy Hite. Another table filled up nearby with the likes of Lee Livesay, Caleb Sumrall, Josh Stracner and Buddy Gross. I haven’t been around that many hammers since my last trip to the Home Depot.
The folks at Big Bad Breakfast provide a solid start to your day, but that was overshadowed by the opportunity to have Davy Hite recount his final Elite Series win at Pickwick a decade ago which spawned many wonderful memories and stories over a filling breakfast.
Once the breakfast settled in and the Black Rifle Coffee wore off, I was able to get a nap in and address some emails in the comfort of my hotel room. Sometime on Thursday afternoon, we received word that the start of the tournament has been delayed until Saturday which means I’ll have to wait another day to be chauffeured around the Tennessee River by the president of Phoenix Boats.
Today’s agenda includes heading out into the Florence community to make an economic impact by visiting Perkins Outdoors, a local tackle shop near McFarland Park that I stumbled upon on a previous trip here. If you’re ever in the area, check them out. It’s worth the visit, I promise.
The waiting game is a tough game to have to play, but I applaud the officials at B.A.S.S. that have worked around the clock with local officials, the TVA and everyone involved in this event to make sure we are all safe and kept out of harms way while working to protect the integrity of the event.
Someone will hoist the blue trophy following this event, and I can assure you that will be well worth the wait.