For those of you who have read these columns over the past five years, you know the night before every event I send in an article titled “How I Will Fish ____”.
Last night I sent in my take on how to fish the Upper Chesapeake Bay around 9 p.m. and went to bed. I was sleeping pretty lightly though, because in the back of my mind I could feel it might get delayed or postponed.
Sure enough, sometime after 11 my phone went off with a text that the event was postponed. It was an odd feeling turning my alarms off and going back to sleep. As an angler you get mentally prepared to fish an event and to try and disconnect from that immediately is not a skill I possess. I do feel like the call was the correct one given the amount of flooding going on. Tournaments are a big deal to a lot of people but in this case it wasn’t worth the risk to the field and to our marshals.
The first thought I had this morning (and probably the first thought most guys had) was how I could get home quickly to see the family. Of course, flights aren’t cheap in the least, and I’m fishing the third Bassmaster Eastern Open next week on Lake Champlain. That lake is one of my favorite places to fish so I won’t complain about a couple extra days exploring it. I’m headed there now and driving through New York. I’ve talked before about how beautiful the country is up here. Vermont and the area around Champlain are beautiful too.
One other positive of this change in plans is that I will get to do some filming Sunday on Champlain with X Zone lures. They’re based up north and the baits I’ve been fortunate to work on creating with them are near and dear to me. All in all it should be a fun few days before official practice starts on Monday.
So look forward to my article next week about how I will fish Lake Champlain. I’m third in the points and really making a dedicated effort to make the Opens Championship this Fall. The fourth event will be on Douglas in east Tennessee which is also a good fishery.
Y’all stay tuned.