I went fishing this past weekend and didn’t get a bite. Not one. Nary a sniff. What it made me realize, other than the fact that I’m not as good of an angler as I sometimes want to believe, is that I occupy my non-biting hours on the water with other games. At first, I was very focused on getting bit. I was fishing a small lake filled with shad … and, supposedly, bass. I slung a crankbait until I wore out the fluorocarbon on my reel. That didn’t work, so I slowed it down with a jerkbait. Nothing. No problem, I’ll patiently twitch a drop shot. That has to get bit, right? Wrong. So, eventually, I put on a Texas-rigged craw and started pitching to the grass edges lining the lake.
This is where my mind started to wander. So distraught from failing with my first three tactics, I became more focused on my actual casts than I was on how I was working the bait. Ever happen to you? It happens to me. I gave myself five points for perfect accuracy. I gave myself 10 points for the perfect skip beneath docks or overhanging limbs. Of course, I deducted points when I was way off the mark or when I backlashed during a skip attempt. I’m not saying I ended with negative points, but I will say my final score looked more like a soccer match than a basketball game.
Perhaps I’m the only angler on the planet that gets a little distracted when the fish have lockjaw, but in my mind, there are a lot of ways to have fun in our sport other than catching fish. One very popular game that many anglers play when off the water is Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing Challenge. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s like fantasy football, where you build a team of anglers from different buckets based on how you think they will place at each Elite Series event. Those who are serious about it research how anglers typically fare on each body of water and put a lot of thought into choosing their team. Why would they not, as there is a lot of money at stake? Although it’s free to play, the winner could land up to $21,000 in prizes.
There’s another Fantasy game that was introduced a few years back that requires a different strategy. The Falcon Rods Bassmaster Drain the Lake Challenge requires you to choose a team for each Elite event, but once you have used an angler, you can’t add him to your team for the rest of the season. Yes, research is involved if you want to challenge for the first-place prize money.
Now, kicked off just this year, there is a third game you can play. One that’s way more up my alley. One that doesn’t require research or effort. The new fantasy game is called the T-H Marine Bassmaster Pick ’Em Challenge. The gameplay is super-simple. You are given seven head-to-head matchups, and you click on the angler you think will place higher than his match. For example, one of the seven matches for the St. Johns River was Battle of the Tylers: Tyler Rivet versus Tyler Williams. Just click the guy you think will do the best and cross your fingers. Like the other games, it is free to play and there’s a bunch of money to win
(Bassmasterfantasy.com).
Our office created a group to challenge each other at these games. We have a trophy for our group winner. So far, the win has escaped me. Yes, my scores look a lot like the results of a soccer match. I’m starting to realize my Fantasy Fishing and actual fishing have more in common than I’d like to admit.