With his busiest stretch of the Elite Series season just around the corner, now more than ever, Randy Howell needs to be limber, healthy and ready to go.
But for a while Wednesday, he couldn’t go anywhere.
“I was cleaning out my boat, and my back just went completely out on me,” said Howell, the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic champion from Springville, Ala “It felt like somebody hit me with a stun gun. I’ve never had anything like that happen before. I couldn’t even move, left or right.”
Howell, who is taking part in a Major League Fishing event this week, said his wife, Robin, had to inch him out of the boat and into their camper. Then he stayed virtually motionless on the floor of the camper for 30 minutes, feeling like he was going to black out every time he moved.
With the help of a chiropractor, he was feeling better Thursday morning. But he still didn’t know what caused the severe pain, and he was concerned about it recurring and interrupting the jam-packed schedule he has ahead of him.
“I’m going to leave here and go to Waddington for the Elite Series tournament on the St. Lawrence River,” Howell said. “That’s a seven- or eight-hour drive. Then I’m fishing the Northern Open on Oneida, and it’s on to Maryland (for the Elite Series event on Chesapeake Bay.
“There’s never a good time to be down in your back, but I certainly don’t need it right now.”
Howell is ranked 17th in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, in good position to make his 14th career appearance in the Bassmaster Classic. He’s finished in the money at four of the five Elite Series tournaments this year.