After living in a motor home for seven months, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Grant Goldbeck and his family are finally back in a house without wheels.
The Goldbecks — Grant, his wife, their 5 1/2-year old son and their six rescue dogs — camped out in the motor home while their house was being built on 27 acres of an old hunting ranch in Boerne, Texas. Although the house isn't finished, just a few days ago an apartment in their barn was complete enough to be lived in.
"My wife declared she never wanted to set foot in the motor home again," said Goldbeck, who has been an Elite Series angler since the tour's first year, 2006.
They relocated to Texas from Gaithersburg, Md., after Goldbeck checked out the area on his way home from a 2009 Elite Series tournament on Lake Amistad. He called his wife at home and urged her to come take a look.
She fell in love with the area as fast as he did, and neither of them thought twice about putting their Maryland home up for sale. An offer came through in June 2010. The deal required that they move in two weeks, so the motor home purchase was the solution.
They were lured to Boerne by the area's school system, good fishing (Choke Canyon, Falcon, Amistad), lots of hunting opportunities, natural beauty and room for the dogs to run. The weather was a big draw, too. "It's tough to fish all winter in Maryland," he said. "Now I can test baits all year long."
He's now testing baits for a Texas-based lure maker, Xcite, and is closer to his biggest sponsor, Knighten Industries out of Odessa, Texas. Goldbeck has been working for Knighten during the offseason, mainly in customer relations, which, of course, could entail taking clients out fishing. Knighten, which supplies pumps to the oil industry, will continue to be Goldbeck's boat-wrap sponsor for the 2011 season.