Boyd Golightly is following in his son’s footsteps.
Just as Bill Golightly did in 2010, Boyd Golightly will compete for Wyoming in the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats.
Father and son went up against each other in early qualifying rounds to become the only angler to represent Wyoming in 2011.
“He normally beats me every time we go out. He’s much better at fishing than I am,” said Boyd, who lives in Preston, Idaho, but competes within the Wyoming Federation, which is in the Western Division.
The Nov. 3-5 championship on the Ouachita River out of Monroe, La., will qualify six anglers for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic and one for the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series. To end up with a Classic berth, a Federation angler must outfish all other anglers from his or her division. To be the overall 2011 champ and claim both Classic and Elite Series prizes, an angler must beat the entire field, this year set at 54.
Boyd Golightly is aiming to be one of the six Classic qualifiers.
“I fished hard to get here, and hopefully I can make it,” he said. “My world won’t end if I don’t, but I would like to.”
Bill Golightly’s 2010 entry was his third championship (his others were in 2004 and 2006). His father will be competing this year in his first finals. So far, the younger Golightly does not have advice for his father about going up against the Federation Nation’s best.
“Oh, he gave me a little information, but not much. He did remind me to not ‘burn’ my fish when I was pre-fishing,” Boyd said.
He towed his boat about 1,600 miles from Idaho to Louisiana to get in some pre-practice time before the final off-limits period beganOct. 17. His next look at tournament waters will be Nov. 1, when the official practice time begins.
The Ouachita will test the field, he said. He estimates that an average of 8 to 10 pounds a day will put an angler at or near the top of the leaderboard.
“They say that at times you can catch 30 pounds in one spot,” he added. “But it was pretty tough for me.”