GREENVILLE, S.C. — In now his third Bassmaster Classic, Randall Tharp hasn't experienced a smooth tournament yet, one without a breakdown of some kind that was out of his control. But this year's GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro has been particularly frustrating.
"We could talk for three days about the stuff that's happened to me since I've been here," said Tharp, who is in 42nd place on Day 1 after catching two bass weighing 4-8. And one of those he had to hand-over-hand bring to the boat because the drag was frozen on his reel.
Tharp's problems began two days ago when the heater in his camper quit working. It happened during a night when heat was practically a requirement to stay alive.
"I got that fixed (Thursday), then I wake up this morning and the water was frozen," he said. "So I was unable to take a shower this morning.
"Then I get to the boat ramp and it takes 30 minutes to get the boat off the trailer."
Tharp wasn't the only one to suffer a case of boat-frozen-to-trailer syndrome Friday morning. But his problems were only beginning.
"My drain plug was frozen, so the boat is taking on water because I can't get the drain plug closed," Tharp said. "I go to blast off and a code went off on my (outboard) motor. I couldn't get on pad. I got that fixed real quick and made it to my first fishing hole.
"The trolling motor wouldn't turn (left or right) because the cable was frozen solid. I fished about 15 feet down the bank where I thought I was going to catch 'em, and (the cove) was frozen solid. I threw my crankbait up on the ice, reeled it off the ice and left."
At his next stop, Tharp hooked a "pretty good one" and started to reel, but his drag was frozen.
"The reel was working fine until I hooked the fish," he said. "I had to hand-wind it in. I ran to another creek where I thought I was going to catch 'em and ran about a quarter-mile through ice and said, 'This ain't going to work.'"
Tharp had his two bass in the boat with about five minutes left to fish. And he still could have put together a bag that would have kept him in the hunt.
"I hooked a 5-pounder," Tharp said. "I can see it. It's got the rear treble hook in its mouth and it's got three more with it — all big ones. I get it about 5 feet from the boat and it comes off.
"I had about one minute left to fish. On my last cast, I had one knock slack in the line. I reeled (the lure) in and a 4-pounder was following it."
Amazingly, Tharp still had another costly problem on the horizon. His wife offered to drive his truck back to Greenville for the weigh-in. But Tharp said since there were drivers furnished for the anglers at the Classic, they should defer to the driver, since he'd know where he was going.
"He wrecks my truck," Tharp said. "He blew out a tire and messed up a thousand-dollar (tire) rim."
Tharp was smiling the whole time he recounted his troubles. But he was dying on the inside.
"I definitely felt it slipping away today," Tharp said of the Bassmaster Classic title. "It hurts. I've accomplished a lot in my career. But this is the tournament I fish for."