Tournament Trail

Bully for Bull

2006-09-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we are headed out of town for Bull Shoals if my honey ever gets home from the office. It's a lot of work getting ready to be gone from your job multiple consecutive days, plus he's my bass caddy. :) I gotta have someone working on my tackle.

Bull Shoals lies on the border of Arkansas and Missouri. Tournament headquarters for this event is on the Missouri side, so we have to travel approximately 3 hours. We are staying at a wonderful little resort called Wing and Fin. They have 6 cabins with screened in porches, full kitchens, BBQ grills, boat slips, etc. No phones. No internet. Now that's not all bad, except I won't be able to update my blog until I return. The resort owners did say there is a public library 20 miles up the road that has internet. I thought I lived in the boonies.

Competition starts Thursday. Registration and tournament briefing is Wednesday evening. I can't be on Bull Shoals with my husband this week because he has prior knowledge of the lake. However, I think we are going over to Table Rock on Wednesday and poke around. It's a similar reservoir and might give us some ideas, plus I can practice with the spinning rig. I normally only use bait cast equipment and am not real comfortable with spinning equipment.

Hubby's here. Wish me luck. Results should be posted on www.bassmaster.com daily. Weigh-in is at 3 each day.

Hope I'm rippin' lips day after tomorrow.

Hugs and fishes.

A day on the lake beats a day at work

2006-08-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

What idiot said that? It was hotter than fried jalapenos today. A real test of endurance. My partner was very nice, but her bite from yesterday died. I didn't boat a fish. She had 3 short ones, so neither one of us had anything to weigh in. I never appreciated a shower more than I did this afternoon. Last place in the money was 25th. I was 10 ounces shy of a check. Oh, well, onward and upward ... I hope. Next tourney is at Bull Shoals September 14-16. It will be a totally different bite and not one I'm fond of ... spinning reel and light line.

I'm tired and hungry. I'm making big boy take me out for seafood. I'm gonna get even. Reckon they'll be serving bass? :)

Hugs and fishes.

Day 1 Dardanelle

2006-08-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

Went to tournament briefing and registration last night. That was neat, but long. Got some cool new visors and tackle box and won a culling system for a door prize. For the bass novices, that's a method for color coding your catch so you can keep track of the smallest fish and 'cull' as you catch a bigger one, hopefully. :)

Well, I drew out with Penny Berryman, the grand dame of women's bass fishing. She is nice and tons of fun and she can drive the eyes out of a boat. Do you know how fast 83 mph feels on the water? Yeah. We fished hard all day and it was hot, hot. She caught a keeper largemouth bass in the first hour on a spinner bait. I didn't catch one until 11 a.m., but it was a nice 2 lb 3 oz largemouth on a Texas rig worm ... my favorite thing to fish. Got a ton of bites on this one particular worm and landed another fish right before weigh in that was so close to a keeper (must be 15") it hurt. Guess what? We only have one package of that particular type worm left. Russellville Wal-Mart doesn't have them. One of the two tackles shops didn't either and the other one was closed. Hubby was ready to throw a brick through the window and haul off the goods. I'm on forever hold with Dardanelle Wal-Mart trying to score. Crap. They just came back on the line and said nada. Well, we have a copy cat that's almost identical.

I am tied for 15th on the no-boater side out of close to 100 anglers. And, and AND I'm paired with a boater tomorrow who is fishing the same way using almost the same worm and she is in 14th! They COULD be playing my song Saturday. Hey, gotta run ... daddy's got another idea for snagging some worms and I'm in serious need of a good dinner and early lights out.

Hugs and fishes.

A girl's gotta go, when a girl's gotta go

2006-08-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Neta, for my 'potty poncho.' Girls, you know what I mean, there's some things that won't wait for man nor boat. And, fellas, since I know some of you have delicate constitutions, you can skip to the next post.

Ok ladies, now that we are alone ... you know it's always been a challenge answering the call of nature out in the middle of the lake for we members of the gentler sex. I'm told some of the gals just hang it out and over the side. Ok, well I'm sorry, z'aint happening for me. Besides which, I have serious doubts about my ability to return to an upright position. A lot of us have used the ol' cheapie plastic poncho and bucket for our 'facilities.' Well, I got the idea of having someone custom design a 'potty poncho' just the way I want it. So, my buddy Neta, who I know from my local Curves, was game for the challenge. It had to be just so. Big enough arm holes and neck to get over any gear and a dark enough shade not to stand out like a chartreuse spinnerbait skirt from across the lake. I also wanted weights sewn in the hem to avoid the embarassment of a not-so-gentle zephyr cruising through at an inopportune time. Neta you came through like a champ. It is VERY cool. I gave it a 'dry' run this afternoon and this is the ticket. :) My only regret is that there was no time to add a design to the back with a picture of an outhouse and "Custom Potty Poncho by Neta." Ain't it a hoot? Now if the fish will just bite. Probably will ... if they can quit laughing long enough.

Hugs and fishes.

They're Playing My Song ... I Hope

2006-08-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

When I first decided to enter the WBT Lake Dardanelle event, my husband hooked me up with legendary Penny Berryman. We had a very lengthy phone conversation that consisted mostly of her sharing a wealth of information and trivia and me going "uh-huh, is that right?, really? thank you." Whew! That gal's a talker.:) Thanks, Penny.

Anyway, one of the interesting things she shared was that if you make it to the final 6 on Saturday, you have to provide a song you want played while you are walking to the stage. Penny decided on Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like a Woman." Perfect for Penny. Well, I need a song, 'cos I'm determined to be on that stage come Saturday.

Any ideas?

You Gotta Have Friends

2006-08-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's less than 2 weeks away from the Women's Bassmaster Tour event at Lake Dardanelle. Although my entry fees are paid for both Dardanelle and Bull Shoals in September (thanks Mr. Visa), I really felt the need to raise expense money. I bought this cool book called "Fish for Free" that gives the author's ideas on obtaining sponsors. While I thought some of the ideas would work and others would work with a few modifications, I didn't believe I had the time before Dardanelle.

My husband's friend, Nicky Parson, is a local guide and tournament fisherman with quite a list of victories and top finishes in his bio. There is a song called "Look Who's Looking at Me" that contains a line 'country as a turnip green.' Well, that's Nicky. Good as gold, smart, successful, but country as a turnip green. I asked him if he would consider donating a guide trip that I could raffle to support "Team Donna" in the WBT. His response? "Why, yeah, if you think it would 'hep'. He's no turnip green ... he's a peach!

James (my husband) made a beautiful flier scanning a magazine cover that featured Nicky and spelling out the details of the raffle. Sales have been slow, so far, however, I haven't done much 1:1 selling yet. I have e-mailed it to friends and contacts and posted it on a few bulletin boards. Several people have promised to buy tickets and ... sorry Nicky ... a few gals are buying tickets because they want a day in the boat with you. :)

We haven't spent much time on the water between our work schedules and the heat. It's going to be hot at Dardanelle, but it's hard to subject yourself to the killer rays when you don't have to. I would go anytime, but guys seem to suffer more from the heat than gals and James is no different. I think it is because most of my shivering sisters are cold all the time anyway, so it has to be pretty hot before we're miserable. I'm not so much a chilly chick as others, but I can still take more than hubby. I have started leaving my auto A/C off to acclimate myself better. Hope it helps.

Special thanks to Nicky for his generous support and to my spinnerbait / buzzbait sponsor, Jason Walker of Walk-A-Shaw Lures, located in Northwest Arkansas.

Missing Link Found

2006-08-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Was notified by tournament HQ yesterday that I have a link for Dardanelle. Now I have to start working on Bull Shoals for September. Dardanelle is getting so close. I'm not nervous ... yet ... but I can't wait to get there. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it will be my first WBT event, so there will be a lot to learn. For more details on WBT go to http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/wbt/index

The Missing Link

2006-08-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

I promised in an earlier entry to explain linking. Here's the definition from the Women's Bassmaster Tour FAQ. "A link is when a pro angler and a co-angler link together thirty days prior to the first competition day. Linked guarantees the pro and the co-angler that link will get to fish in each tournament they enter as a linked entry. Linking does NOT mean that a pro angler or a co-angler who link will get to fish together. Linking keeps the field of pro anglers and co-anglers even and rewards the anglers for doing so. In the random draw it pairs the linked entries first, guaranteeing that both anglers will fish.

For the pro angler this means that should the field consist of more pro anglers than co-anglers, a pro angler will not be paired with another pro angler.

For the co-angler this means that should the field consist of more co-anglers than pro anglers, they will get to fish. Those who are not linked may not get to fish. The co-anglers who are not linked are placed in the random draw based on their date and time of entry. See rule 4 (ii). If you are linked you will fish."

To date, I have not found a link. I'm getting a little concerned. There are several really cool sites for lady anglers: ebassfish.com; ladybassangler.com. I have put messages on the boards looking for a link and have had quite a few hits, but only one reply and that was Wednesday. A boater from Wisconsin was interested in linking, but now it is up in the air. She is trying to help another boater who may not get to fish and was already linked. So, that leaves her no-boater in the lurch. However, the no-boater has not responded to Wisconsin's e-mails or phone calls yet. I've got my fingers crossed.

Baby, it's hot outside

2006-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Whew! Two days at Lake Dardanelle this weekend makes you long for factory installed AC on the big Champion boat. Hey, there might be a market for that! There was no breeze and no current. We caught a few dinks on topwaters and one on a Texas rigged worm, as well as a number of good bites on the worm. Didn't get a lot of fishing time for running and looking and trying to stay cool. I've never been on a river lake and it was very different for me. It's kinda spooky the way you come up out of the channel so quick and find yourself in very shallow water stump fields. There are navigation markers, but it's very easy to run out of them before you realize it. We were working our way in and fishing at Dardanelle State Park when a huge school of white bass and small stripers came up. That was fun! Gotta run ... it's after midnight. More later. Still needing a link for Dardanelle. I need to explain linking in the next entry.

Hugs and fishes.

Practice, Practice, Practice

2006-07-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we're off. Leaving at 2:45 a.m. Saturday for the big pond. I'm looking forward to getting familiar with Lake Dardanelle, having never been there. My husband, James, is going to take us through a lock. That will certainly be a different experience for me. Hopefully, we will find fish and determine the best pattern for catching them. I'll do a new post on our return and tell you how it went.

I'm never going to make it to work on time. :)

Hugs and Fishes

Tournament Trail

2006-07-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Who'd thunk it? Me, getting ready for a professional bass tournament. I am so excited ... it's all I think about. My entry fee is paid and I'm just waiting to hear if I get a "link." More on that later. So, August 24-25 (and, hopefully, 26th) will find me casting with the big girls at Lake Dardanelle near Russellville, Arkansas. This is the 4th stop on the new ESPN Women's Bassmaster Tournament series. I will be entering as a "co-angler" (amateur). That means I go in someone else's boat, an "angler" (pro). They have control of the boat and the water fished. I'm along for the ride and hoping to make the best of it. Since I am still learning boating and boating safety and am not familiar with Dardanelle, I thought it best to start out this way.

If I do well (my measuring stick - top 30 out of 100 co-anglers), I plan to fish the last tournament at Bull Shoals in September. Then, next year I will go as a boater or angler. You are guaranteed 2 days of fishing, Thursday and Friday. If you finish in the top 6 co-anglers, you go on to Saturday. The top 6 anglers and co-anglers fish the final day. When we come in for the day, we will load up and travel to where the men (BASS tournament) are fishing and will weigh in with them. That way, we get ESPN TV coverage, assuming it ever makes it past the editing table. :)

Tons more to tell you, but I have to get ready for work.

Hugs and fishes.