I had an incredible experience last Saturday on a body of water i’ve never fished before and with an awesome fisherman, and second place divisional finisher Brady Farrel. With the fish i saw Brady was on, i knew i was going to be throwing back some smaller fish with the no cull rule. That’s just what i did, with a limit boated by 10:30 but only boxing 2. One of them we figured was close to 4 lbs. Confidence was going good at this point, but i knew i needed more good fish. the spot we were on was destined to turn on late according to Brady, who discovered the fish in the morning, but realized they got bigger in the afternoon his final day of the tournament. As soon as those fish turned on i boxed my 3 good fish all around 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 lbs and the focus was on Ross, the younger kid who didn’t have a fish yet. I tell you after seeing all the fish he had on, i felt like i should have still been fishing for one more big bite. Ross showed impressive confidence and caught 4 fish while i made sure to keep the boat in the right spot for him. He caught his last fish after i had pulled the trolling motor to head back to weigh in, and on his pre determined final cast of the day he caught the last fish which proved vital.
At weigh in when asked we told the BASS guys we thought i had about 14 lbs and Ross about 11. They gave us our bags last to weigh in. We figured this was a good sign.
As more and more kids weighed in under 11 lbs i was starting to feel good. Jacob Wheeler weighed in 13-6 and i knew that was the biggest bag for myself to contend with. However at that point I was still feeling confident that i had 14 lbs. After a long antagonizing wait in line, and then to top it off the fish wouldn’t stop flopping, allowing all the water to drip off the scales, before John Stewart finally pushed the button. I saw the weight and heard the crowd and that was it. My run was over. 13 lbs 5 oz and I had lost by one ounce. so many things could have made a difference for me, but as with any tournament, everyone has their story. Overall it was a fun experience, and i learned a lot, let me tell you. I did catch big bass with that “4 lber” that turned out to be 3lbs 10 oz. Surprisingly no award, or even mentioning to the crowd for that however. I also need to add that Ross ended up weighing 11-4 for 4 fish, edging out the 5 fish bag of 11-2 that was leading the junior age group, and winning the tournament! Congrats Ross. I’m glad i was a part in getting you those fish.
Brady was a super super nice guy and i hope this wasn’t my only experience fishing with him. I also just want to thank the WI state team and Jeff Dyer for everything. They really hooked us up, information, baits, pizza last night, man everyone was just the best. Jeff Dyer really went the extra mile, thanks man, you’re awesome. overall I’m not out of it mentally. I’m looking forward to next year and maybe i’ll be looking to lock into the adult program soon.
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