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The Championship
Weekend of One Lucky Fisherman
By
Chris Horton
The 2004 tournament season
was one of near misses for me. My partner and I qualified for the Media
Team Championships again but I have been narrowly missing cashing a
check. With only the Media Championship Tournament on The Red River to
go, I was looking forward to the weekend. This was my first trip to the
Red River.
PRACTICE DAY 1-Thursday:
Thursday was a beautiful day and produced beautiful results. My partner
was not able to make the trip to pre-fish but a friend of mine came
along. Had this been a tournament day we would have had a modest limit
of 8-10 pounds. The rains came down about 2:00. This ended our day early
but I was excited. We caught all of our fish on worms. I caught mine on
purple. My friend caught his on red.
PRACTICE DAY 2-Friday:
Friday was not as beautiful of a day. It rained all day. The fishing
however continued to be good. Again the worms worked. My partner also
caught fish on a Watermelon Fluke. I found another spot on the river and
probably would have had a limit of around 12 pounds. This doesn’t
include the one that hammered a Zara Spook. It got hooked up. I didn’t
want to catch it so I let it run hoping it would get off by itself. I
also didn’t want to advertise our spot to the boats practicing around
us. It did get off, but only after breaking my line under a log. After
two days of practicing and an estimated 20 lbs. of fish without
thoroughly fishing the area, I was ready for the tournament. There was a
50% chance of rain both Saturday and Sunday.
TOURNAMENT DAY 1-Saturday:
And the rains came. And they kept coming. And they didn’t stop. But my
fish did. We only managed 1 keeper fish in an otherwise miserable day. I
learned the value of a good rain suit. I need one. The dream of winning
quickly faded. Frustration doesn’t begin to tell you how I felt
Saturday.
TOURNAMENT DAY 2-Sunday:
We were fishing for pride Sunday. The rains kept coming on and off
(mostly on) during the day. A rod was accidentally kicked overboard and
lost. The fishing however was not bad. We caught 4 small keepers that
weighed just over 5 lbs. and many dinks. We finished the tournament in
65th place and were happy to get to the truck and get warm and somewhat
dry.
POST-TOURNAMENT ACCIDENT:
At weigh-in we noticed we had a tire going flat on the trailer.
Apparently we ran over something and punctured it. So, after changing
the trailer tire, it was off to home. That’s when things went from bad
to worse. Somewhere just outside of Tyler the backend of my truck
fishtailed and around came the boat. A few seconds later the boat is
upside down in a ditch and the trailer is upside down under the truck.
It is amazing how a few seconds goes so slow and so fast at the same
time. I remember thinking that this is the part of the nightmare where I
usually wake up. Then I remember thinking, “I wonder how an airbag
feels.” Well, I was lucky. The airbag didn’t have to deploy and I was
unharmed. My boat, trailer, and truck weren’t so lucky. I arrived home
at 11 pm Sunday night after my dad and brother came and picked me up. I
am thankful and praise God that I am able to write this article.
TOURNAMENT ENTRY FEE: $150
COST OF TRIP: $230
DAMAGE TO TRUCK AND BOAT: Still to be determined
BEING ABLE TO GO HOME AND HUG MY WIFE AND KIDS: Priceless !
Until next time, God Bless and good fishing! |
