Rod and I were asked by Firetrol, one of our sponsors, to fish at Lake Bob Sandlin on October 3, 2009.  We were pleased to be asked to represent them in what was, in the past, a construction industry tournament.  The Associated Builders and Contractors had been having this tournament for 10+ years, averaging 40-50 teams per year.  This year, however, the Lake Bob Sandling tournament became the 1st Annual Big Stringer Screamer Bass Tournament, open to all entrants.  Since that was the case, we had some pretty heavy-hitting competition, including fishing guides!

The lake was closed to entrants for two weeks prior to the tournament.  After the off-limits, an optional pre-fishing day was scheduled on Friday, October 2, 2009.  We took advantage of this pre-fishing day to see the lake for the first time in person.  As per my usual pre-fishing researching routine, I had already obtained a lake map, studied it thoroughly, and gleaned any and all information that I could get off of the Internet.  I spoke with a couple of people who had fished Bob Sandlin in years past, but could find no one who had fished it in the last few years to gain any up-to-date knowledge.

According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website, Lake Bob Sandlin is a 9004 acre lake near Mount Pleasant, Texas.  It is a moderately clear lake, with an average of 2-4 feet of visibility, with very little (approximately 3%) aquatic vegetation, mostly hydrilla.  Most of the cover is inundated timber, which was flooded by water when the lake was impounded in 1977.  In addition to the timber, there are a few fishing docks and piers.  Upon personal observation, however, in addition to the timber, there appeared to be a lot of grass and lily pads to fish around and through. There was a lot of that slimy grass that sticks to your hooks and lures, which some fishermen have dubbed “snot grass”, for obvious reasons.  I think that it is actually some kind of slimy algae growth.  At any rate, it is nasty to get off lures, and always seems to want to stick to your boat when you try to flick it off.  I’m sure every angler reading this knows what I’m talking about.  Anyway, ya’ll get the vegetation and fishing conditions background, I’m sure.

We launched Saturday, October 3rd at 6 am out of Barefoot Bay Marina near the dam at the east end of the lake.  Weigh-in was scheduled for 3 pm.  It was foggy and cold the morning of the launch, and Rod and I hung around the ramp until safe light when we could comfortably see to run.  As the day went by, it got very windy, and when the waves changed from white-caps to rolling waves, the ride got pretty bumpy.

Our fish came one at a time, on a sort of milk-run approach.  We fished the rip-rap near the rail-road bridge first, picking up several fish, but with only one weigher.  Onward toward the State Park, we fished around the timber along the main lake points, picking up a few more fish, adding one more weigher in the livewell.  Over at the radio tower we again fished along main lake points, and hooked into our biggest fish so far, who not-so-happily joined his buddies thumping around in the livewell.  Starting around noon, as the wind picked up the bite seemed to turn on, and we started hooking into more fish.  After culling through multiple fish, we finished out our limit in the radio tower area, and decided to call it a day and head to the weigh-in. 

Rod and I came in with a respectable five-fish limit and were one of the first ones in line at the weigh-in.  The creel limit was set at 14 inches, minimum, and we had a couple of pretty respectable fish, just no great kicker for big bass.  Our limit came in weighing just under 10 lbs, and we were pleased with our catch.  Unfortunately, we came in one place out of the money (the story of our lives).  We were proud to come in with a solid five-fish limit to represent our sponsors, especially Firetrol, who put forth a huge effort for this tournament!

Mr. David Ellis, representing Firetrol, attended the tournament.  Firetrol even donated all of the food and drinks for the festivities, including the huge barbecue rig on which the brisket was cooked.  The anglers and all of those attending the tournament were treated to a terrific barbecue meal, including drinks and beer!  All those in attendance sincerely enjoyed the nice spread.

As per usual, I would like to thank all of our sponsors for their support in making our fishing possible.  Thank you to Lake Fork Marina and Motel, Gamma line, Bayou Tackle Company, Steve’s Custom Props, Hawg Wild Custom Baits, Champion Boats, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Academy Sports and Outdoors, and Toyota Tundra.  Rod and I both would like to say a special thank-you Firetrol and Mr. David Ellis of Firetrol, for going above and beyond, especially in this tournament.  Check out our Sponsors page and links, and help us support our sponsors so that it is a two-way street.  Anyone who has any need for fire detection or suppression equipment should call David Ellis at 214-343-9200, or email him at dellis@firetrol.net.  Check out their website also at www.firetrol.net.  Before his life as a Professional Bass Caddy, Rod was in charge of many hospitals (67 at one time), and can tell you about David Ellis and Firetrol’s exceptional equipment and service.  I know that if Rod trusted them to take care of HIS hospital facilities and patients, they’re the best.  Please help us by supporting our Sponsors.  We only have sponsors that we really respect and believe in their products, so you can rest assured that if you patronize their services, you will be getting the best for your money.

The new schedule is finally out for 2010, and I’m so excited. Two of the tournaments are going to be in Texas.  That’s especially great news in the current economy, since the people at ESPN/BASS who are in charge of our tournament trail tell me that the majority of women in the Academy Sports and Outdoors Bassmaster Women’s Trail (our official team name) are from Texas.  Yes, you heard me, the majority of women fishing professionally are not just from the south, but from Texas itself.  I think that says a lot of good things about the women of Texas.

The schedule starts at Wheeler Lake, in Decatur Alabama in March 18-20.  Lake Wheeler is part of the Tennesse River system, like Lake Guntersville, and is second only to Guntersville in size in Alabama.  Second stop is Lufkin, Texas at Lake Sam Rayburn.  According to the people at BASS, Big Sam, as it is affectionately known here, is the site of more BASS tournaments than any other lake.  We will be fishing Lake Sam Rayburn April 22-24, the week following the Annual Big Bass Splash otherwise known as the McDonald’s or Sealy Tournament, so that should be interesting.  Hope they leave a few fish for us to catch! In June, we head up to Temple, Texas to Lake Belton on June 10-12.  Lake Belton is one of the few lakes in Texas to have any Smallmouth bass in it, so that should be an interesting tournament.  Lake Sam Rayburn is mostly largemouth bass, but Lake Belton has largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass, so the fishing could be very varied.  It is also the first time in ESPN/BASS history that they have had a tournament on that lake at all, so the Women’s Tour is paving the way to new ground.  The final stop of the regular season will be September 16-18 at West Monroe, Louisianna, where we will return to the Ouachita River for the second year in a row.  We will be fishing in the fall rather than the summer season that we fished this year.  After the regular season is over, we will return to Lake Sam Rayburn in Lufkin, Texas on October 15-17, for the Championship.  The woman who ends up in the Number One Position in the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year Points Race after the Championship will again be going to the Bassmaster Classic in February 2011.  As in years past, the points from the lowest tournament will be dropped before determining which women are in the top 20 to fish the women’s championship in October.

Rod and I are both excited about next years’ schedule and looking forward to getting on the road again.  We are anxious to visit friends we made last year on the tour and make new ones this year.  It is both of our favorite thing about the Bassmaster Women’s Tour.

I need to update my website on my Sponsor’s page, with links and all that, but I wanted to write a brief blog about all of the new sponsors that I have gotten at the end of the year.  I say at the end, but more between the third (June) and fourth (September) tournaments, I seem to have acquired a number of new sponsors.  To be fair, I am going to introduce my new sponsors in the order in which I acquired them.

First off is Hawg Wild Custom Baits @ www.HawgWildCustomBassBaits.com.   Larry Rydach is responsible for the design and development of his “Larry the Lizard” bait, which I was first introduced to a couple of years ago.  I got a sample pack at an Emory/Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce function, and immediately took them out and fished with them.  As soon as I came back in, I went out and bought those lizards in every color and size available.  They are really unique - a rattle lizard that comes in a six-inch and 10-inch size, and catch huge bass.  He has also developed a frog that is new to the line, which also has rattles in the legs.  These baits are unique and work great to catch bass.

Next came Steve’s Custom Props @ www.stevescustomprops.com.  Steve is well-known in the Lake Fork area for his 17 years experience working on boat propellers.  After he worked on my boat and adjusted my prop (including grinding it, smoothing it, and adjusting the height), my boat performance changed dramatically.  I know get much better gas mileage, better hole shot (come up on plane faster), and my top speed went from about 60 mph to 74, and this was deep into the heat of summer.  I also burn much less oil than I used to.  I can’t say enough good things about what Steve can do for your boat performance, even without having to buy a new prop! If you need a new one, he’ll tell you, if you don’t, he’ll tune and adjust the one you have to give you optimal performance.  It would be definitely worth anyone’s time and money to consult with him and see if he can improve your boat’s performance.  With the cost of gas and oil today, consulting Steve will end up saving you money in the long run.

Next up is Dave of www.BayouTackle.com.  Bayou Tackle has a line of products that are very unique and highly fishable (meaning you’ll catch lots of fish using his products).  The first one I fell in love with was his special weighted hooks for wacky worm fishing.  No more sticking those stupid nose weights in the worm, just hang your worm on the specially weighted, weed-guarded hooks and go fish, weedlessly! In addition, he has a special VooDoo In-Line Buzzer that’s terrific.  He has tournament-fished for years, and his products aren’t the same-old ones that you see done and re-done again and again by tackle companies.  I am proud to be representing his products and helping place them in more tackle stores.  Until you can get them in stores, you can buy them on-line at his website.

Finally, for new Sponsors is Gamma fishing line.  I was persuaded by Pam Martin-Wells and Steven Wells to try the line because of its excellent properties.  I was sold on it after one use and strung it on all of my rods! With my disabilities, I can fish longer and easier using their special small-diameter, light-weight lines, with easier hook sets and better line strength and abrasion-resistance.  That translates to me being able to enjoy fishing more without pain.  That is one of the reasons Pam and Steven told me to try it, that it would make my fishing easier and more fun, and they were definitely right.  If you go to www.Gammafishing.com and enter TETX in the discount code section, you can get a 15% discount on all line you buy there.  I especially recommend that you read the recommended knots section for what type of knots you need to tie with this superior line.  I can’t tell you enough how great both the Co-Polymer and Flourocarbon line are, I’ve never seen anything like it.  I actually gave up using braided line in favor of their Flourocarbon, which is plenty strong to use for any fishing application, as long as you use the recommended knots.

Finally, I would like to thank my VERY SPECIAL Sponsors, who were with me for 2009 and will be continuing.  Thank you to Lake Fork Marina and Motel.  It’s a great place to stay and to shop, and the people are terrific to talk to if you just want to go into the marina and gab.  Firetrol Fire Protection Systems, thank you so much for your support and your commitment for another year.  If anyone has a business in need of fire alarms or fire suppression equipment, you couldn’t do better than to contact David Ellis at Firetrol www.firetrol.net.  I appreciate all of my sponsors and will update my website ASAP to reflect the new ones and link their URLs to mine. 

I will leave you with a final comment.  I don’t take a discount from any company, or agree to represent them, until I have evaluated their products at full price.  That is, I pay full price for whatever they are selling, and then only if I strongly believe in a company will I at sometime contact them and let them know how much I like their product.  That means I am a loyal customer more than anything.  It is only an additional benefit if I make some kind of financial arrangement to represent their company or its products - in truth, I would happily be a full-price loyal customer for any of my sponsors - I don’t do it for the discount, and I won’t take an up-front discount on anything, so that I am not biased or influenced in any way in the products that I use.  Just to let you know.  Some people do it differently, and I’m not saying that that’s wrong, I’m just clarifying that that’s not what I do.

Loudest Lake in Tennessee

I’ll bet none of you thought I would lead with the simple fact that Old Hickory Lake is the loudest lake in Tennessee, in fact probably the loudest lake I could ever imagine fishing in!  I could do what everyone else does and say that Old Hickory is a beautiful lake full of beautiful scenery, gorgeous lakeside mansions, and a great place to fish, all of which are  true, but one of the biggest impressions left on me by from my time spent at Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville Tennessee, is that of a really loud lake.  I used to associate fishing with peace and quiet, but no more.  First of all, the lake is in the take-off and landing pattern of the airport, so you have low-flying airplanes to contend with.  Add in the noise of all of the mowing, edging, and weed-eating going on all around the lake non-stop, and the seemingly non-stop construction and re-modeling being done on lake-side lots and houses, and the picture gets even louder.  Now add boats.  Lots of boats.  Bass boats are the least of it.  Pleasure boats rule, including jet boats, and boy are they loud.  The grand finale of this 1812 Overture (remember the symphony as a kid? the one with the cannons?) is that Geese and Duck season opened while we were there.  At one time I actually thought that all of the people in Tennessee, to celebrate opening day of Duck Season, were required to take out their shotguns, and fire rounds continually starting at 7 am.  It was an amazing sound! I thought a war had broken out!  After awhile, it got to be too much trouble to even try to talk to anyone while on the boat.  I kept thinking “just shut up and fish”!

Pre-fishing

I actually had a good time pre-fishing, and was really on fish.  I learned a lot about the lake from Ranger Dave Watson, who I met while he was fishing with his mother.  He grew up fishing Old Hickory, and knew a lot about it.  He actually made me a custom-made jig that he called the “Fleeing Frenzy Jig” and taught me a “quick-frenzy” retreive that worked great during the pre-fishing.  I averaged about three to five good fish every day, especially once I started using that jig.  He has a website, www.rangerdavebaits.com, which probably shows some pictures.

Tournament time

When the tournament rolled around, I had Bonnie Ward the first day and Kim Martin the second.  We caught fish both days, but only Bonnie caught any weighable fish on either day.  Kim and I had a lot of fun though, she’s a hoot.  I’ll fish with her anytime.  We were all business during the tournament, but while we were waiting in line to pull the boat out of the water on Day 2, she told me stories from her time in Bass n Gals fishing days, and boy were they interesting.  She was one of the women really “in the trenches” fighting for womens’ rights to fish in tournaments.  I really admire all of the women who paved the way and made it possible for us to fish today.  I want to say “thank you” here and now to all of the women who did all of the work that makes women’s angling possible in the form that it is in today.  You are all very much appreciated.

Squirrels

If one thing made an impression on me at Old Hickory, I’d have to say it was the squirrels.  They really had it in for me.  In one area where I pre-fished one day, a squirrel started throwing nuts on my head everytime I went beneath a certain tree.  I know that sounds paranoid, but it’s true! It happened on more than one day in that area, so I know it wasn’t an isolated event.  It also happened during the tournament, so I have multiple witnesses. 

To sum up my four tournaments for my rookie year I can say this.  I tried hard.  I learned a lot.  I had a lot of really interesting (some funny, some not-s0-funny) experiences.  I met a lot of really great people.  I made a lot of new friends, both on the road and on Facebook.  I wish I could have finished higher in the standings, but for my limitations I think I did great.  I was worried at the beginning of the year that I wouldn’t be able to persevere, but I made it through all four tournaments.  I am really proud of myself.  I am really proud of my husband (who learned a lot too).  I am hoping to do better next year, that is, finish higher in the standings, but I am in no way ashamed of how I did this year.  I was a good sport throughout, kind and ladylike to everyone I met.  My parents were proud of me.  My husband was and is proud of me.  My children are proud of me.  That’s all I can ask.  I did my best, and I’ll be back next year for more.

From the Beginning

It is difficult to know where to start for this tour stop blog, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning - where the venue changed.  Actually, that wasn’t really the beginning.  Many of my fellow WBT Anglers had already been fishing our alternate site when it was announced that, due to the conditions on the Arkansas River, the site for the third tour stop for the WBT for 2009 would be changed to Lake Maumelle.  During my research for the third tour stop, while researching the Arkansas River, I, like many of my WBT colleagues, noticed that the river flows were consistently high and that daily Small Craft Advisories were being given, meaning that conditions were not safe for small craft to be on the river.  Of note is that many days there weren’t ANY craft, including the large barges, on the river.  This condition made many of us stop and think, “What if these conditions continue and we aren’t able to fish the Arkansas River when it comes time to practice and fish the tournament there?”  After asking that question, I started to research for alternate lakes, and felt that Lake Maumelle would be the closest alternate.  Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, BASS came out and announced that, if we weren’t able to fish on the Arkansas River, Lake Maumelle would be the alternate.

Pre-Fishing and Gnat-Eating

As tournament-time started to get closer and closer, it became time to commit - i.e. decide where to start pre-fishing.  After researching conditions on the Internet and asking all of the local fishermen that I could find in the Little Rock, Arkansas area, I came to the conclusion that the tournament was going to end up being on Lake Maumelle, so it was time to bag all of my Arkansas River fishing plans and baits and start concentrating on Lake Maumelle.

Rod and I arrived in Little Rock a week ahead of the tournament, as usual, and, after checking into our hotel went straight to Lake Maumelle to check it out.  It was beautiful!  There is one particular spot on Highway 10 where you come over a rise, and through a break in the trees see the lake down in the valley below.  It is just such a scenic place it is unbelievable.  I knew it was too good to be true when I first saw it.  Beautiful surroundings, beautiful lake, killer gnats.  Yes, I said killer gnats.  Here, they have a “special” species of gnats called “Buffalo Gnats”, probably due to either their size or their herding instincts, I wasn’t sure which.  One of the best things I learned at Lake Maumelle was a hint given to me by a local, Eugene Ethridge (more about him later).  He actually told me to use vanilla extract to repel the gnats.  Yes, you heard me.  You just apply it liberally, and when you quit craving chocolate chip cookies and milk, you know it’s time to re-apply.  It works great.  All of those things with real “bug-repellant” are just “bug-attractants”.  I’m not kidding, things with DEET actually seem to attract gnats and other bugs.  Those gnats bite and I’ve heard that some anglers are actually allergic and have had to go to the Emergency Room from attacks, so they’re nothing to laugh about.  If you don’t learn anything else from this post, the take-home lesson is this:  USE VANILLA EXTRACT TO REPEL GNATS WHENEVER YOU’RE FISHING!  Okay, enough on this subject

Tough Pre-fishing/Tough Tournament fishing

I would like to thank Darryl Thacker and Eugene Ethridge, both local firefighters, for their help.   Darryl was helpful in leading us to Gene, and Gene helped us with pre-fishing.  I can’t say enough good things about Gene.  He is actually an important guy at the Little Rock Fire Department, where he is some kind of Fire Chief, and appeared to be a very important and busy guy whenever we visited him at the Fire Department.   Whatever his official title is, he’s a great fisherman, and has lots of experience at Lake Maumelle.  He is not only an avid angler, but a very nice person, and Rod and I feel we’ve made a great friend in the Little Rock area.  Any failures I had in the tournament cannot be dropped at his doorstep, for he showed me lots of great spots and techniques.

When the tournament rolled around, it was almost like a comedy of errors.  I’ve had great experience with this type of tournament, and am beginning to feel comfortable in the “head comedienne” role.  I guess my non-boaters just get to play the “straight guy”.  First day, I fished with Kim Mendoza, a really nice young lady fishing her first year on the trail.  Right away, I knew I was in trouble when I wrapped up line in the trolling motor and had to remove the prop to unwind it, all the while with the wind blowing and the choppy waves making me seasick as I tried not to drop the little pin into the water.  I suppose everyone could have days like that,  but this one got better.  While going to the back of the boat to help my non-boater with a gut-hooked fish (those poor fish at Lake Maumelle hit the hook like they were all starving - it wasn’t her fault!), I somehow managed to kick one of my expensive, borrowed rigs overboard in about 25 feet of water.  I was sick about it, but managed to mark the spot on my GPS, for the possibility of later retrieval, and just kept on fishing.  We were on fish, but I couldn’t seem to bring in any weighers.  Kim did, though, and I was proud and happy for her.  The second day, I had Jennifer Rice, another really nice boater.  Whatever we did, we couldn’t seem to manage any weighers between us that day either.  We both caught a bunch of little fish.  So…two days of tournament fishing, zero fish weighed in.  It didn’t matter that I had caught a bunch of fish, and I think I’ll be happy if I never weigh another fish that is just 1/8 or 1/4 inch short.  It just is too disappointing to do it time after time. 

The good news is that my husband and Gene (with our tournament director’s permission), were able to go out and dredge up the rod and reel that I had knocked overboard.  I have to say, though, that my proudest moment of this whole tournament was that I talked Caprice Cherry, my co-angler from Day 2 of the Ouachita River Tournament, into bringing her own boat and fishing as a pro in this tournament.  She did well, weighed fish, and I was very happy that she came to fish with us, and proud that she came at my invitation.  I would love it if more women would bring their boats and come out and fish with us!