Terri Talks

It’s bass-fishing season.  I’ve got my boat.  Lots and lots of rods and reels.  Not to mention the lures - shelves full of bags of soft baits,plus box after box of hard baits.  The arsenal of a professional angler is a vast one.  Over the off-season (about mid-October toFebruary), I did my pre-season study.  This involves a lot of tedious, but necessary work that is done by an angler every year, before ever even considering wetting a hook.  Before the bass fishing season starts, each tournament trail that an angler is going to fish publishes its tournament dates and launch sites, including host cities and hotels.  Data is then recorded on a Master Calendar.  Hotels are researched and reservations are made. 

Then the fishing study begins.  Each lake must have at least one or two good lake maps, which are studied in depth in their entirety.  Internet websites, magazine articles, and fishing books are all consulted concerning the entire history of fishing on the lake in question.  Old tournament results are perused.  The date of each tournament is important, since it determines the time during the fishing season that you will be fishing a particular lake.  Each season has its variables.  The spawn (mating and egg-laying season) is broken up into three distinct periods:  the pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn, each with its particular set of variables that control instinctive bass behavior during this critical event in their life-cycle.  The rest of the time, the fish behave in a certain way according to the weather:  the spring, summer, and fall are all important times during the bass-fishing season, and even the winter to some extent.  Then, more specific weather patterns are taken into account.  During the spring and fall, a lot of cold front activity affects fishing conditions.  Whether or not a cold front changes the water temperature significantly is a very important component in the fishing scenario.  Fish go deeper during the hot summer months.  All these variables are recorded in notebooks (or laptops), which are kept for each lake’s potential conditions, including weather, dam generation activity, drought conditions, general and specific weather potentials and trends, and each specific season during which fishing is taking place.  Potential areas to explore during the official pre-fishing period on the lake prior to each tournament are marked on anglers’ personal maps, to be utilized when going to each lake to pre-fish.

The off-season boat preparation involves two things:  bedding the boat down for the winter and getting it ready to go again in the spring.  The winterization process is more involved the colder it gets in the angler’s home area.  I live in Texas, so only the basic general winterization is done.  Mostly it involves cleaning everything up on the boat and getting all of the water out, so that it doesn’t freeze in the boat over the winter and ruin lines and equipment.  In the spring, everything is gone over with a fine tooth comb.  I usually take my boat to the local boat shop to have it checked out.  The mechanics go over the boat from head to toe, including the trailer, brakes, tires, axles, etc.  The boat engine is tuned and electronics are checked to make sure everything is in working order.  Of special importance are the livewell pumps and aerators, which keep the fish alive and well during the tournament.  The electronics on a tournament bass fishing boat are extremely complex, and are often governed by chips that have to be bought for each region that is being fished.  They cost anywhere from $100-$300 and up per chip, and it can take several to get through a tournament season, depending on which lakes are on the tournament trail and what region of the country they are clustered (or scattered) in.  The truck (or other type of tow vehicle) has to be tuned up also, tires and brakes checked and replaced as needed, oil changes and tune-ups done.  Insurance for the boat, equipment, and tow-vehicle is renewed for the year, with a minimum $300-$500,000 per occurrence liability.

A lot of off-season Sponsor work is done.  Personal appearances at many different venues are made.  Contracts are renewed and new sponsors are sought during the off-season, to help off-set the costs of the tournament trail.  In this difficult economy, many women only get small sponsorships, such as a few free baits, or at most, a boat wrap to protect her boat and to serve as a mobile billboard for some type of fishing organization.  Otherwise, the expenses are on her.  Whatever the situation with the Sponsors, new tournament shirts have to be ordered, at $100-$250 each, to carry each years’ sponsor information, along with the anglers’ name and fishing organization affiliations, so that the angler (similar to a NASCAR driver) also serves as a mobile billboard for the Sponsor as well.  As part of the spring boat make-ready, new boats and/or boat wraps are needed, both with the idea of having the fastest, safest boat possible.  The idea is to protect the boat and the angler and to fulfill the terms of the contracts made with each angler to promote or advertise his or her sponsor companies.

You can imagine how disappointing (and expensive( it would be to find out say, in January, that the entire fishing season that you have prepared for wasn’t going to happen, had in fact, been cancelled.  That was the case with all of the women signed up for the Women’s Bassmaster Tour (WBT) for 2010.  At 11 am on the Monday morning of January 4, 2010, I received an email from BASS stating that due to “lack of participation” they were not going to do the trail, and that I would be getting my $1200 deposit back at some point, or I could transfer the money over and fish the Opens Tournaments (a much more expensive tournament trail even than the Women’s, but also sponsored by BASS).

The scramble was then on-several hundred women had to find tournaments to fish, since money had already been spent and they had Sponsors to represent.  Several top women, such as Pam Martin-Wells (who was the WBT Angler of the Year in 2009 and therefore fished in the elite Bassmaster Classic in February).  The Classic is to fishing what the Super Bowl is to the NFL, and Pam did very well.  She caught the first five-fish limit both days on the first two days of the tournament, and made the cut to fish the third day, finally ending up in a respectable 22nd place.  (There were many Bassmaster Classic contenders this year who didn’t catch a five-fish limit at all for the tournament, and actually a couple who didn’t even catch any fish at all).  Anyway, Pam Martin-Wells, Judy Wong and Dianna Clark, all lady anglers of both skill and renown, were able to snag the last couple of openings on the Bassmaster Opens Tournament Trail.  Other former WBT anglers were soon entered in everything from the Fishers of Men to the FLW and Stren Series Tours.

Meanwhile, several organizations were searching for a way  for women to be able to fish together.  Whether it would be in 2010 or not was anybody’s guess.  For a lot of reasons, I like to fish with women.  One of the big ones is that I AM A WOMAN.  I am not a man.  It’s that simple.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     the w I am a former Ob/Gyn physician, so obviously I have a long history of wanting to be around other women.  I liked what I did as a female physician, and I liked fishing with the other women.  It was fun.  It was comfortable.  It made sense.  I don’t know why I feel like I need to make excuses for wanting to fish a tournament trail against and amongst others of my own kind, but does feel like I’m trying to defend myself.  I also hate it that we worked so hard to have this for the ladies and now it’s gone.  What happens to my daughter’s (and her daughter’s) generation?  Why does it feel like we are going backwards and losing ground?  Probably because we are.  Shouldn’t we have this option available for women who want it?  For those that want to fish with, and compete with men, that’s okay.  As for myself, I personally don’t feel like holding my bladder throughout an entire days’ fishing because I’m not allowed to leave the tournament boat and am too “bladder shy” to be able to bare it all in front of some strange guy that I’m fishing with.  I’ll bet those of you who don’t fish never thought of that, did you?  Those of us with the “three-baby bladders” that find it impossible to wait out an 8-12 hour period without going to the bathroom think of these things a little faster.  It doesn’t do any good not to drink any water.  It’s just not safe to go out and fish in the 100 degree sun all day and not have proper hydration.  Enough said- I want to fish with women.

Three organizations started up within a couple of weeks of the announcement to address the issue of the women fishing together.  Two WBT Pro Anglers, Secret York and Cheryl Bowden, got together to plan a tournament on Kentucky Lake, for which her employer at Moors Resort generously donated his facilities.  The former WBT anglers are all invited to the tournament May 5-8, both to fish and to decide their futures.  It is at this meeting that all of the former WBT Anglers will decide whether they are going to run their own organization for females fishing together, or to contract with an outside organization.  One day before and one day after the two-day fishing tournament will be devoted to the determination of the ladies’ future.  The IFBBA - International Federation of Black Bass Anglers was the next organization to weigh in.  Sabrina Thompson, Vice President of the IFBBA and former WBT Non Boater announced that the IFBBA had formed the WBD (Women’s Bass Division) and had taken the former WBT schedule of time slots plus one in May and developed a four-stop WBD tour, starting March 18-20 at Lake Bob Sandlin.  April would see the WBD fishing on the Arkansas River out of Little Rock, and June 10-12 would be Lake Belton, as already scheduled by the WBT, but out of a different launch site than previously planned.  In May, the women would get a chance to participate in the IFBBA’s Annual Diversity Buddy Tournament, this year in Missouri. 

The next organization to weigh-in was the American Lady Anglers (ALA).  Founded by Rod Baker (husband and Bass Caddy to WBT Pro Angler Dr. Terri Elkins) and Lake Fork Guide Lee White, this organization first put up a website.  Baker used the Bassmaster Classic to hand out cards and flyers, letting people know that the organization existed. The ALA time has been spent in organization, sponsor meetings, and meetings with Host Cities, in an attempt to lay a solid foundation.  A Brand-new tournament trailer is currently undergoing its transformation into a real-deal weigh-in stage, able to go from one tournament site to the next and handle the ladies’ weigh-ins.  A myriad of talks with host cities and sponsors are taking place, with a single goal.  Baker and White (with 25 years’ tournament-experience apiece) want any and every woman who want to fish to be able to come out and fish the ALA tournaments.  They are lowering entry fees while raising payback amounts.  They are also trying to make deals with both sponsor and host cities, in order to be able to defray the high costs of tournament fishing for ALL of the women who want to fish.  Another area of intense concentration is on the media exposure for these lady anglers.  Increased media exposure means better sponsorship packages for the anglers, so Baker and White are doing everything they can to increase the exposure for the trail.  For them, the last thing on their list is to announce the tournament schedule.  Host cities are literally welcoming the ALA with open arms, but Baker and White want everything to be perfect, so that all of the ladies will be able to just enjoy fishing, without the financial worries of the past.

That said, the three organizations have been supporting each other, and advertising each others’ tournaments.  After all, it’s the same ladies, no matter what letters of the alphabet they end up with.  In addition, the ALA especially would like to see more of the local ladies in areas where the ALA is scheduled to fish to get their boats and their BFF’s and come out and fish.  One of the unique things about the ALA tournaments (compared to the other trails’ and to past WBT tournaments) is that the ALA events will be “shared weight” team tournament events.  That means that the angler in the front of the boat will be fishing with the back of the boat, to get the best five-fish limit the two of them can put together.  The ladies can be located wherever they want, even trading off times running the trolling motor on the front deck if they want.  This more-relaxed, much-less-restrictive atmosphere will serve to increase the fun and camaraderie to be found on the ladies’ boats.  In addition, the ALA tournaments will have no off-limits before the ladies leave the water the day before the tournaments to go to the registration meeting.  This will help out all of the ladies.  Those in working families will be able to take their vacation with their significant others, so that they can fish with their spouses, friends, boyfriends, or children - whoever they want to fish with.  This relaxation of off-limits is just another way for the ALA tournaments to be more fun for the lady anglers and their friends, families, and fans. 

The first event to be rolling around is the WBD tournament on Bob Sandlin, I was all ready to fish, in the truck and on the way to the tournament when I got the bad news - the tournament had been cancelled.  I was checking my morning email when I found out.  I can’t tell you how disappointed I was, both for Sabrina and for myself.  I was all set to see and to socialize with all of my former WBT buddies.  I had even called Nancy Oliver, a non-boater with whom I had had the privilege of fishing in my first professional tournament with the WBT.  Nancy is a terrific person, and as sweet as anyone you could want to meet.  More importantly, she is an experienced, excellent, level-headed angler, and both a joy and an asset to have in the boat with you.  I had called her to inform her of the other two trails for ladies and their events, along with the ALA events.  Nancy decided immediately to come to Texas to fish the Lake Bob Sandlin tournament, so we were both going to be there.

It is unfortunate, but understandable, that the WBD tournament did not get enough entries, or didn’t think they were going to have enough.  They had waived the late-registration $100 penalty, and therefore found out when calling around that a lot of women were going to sign up and pay their money at the registration meeting.  I don’t think they can be faulted in any way - they tried to help out by having a tournament trail for the women, and cancelled when they felt like it was not going to be a big enough event to benefit those same women.  I actually don’t blame the IFBBA/WBD that this event didn’t make it.  I think it is more due to the fact that all of the WBT anglers had to fish so many different tournament trails, to satisfy their obligations to their sponsors, that not enough ladies could get free to properly support this tournament.  I DO NOT feel like it was because the ladies didn’t want to fish together, or didn’t want to fish the WBD tournaments.  It was a matter of simple logistics - you can’t be two places at one time.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement.  For Sabrina, for the IFBBA/WBD, and for anglers in general.  I don’t think a poor turn-out for the first WBD tournament should set the tone, nor break a tournament trail the decision was also made to cancel the second tournament due to the dangerous water conditions on the Arkansas River because of the heavy rains flowing downstream into the river causing hazardous conditions for small craft on the water.  It will probably be mid-summer before the Arkansas River flow is conducive to small boats, such as bass boats, being out on the river fishing.  I feel like a kid at Christmas who has just opened all of the pretty packages only to find out that there were no toys - only socks and underwear.  Actually, I feel more like a high-school girl dressed up for the prom, only to find I’ve been stood up by my date.  All dressed up and no place to go.  Or in this case - All dressed up and no place to fish!

Last time everyone heard from me, it was the Bob Sandlin Tournament update for the Big Stringer/Screamer Bass whatever.  I’m so confused.  I had everything planned and bought for the year, from equipment, clothing, lures, maps. etc. I’d researched the WBT lakes for 2010, done my homework, and was ready to start fishing - all I needed to do was update the website and start fishing the WBT trail at Lake Wheeler in Decatur, Alabama in March, April at Sam Rayburn in Zapata, Texas, June at Lake Belton in Temple, Texas, followed by September back at the Ouachita River in West Monroe, Louisianna.  I was so excited to be going back to the Ouachita River - where I did the best of the season last year, that I called all of my friends and set everything up.  I was even hoping to be fishing on Sam Rayburn when the women had their championship in October.  So when my registration time came in November, I dutifully doled out the deposit for all four tournaments and was ready to go.

Imagine my surprise on January 6th when I got the email announcing that ESPN/BASS had cancelled the trail due to lack of participation.  It’s amazing how many ladies have been participating in starting up not one, not two, but THREE separate tournament trail entities for women, as of this date alone.  First Secret York and Cheryl Bowden came out and announced the Kentucky Lake tournament with all of the former WBT Anglers in May.  Then, Sabrina Thompson announced the IFBBA (International Federation of Black Bass Anglers) is having a WBD (Women’s Bass Division), fishing March at Lake Sandlin, April at the Arkansas River, May at Truman Lake,  and June at Lake Belton.  Today, the ALA (American Lady Anglers) announced the start of the all new, Ladies TEAM Tournament Trail, a five-fish stringer tournament where the front and the back of the boat work as a team to bring in the largest five-fish limit.  Tournament dates and lakes to be announced shortly! The WBD has a Co/Pro format, with a Buddy Tournament as their Diversity Tournament at Lake Truman. 

I’m so proud and excited I could burst.  Way to go ladies!  When lady anglers get kicked to the curb they certainly bounce back quickly!  Oh, by the way, did I mention that my own personal Bass Caddy (Rod) is, with a friend, running the team trail?  Way to go baby, thanks for the platform to get more women fishing.  Check out his website at www.AmericanLadyAnglers.com . As Rod says, “Ladies, Come Fish with Us!”