I'm baaaaaack

[Jackl]

Well, I just got back from fishing the Bassmaster Central Division Open on Lake Texoma a couple days ago, and have been busy washing my clothes, straightening my tackle box and putting everything back in the boat where it needs to be.
It is a trip that I will remember for a long time (at least until I get to fish the next one, I hope)
On the day before the tourney, there was a meeting at Loy lake, south of Denison, Tx. They had the sign up verification, checked your license, and had a burger fry for everyone. After the meal, everyone gathered in the arean where the rules were gone over and it was announced who the pro/co-angler would be for the next day. After they announced your name, you found your pro and discussed where you would meet the next day, and a little bit about what type of fishing he planned to do so you could rig your rods accordingly (You are allowed to take 6 rods and 1 medium sized tackle box)
The pro I was fishing with the first day was staying in a cabin close to the lake, so I drove him back to his cabin (He rode in with friends) so I would know how to get there the next morning.
The next morning, I met my pro in his driveway and transfered my gear to his boat and parked my car in his driveway and we went fishing. The first flite went out at 7:30 (barely daylight) and since we were 71st, we got out about 15 minutes later. The weather man said the wind was 10 to 20 MPH, and tipical texas forcasting, you add the 10 and 20 together to get the actual wind velocity. It was rough as hell and it seemed that we drove 200 miles to the first spot (actually about 4 miles) Needless to say the fishing was tough, and my pro caught 1-3 lb 3 oz fish about 11 o'clock and two small keepers (14 inch) within the last hour of the tourney. I caught 1 10 inch sand bass! (0 for first day)
After the weigh in, they posted your next days pro/co-angler for the next day, We were boat #74. I called the second day pro on cell phone (numbers are listed on the sheet) and we made arrangements on where he would pick me up the next day.
Again we left about 7:45 and drove another 200 miles (5 miles) in 10 to 20 MPH winds, to the first spot The Pro and I each caught a small bass on C-rig (barely over 14 inches) and fished a couple other spots in that area before heading into the wind for another 5 mile run the other was from the take off point. We fished most of the day and I finally caught a respectable bass on a worm, which gave me a final weight of 3 lbs 8 oz.
To say that the fishing was tough would an understatement. That miniscule 2 day bag put me in 68th place out of 145 co-anglers for that tournament, and put me in 203rd place out of 337 anglers for the years point standing.
Since I did not finish above30th place for the tourney, I missed the cut to fish Saturday, so I drove the long road home.
I had a blast, being able to fish among the pro's and fishing a Pro type tournament. Given a chance, I would do it again but hopefully on a different lake under different weather conditions.
JackL