Tournament Blog

Stop 2 – Lake Neely Henry, Alabama - May 22 – 24

Lake Neely Henry was the number 1 stop in 2006 but I did not fish it back then…so it was all new to me. I had 4 days of pre-fishing and during that time my husband and I had a great practice on the weekend, catching 2 spotted bass that pushed the 4lb mark. This was a good sign…however, I was not satisfied with just having those river fish to depend on so during official practice I set out to find alternate water. I found one spot which yielded several solid 2 pound spots and felt pretty comfortable going into day one…

Stop 1 – Lake Lewisville, Texas - April 10 – 12

The 2008 season is underway…I am so excited to get this party started. Lake Lewisville is our first stop of the season, and just north of Dallas, which is about an hour drive from my house. During the 2006 season, Lake Lewisville was the 1st time I fished on a professional circuit and my 1st time as a boater. It turned out pretty good, I finished in 3rd place.

I was really looking forward to this tournament this year. I had planned on really learning the lake which I did not do in the prior tournament. As it turned out, the weather in Texas is really crazy…80 degrees one day and in the 20’s or 30’s the next. I wanted to spend a lot of time prior to the tournament on the lake, but with the weather so unpredicatable, I knew the pattern would change. And change it did! I fished a BFL tournament prior to the WBT tournament on March 8th and zeroed. The temperature at take off was in the upper 20’s and my reels were freezing and it was the coldest tournament I have ever fished in my life. My boater was great…we had a good time, but I had one bite all day and missed it…all I could think to myself is this is horrible.

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Looking back on the 2007 Sophomore Season for the WBT circuit, I am filled with pride at what we have accomplished.  ESPN has been a great sponsor and voice for all of us that have this dream, “to fish at a competitive level”.  I want to take this time to thank ESPN, B.A.S.S., Bruce Mathis, and Deb Wilkinson.  THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

I want to thank my husband Ricky (R.D.), without his support and love I would be lost.  He is my guide, my best friend and my mentor.  Thanks to all the friends I have made along the way, you guys are great and I cannot wait until next year.  Thanks to my family who support me in my endeavor to fish on a “professional level”.  Also, thank you Kathy Magers, for believing and working so hard to get this project off the ground.  Thanks for that call in 2006 which you told me “come on and fish”.  If I had not fished that 1st tournament at Lake Lewisville look at all I would have missed.  Thank you to all my non-boaters for helping me make memories…you guys were great.

Thanks to my sponsors for a great year:

• Maui Jim Sunglasses
• Seaguar Line
• GLoomis Rods
• Crawclicker

Okay, this was going to be a challenge for all.  The river was absolutely swollen prior to the tournament from all the rains received in Texas and Oklahoma.   Talk about RED, the river was flowing and red.  Prior to the official practice my husband and I made some runs down to see how things were.  I had several spots holding fish and felt pretty good about this one.  On the last day of official practice, I landed a 5 pounder from one of my spots and felt pretty good about my chances.  I am now in 13th place in the overall standings and this tournament was the deciding factor whether or not I make the Classic.

Day 1 I was locking down as were a lot of the girls but on Day 1 I only managed 2 fish for 3.2lbs.  My co-angler Shirley Jordan had 4 fish that day and caught here biggest one with a broken rod.  What a trip…I was so glad we got that one to the boat…sorry about the rod Shirley.

Day 2 Started out pretty much like day 1 however, I was fishing with my buddy Monica Altman from North Carolina.  Monica and I met on the final day at Lake Norman in the Inaugural season for the WBT.  She won that tournament and I came in 2nd.  The start of a great friendship.  Well my best spots were not producing that day.  We were now sharing the waters with several other tournaments going on.  I did manage 2 keepers off some rocks on a crank bait.  I ended up in 52nd place for this tournament, I was disappointed as you can imagine, but that’s fishing.