Monday, April 11, 2011

Don't let the pressure get you!

I have taken this year to enter myself into the Walmart Bass Fishing League or BFL. After some thought between two divisions, Bulldog and Savannah River, I took a shot at the Bulldog division, with many of the lakes being no more than a 2 hour drive,which is key with climbing gas prices and the economy where it stands. I sealed the deal with registering a month early and came thru at the last minute, linking with a boater. I must say, its a crap shoot when you have no guaranteed boater, but your want to compete is there, simply, how bad do you want it? Fortunately, things fell in place and I met my partner for the day at 5:30 am at the ramp. After the hectic morning of unloading my gear, launching the boat, and boat check, we had a bit of downtime before blast off. We got the chance to get to know each other, talk fishing, electronics, life etc. After gathering a game plan, we blasted off on an overcast, rainy 50 degree morning and went to work. I went in with the mentality that I was fishing his techniques, but my way. We worked some potentially deep to shallow areas, looking for a solid bite, but we both struggled til around noon, landing short fish,having them slap at it, so on. He broke the ice not long after, landing a 5-9 largemouth, and backing it up with a decent 2.5. Here's where pressure set in, I took the last few hours, struggling, having a lot of short strikes, no commitment. My mindset went from bad to worse, but I did my best not to show frustration, and was proud for my boater. In a situation like this, most people would sit it out, give up. Not this guy, I collected my thoughts, kept a smile, and played on. And the best thing, I keep digging, preparing for the next one. Until next time, let's get at it!

BY: Cale Milam

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