In the mind of the tourney angler, first day out…

In the mind of the tourney angler, first day out…
By gunner

Alarm sounds, waking me up from the full 65 minutes of “almost sleep” I had. Wiping sleep from my eyes, trying to focus on the clock. Pushing myself up to a sit-up position then wiping my eyes again…

After jumping up and getting dressed, running around looking for my shoes and finding them where I KNEW I did not leave them I grab something to eat, anything. At times it has been cereal others left-over pasta, just a few bites…

Go for the keys and a mental run-down of everything I need from the house. Keys, wallet, sunglasses, cell phone, small cooler of Pepsi, etc…

Once in the blazer (which is what I pulled my boat with) try to find some soft music for the ride to the garage to hook the boat & trailer. Again going over everything in my head as to what I packed, checked and loaded in the boat & blazer. I start to smile thinking of getting on the water, the sound and smell of the morning lake, the boats and motors…

Pulling up to the garage which was about 5 mins from my home at the time, I look around and don’t see my partner’s car. Well no matter he will be here, I hope as he is NOT a morning person.

I back up, hook the boat to the blazer, lock it down and then start my checklist, again! Never want to be caught without something you need on the water. A lesson I learned the hard way. Livewell’s - work, batteries - ready, lifejackets -check, Fire extinguisher -check, Safety flag and horn - check, full tank both boat & blazer- check, anchor- check, tow rope – check.

Now on to the tackleboxes, rod, reels, line, electronics etc…This is where I always had the hardest time, I wanted to take every bait I had, but knew I had to pick the chosen few. If I took them all I would have no room for my fishing partner!

So I go through the boxes I have everywhere. Making sure these are what I will need. This is when you may start to second guess yourself, because this is where your “homework” will start to pay off. Watching fishing shows, watching weather reports, calling for the lake conditions, talking to the guy at the local bait store by the lake. All of this starts to come together right here in your tackle selection. So after I sit and go through every box second guessing and remembering what I have heard and watched, I am pleased (somewhat) with my picks and then move on to the rods & reels.

Studying the lake maps prior and fishing the lake before I mark down certain “honey” areas that I will hit during the day. With that in mind I know what pound test and rod action I will be using. I have put the new line on the reels two days before today, so they have a chance to work out the stiffness. I rig each outfit up with a certain type of bait for my initial pattern search. Crankbait, spinner bait, jig, topwater etc…

Headlights, there is my late partner, I help him grab his gear out of his car and into the boat it goes. He makes a quick check of his gear and seems to be happy with his picks for the start of the day.

Loaded and ready, off we go…


Five minutes into the trip I remember that I did not “check” the trailer lights… So off to the side of the road I go and he steps out. Yes, brake lights, both turn signals and tail lights are working…

Loaded and ready, off we go…….. again….

Somewhere along the way to the lake we started talking about breakfast… so 24hr McDonalds, here we come… 4 sausage & eggs biscuits hash browns and cola’s later….

Loaded and ready, off we go…….. again….

As I am driving down the highway at 69 mph eating my biscuit at the same time, somehow I end up behind a 18 wheeler and I have a guy on my left that is riding the lane but will not pass… Looking at my watch and dropping part of the biscuit in the process, I try to see a way to get over. Time is running out and if I stay behind this truck, we will make it just in time to watch the rest of the boats blast off as we pull over the hump in the launch ramp area….

Turn signal on, I start to ease over… hoping that car will just back off or speed up. He does not move, just stays there. After two more attempts he backs off enough for me to move over and step on it. Just in time to make the BIG 2 mile hill that I should have gotten a running start on a mile or so back…

Clearing the hump at the launch ramp we see that somehow we made it in time. Not as much time as I would have liked, there will be no in-depth checklist now, just a quick once over…

After I am now temporally blinded by the new guy’s inability to shut his headlights off while he sits in front of me as I back the trailer in the water I find a parking spot and stumble through the floaters in my vision to the boat…

Seated, life jacket on, rods ready, water now in the livewells, I start the boat and get in line to be boarded and checked for any live bait and or bass in the livewells. He checks everything, checks the safety equipment the issues us a number to tape to the side of the motor. We then get the thumbs up signal and are clear to get in line.

I look at my watch and see that I have time to pour just a few sips of coffee, well in my case, sugar that is coffee flavored. (one of the very few times I drink coffee) I get a chance to glance at the sun just as it is hinting it’s way over the trees, and for a moment, I don’t hear the boat motors idling I hear the birds, I smell the pines instead of the gas & oil mixture… That is when it hits me every time, this is what it’s all about, and everything leading up to it doesn’t matter.

I glance over at my fishing partner and ask, “You ready for this?”


Hope to see you out there…
gunner