Here Fishy, Fishy

March 14th through 17th the B.A.S.S. Elite Series practically came to our backyard for the first time.  We were so excited when they announced the opening event of the year would be the Sabine River Challenge!  We've gone to the Bassmasters Classic a couple times when it was in Shreveport and have met a lot of the pros at the event.  The thing I think is probably the coolest about professional bass fishing is how accessible it is to the public.  How many other professional athletes can you just walk up and start talking to?  At the Classic, the pros that didn't qualify (only the top 40 qualify each year) are at the Expo and happy to talk, take pictures, sign autographs, etc.  On the last day of fishing, all of the pros that didn't make the top 10 or 12 cut are at the Expo either at a booth or walking around, again, happy to spend time with their fans.

The Elite Series was no different.  We went to the boat launch on Friday morning (with donuts in hand), and Carson couldn't get over all the boats.  Yep, there were at least 100.  He kept saying, "Look Mommy, a boat.  Another boat!  Another boat!"  These guys have some pretty serious fishing rigs - big trucks and big boats covered in endorsement wraps.  It's like a parade having them all drive in and go launch.  Hearing 100 bass boats with big motors take off is pretty cool tool.  The fans pretty much just line the boat ramp, bank, and dock and get a front row seat to the action. 

Some launch pics....

 

 

 

So many boats!

 

Ready to head to the weigh-in...

Father-Son Love in their Ranger Boats hats

 

He loved this view...

 

He's got the clapping thing down...

 

 

The stage...

 

 

At the weigh-ins, Carson was getting a little anxious sitting in the stroller so we walked around. I saw a bunch of the kids behind the stage... well, that's where all the pros were after they weighed in. The were back there happy to take pictures, sign autographs, etc. Pretty tough to get that close to any Dallas Cowboy or Texas Ranger unless you've got some special privileges.

 

Meeting Edwin Evers...

 

...and Alton Jones 

 

 

 

The eventual winner (Todd Faircloth) waiting to weigh-in...

 

The Texas boy won!!

The other thing that's great about professional bass fishing is that the vast majority of the fishermen are just good guys. They are regular people that just happened to be really good at bass fishing and took the risk to start doing it professionally. There are plenty that have made good money in winnings, but you have to be one of the really good ones to get all the big sponsors and endorsements. Almost all are very humble and only a few are what I would consider "flashy." But even the "flashy" ones are still approachable. A lot of the fisherman support charities. A lot use their position to help spread their faith. Being a Christian is "cool" in bass fishing. One guy puts Bible verses on his boat and encourages his fans to memorize his new one each week. Any time someone "thanks their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ", the crowd cheers. It's always nice to be in an environment where that is welcomed.

 

What was also pretty cool too is that the guy that won pretty much fished where Andrew works.  A couple guys ran over 1,200 miles in their boat over a 4-day period and the one that won stayed pretty close.  It was one of the toughest tournaments they've had in a long time and some probably didn't like the challenge, but I think the ones that faced the challenge and succeeded are truly amazing anglers.  Fishing here is very different from some of the big bass lakes.  We had a great time and are hoping BASS comes back to our neck of the woods soon!!!   Given that they had record crowds, I'm sure they will!!