I was asked to post the story about my first bass tournament.
Back in the summer of 2000 I was wanting to start fishing some tournaments. We didn't have a big bass boat, we had a 8' foot bass buster and a 14 foot v-bottom john boat that was rigged for bass fishing. My grandfather bought it for my dad and I before he passed away. We called a few different mini boat clubs and decided on the Heart of Oklahoma Mini Boat Club. They had been the nicest on the phone and you could use any boat as long as you had less than a 10 hp engine on it. August 24 I started the eighth grade. August 25 I got home and went to a football game because I was in the band. We didn't get done till 10:00. My dad and I went home and loaded up. We had no clue what tournametn fishing was really about...so we loaded just about everything in the boat...I MEAN EVERYTHING. The boat didn't have a built in livewell so we took an icechest and put an arerater in it and we would just use it. We had two gas tanks for the small engine and one was empty that we would fill up when we got downt there. We went to bed about 1:00 am and got up at 4:00 to drive to Duncan, Oklahoma (lake Fuqua for the okies here). At the time we had a 1984 GMC Suburban, it didnt like hills and it did not like heat..it is AUGUST. THe drive down was fine with the SUB. When we left the house and started driving down the interstate my dad asked if I got the empty livewell (icechest) and empty gas tank out of the boat. I said no and i asked him if he did. He said no. We just laughed about it and went on. When we stopped at the gas station in Marlow, Oklahoma we filled up the other gas tank (not empty). We then took all of our food out of a big blue icechest (bigger than the one we were going to use for the livewell (hey you gotta eat at these things ya know!!!!). We didn't have a pump or arerator but at least we had something we could use. We got to the lake and got ready to launch...we actually got a little too ready. My dad unhooked the boat from the trailer. The trailer had brand new rollers on it from when my grandfather bought it. We paid the entry and went to back down the ramp. It was dark..one lane..no lights. The suburban had dirty tinted windows and my dad could hardly see. He was about to go off the boat ramp so I started waiving my arms in the air. He stopped and got out and asked what the prob. was. I told him and he put it in drive and pulled up...only problem was that old john boat flew off the trailer and onto the boat ramp...WITH ME IN IT. I just remember hearing the crash and being able to look and see the stars, the boat hadn't come all the way off but the bow was still sitting on the end of the trailer so the boat was pointed in the air. We winched it back on and then backed down the ramp. We got in the water and the tournament started at 6:30. At the 6:25 my dad got in the boat and tried to start the engine. Everyone else was just out there idling waiting for us. My dad pulled and pulled..the engine wouldnt' start. The club offered to wait on us but we said to go ahead and we would catch up. I used the trolling motor and took us in a nearby cove and started fishing. My dad got the engine working about 45 minutes later so we drove over to a different area. At about 8:15 that morning I hooked my first keeper and we put it in the make-shift livewell. We didnt have a pump or anything to fill it up with so we both put it over the side and struggled to get it back in. We put the fish in it and went on fishing. We fished the rest of the day without a bite. With about 15 minutes to go in the tournament I pulled up to one last point and pitched a jig into a big weedbed. WHAM my line jerked and the fight was on. The fish was about 3 pounds and he was in the boat. The cool thing about that was I was 50 to 100 yards from wiegh-in and the whole club saw me catch that fish. We put the boat on the trailer and loaded up. We didnt' have<
Back in the summer of 2000 I was wanting to start fishing some tournaments. We didn't have a big bass boat, we had a 8' foot bass buster and a 14 foot v-bottom john boat that was rigged for bass fishing. My grandfather bought it for my dad and I before he passed away. We called a few different mini boat clubs and decided on the Heart of Oklahoma Mini Boat Club. They had been the nicest on the phone and you could use any boat as long as you had less than a 10 hp engine on it. August 24 I started the eighth grade. August 25 I got home and went to a football game because I was in the band. We didn't get done till 10:00. My dad and I went home and loaded up. We had no clue what tournametn fishing was really about...so we loaded just about everything in the boat...I MEAN EVERYTHING. The boat didn't have a built in livewell so we took an icechest and put an arerater in it and we would just use it. We had two gas tanks for the small engine and one was empty that we would fill up when we got downt there. We went to bed about 1:00 am and got up at 4:00 to drive to Duncan, Oklahoma (lake Fuqua for the okies here). At the time we had a 1984 GMC Suburban, it didnt like hills and it did not like heat..it is AUGUST. THe drive down was fine with the SUB. When we left the house and started driving down the interstate my dad asked if I got the empty livewell (icechest) and empty gas tank out of the boat. I said no and i asked him if he did. He said no. We just laughed about it and went on. When we stopped at the gas station in Marlow, Oklahoma we filled up the other gas tank (not empty). We then took all of our food out of a big blue icechest (bigger than the one we were going to use for the livewell (hey you gotta eat at these things ya know!!!!). We didn't have a pump or arerator but at least we had something we could use. We got to the lake and got ready to launch...we actually got a little too ready. My dad unhooked the boat from the trailer. The trailer had brand new rollers on it from when my grandfather bought it. We paid the entry and went to back down the ramp. It was dark..one lane..no lights. The suburban had dirty tinted windows and my dad could hardly see. He was about to go off the boat ramp so I started waiving my arms in the air. He stopped and got out and asked what the prob. was. I told him and he put it in drive and pulled up...only problem was that old john boat flew off the trailer and onto the boat ramp...WITH ME IN IT. I just remember hearing the crash and being able to look and see the stars, the boat hadn't come all the way off but the bow was still sitting on the end of the trailer so the boat was pointed in the air. We winched it back on and then backed down the ramp. We got in the water and the tournament started at 6:30. At the 6:25 my dad got in the boat and tried to start the engine. Everyone else was just out there idling waiting for us. My dad pulled and pulled..the engine wouldnt' start. The club offered to wait on us but we said to go ahead and we would catch up. I used the trolling motor and took us in a nearby cove and started fishing. My dad got the engine working about 45 minutes later so we drove over to a different area. At about 8:15 that morning I hooked my first keeper and we put it in the make-shift livewell. We didnt have a pump or anything to fill it up with so we both put it over the side and struggled to get it back in. We put the fish in it and went on fishing. We fished the rest of the day without a bite. With about 15 minutes to go in the tournament I pulled up to one last point and pitched a jig into a big weedbed. WHAM my line jerked and the fight was on. The fish was about 3 pounds and he was in the boat. The cool thing about that was I was 50 to 100 yards from wiegh-in and the whole club saw me catch that fish. We put the boat on the trailer and loaded up. We didnt' have<
