[{DvT}Reckless]

Earlier this spring I tried fishing a national tournament on the lake I fish at here in NorCal (Clear Lake). I fished with the BASSMASTERS and had a great experience, here is a synopsis I posted earlier in the year at the fishing site I frequent:

My BASS Elite experience was excellent indeed. For my first ever bass tournament I had a lot of fun and learned a ton. My first day partner was Steve Kennedy from Alabama, we were the last pair called at the pairing meeting the night before and the last boat to blast off on day 1, just what I needed as really I wasn't too excited to go fishing on Clear Lake. I had a great, great time fishing with Steve, he is an excellent fisherman and real nice guy. I didn't have too many problems catching numbers of fish, I just couldn't get a decent sized fish all day (and I tried a lot of different baits). I ended up catching 18 fish (including the first fish of the day) and weighed-in 12-12 at the end of the day. I took most of my fish on a shakey head worm and ripping a Pointer 128. Steve took most of his fish on a jig however he did cull a few times with fish he caught using a small swimbait. Steve spent a lot of time checking spots just looking for fish, this was an investment he made that certainly paid off in the long run. At our last two stops of the day we saw some huge fish that just would not commit to anything we threw. I know Steve targeted these fish (and caught several of them) the remainder of the tournament. What was truly amazing was we saw packs of huge fish at these spots not just one or two, simply amazing.

On Friday I fished with Kenyon Hill from Oklahoma, we blasted off early and I had my limit by 8:00AM. I culled a few times and then later in the day a beauty and my biggest of the tournament (7+) hammered a brush hog I was fishing behind the boat but by the time I got it to the boat the hook wound up on the outside of its mouth so back in the lake it went, what a drag too as I was not sight fishing, I was simply dragging the brush hog behind the boat when I got hammered. I easily would have made the cut with those extra 2-3 lbs. Friday I caught 27 fish and had a terrific time fishing with Kenyon, another great angler who taught me a few things and I had simply a great time just fishing with. Kenyon took most of his fish with a jig but he did catch a 6-5 on a swimbait early in the day that I was able to lip for him, I was very, very happy I didn't screw that up. I ended up weighing in 15-14 giving me a two day total of 28-10. I missed the cut by 10 ounces and wound up finishing 53rd overall.

Without question every pro I spoke with has never, ever seen a lake anywheres with so many numbers of giant fish. Kevin Reynold's fish on Friday (12-11) was unreal, what a pig. All in all it was a very memorable experience. It certainly wasn't the type and manner of fishing I'm used to, it was much faster paced, in fact that was the best advice I received -- fish fast, which I did.

Lastly some other notable highlights were; getting Skeet to sign my yellow Skeet Reese crankin' stick and winning $125 at the casino on my third pull of the $1 slot, yes I cashed out immediately !!

Congratulations to Steve Kennedy on his record setting BASS win on Clear Lake in 2007. I know Steve, Julia and Louie are all very excited and I couldn't be happier for them. I'm personally thrilled to have shared the boat with eventual Champ on day 1, that's a memory I'll always have.

Here are the final co-angler standings, a story about the final weigh-in and a picture of myself and Steve about to blast off on day 1:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/ba...rnamentId=1150

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/t...final_weigh-in