Patience, perseverance and determination….those were the three words I kept telling myself during this last tournament of 2007 on the Red River. I was determined to find a “secret” spot some friends had told me about…well not that secret, there are no secret spots…but a place not many people venture into. I didn’t know where it was on the maps and had no clue what it looked like but I knew I had to run a heck of a long way to get there. The first day of practice my goal was to find it. I almost turned around thinking I had passed it or just wouldn’t find it when suddenly there it was. Idling back into this oxbow I had to run over fallen trees and sandbars, winding my way back into a place that looked like a swamp. At one point a fallen tree caught my trolling motor and slapped back across my boat throwing spiders…fairly large spiders….all across the deck and into the seats. Well, anyone that knows me can imagine what happened next. I shut down the engine, jumped up and danced a girlie jig across the boat, stepping on the scattering critters only to see the biggest one dart under the passenger seat. I certainly wasn’t going to let him have the boat so I continued on….glancing over every few seconds to see if he was coming out to get me. Then I saw an alligator sunning on the bank…I would rather invite him in the boat than the monster arachnid. Anyway, I never saw the spider again and continued on. This was the promise land…possibly….and nothing would keep me from it. I drove around checking it out, caught a few keepers and went on my way back out on the main river to find a plan B and C. On the last day of practice I ventured back to the “secret” spot and saw the water had dropped. I didn’t have much water to work with already so I admit it did freak me out a bit. I was very uncomfortable with the situation but I didn’t care…I knew this was where I needed to go and stuck to the plan. The night before the first day of the tournament I told my co-angler that we were going to run a long way and that I apologize up front if we cant get in there due to the falling water…..but this was the plan.

Each day I caught a limit (5 fish), but they came slowly and I worked all day for all five. I’m not a very patient person so this was hard work, patience was crucial. As the water dropped each day I had to stop looking at my sonar while running the main river. Oh, and did I mention it was a long run…40 minutes or so at 73 mph makes you feel like your skin is peeling off your face…well one good thing…I do have a few less wrinkles. No matter how hard it was getting up to this spot it was my goal to get there. My co-angler’s asked “weren’t you scared to come back here”? Scared no (well maybe of the spiders), a bit uncomfortable, yes but I was much too determined to let it get to me. Anyway, I ended up finishing…..wait for it…FIFTH overall….and that’s not even the kicker….I won big fish on the final day weighing in a 3-15 lb bass. Check out the final standings.

I want to thank EVERYONE who has supported me over this past year. It truly means a lot to me. THANK YOU!