This awesome story about our good friend Darla Bardelli ran on The Fishing Wire today and we wanted to share it with you. I have known Darla personally for a while now and her courage and determination to beat cancer is an inspiration to all of us.

Still In It To Win It…our pal and professional angler Darla Bardelli continues her recuperative efforts following radical mastectomies and aggressive cancer treatments. We all know Darla’s no quitter, but she’s lost neither her sense of humor or drive to succeed. When the 2008 Women’s Bassmaster Tour kicks off this Thursday, April 10 at Texas’ Lake Lewisville, Darla will be fishing!

She’s sporting a “new doo”- as in the minimalist look – but she says she’s not going to miss the opportunity to win the chance to fish in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic (the 2008 Women’s Champ gets an automatic entry into the Classic).

Darla’s coming off six months of chemotherapy, during which time she wore her tournament fishing shirt and carried what she calls her “Cancer Monkey) for each treatment. It helped raise her spirits, and reminded her of the ultimate goal – to be “In it to WIN it!”

Darla’s definitely making the Classic a goal. Six weeks after a double radical mastectomy, she’s borrowing a boat from Phoenix to fish Lewisville. She still faces hormone and chemotherapies, physical therapy and reconstruction. In July and August during the off-schedule of the WBT, Darla will undergo seven weeks of radiation treatments. But she’s gotten her doctors on her team to help her fish her dream…a shot at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.