This picture was sent in to us from Zack at our Bellingham dealer LFS. What caption would you put?

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.

We got this email a while back from Gregg Keller in Ellabell, GA and want to share it with you!

Feb 16th I was fishing in a local tournament on the Savannah River. I was a co-angler (back seater) with another club member. The water temperature was about 52 degrees, and we were drifting with the current in the main river channel. At first light, the temperature had been about 40 degrees, and I had dressed accordingly in layers, as it was forecast to warm up to around 60. At about 11 a.m., I removed my Mustang Model 3087 vest and my heavy jacket. Just as I started to pick up my rod, I saw the vest laying beside my coat and stopped to put it back on.

Tournament rules require us to wear PFDs when the big motor is running, but not while fishing. I, however, cannot swim, so I generally have mine on. In fact, the reason I purchased the Mustang was due to it’s comfort level. As I compared it to a cheaper one the night I bought it, I commented,” Its much more comfortable, and I will probably not wear one that isn’t”, so I bought the Mustang. The current began picking up speed as we were approaching a railroad trestle. My partner’s boat was new and bought for lake fishing, and his trolling motor had too little thrust to deal with the river current. We too began picking up speed, to about 8-10 m.p.h. As I stood on the rear deck, we suddenly struck a submerged stump. The boat stopped, I did not.

I went head first into the swiftly moving dark water of the Savannah River. As I went down, the sound of the inflation of my vest was the first thing I was aware of. I felt myself being pulled to the surface, and realized the vest had deployed. When I broke the surface, my partner was screaming at me not to panic. As the vest righted me, I began to backstroke with my arms to try to get to the bank, but the current was far too swift. He finally reached me with the boat, and using his motor and trim, I was pulled into the boat safely by my partner.

As a non-swimmer, I can truthfully say this Mustang PFD saved my life. It performed flawlessly, and I was able to get dry, regroup, and we continued fishing the rest of the tournament. In fact, my partner took first place. Mustang took first place in my eyes! At the next meeting, I will most assuredly push for a rule to have PFDs required at all times, because you never plan to have an accident. Today, I bought a re-arming kit and its once again ready to go! You can bet I will never be on the water without one. Thank you Mustang, you saved my life!

We received this email from Chuck Hart, in Salem Virginia that we wanted to share with everyone. We love getting these kinds of stories from our customers.

I wanted to take a moment to thank Mustang Survival for saving my life this past Saturday, February 16, 2008. I have owned an MD3183 inflatable vest for approximately two years. I am a tournament bass fisherman and continually fish in very wet conditions. I wanted an inflatable vest but was concerned about the old type technology which is prone to accidental inflation due to wet conditions. If I couldn’t wear the vest all the time, it would not do me any good. After doing a lot of research, I found the Mustang Survival HIT inflatable vests. Since these vests can only be activated by being submerged in water, they seemed the ideal solution. After buying my vest, I wore it at all times while on the water.

On February 16, I was on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, breaking in a new outboard motor on my boat. While traveling up the lake, one of the hydraulic steering hoses detached which caused the boat to go out of control. I was thrown out of the boat into 45 degree water. As is my habit, I was wearing my MD3183 with the kill switch attached. Upon coming to the surface, my vest inflated which was a comforting feeling. My boat had drifted a good ways off and I start swimming towards it with not much success. Fortunately, there was one boat in the area and the two fisherman witnessed my accident. I looked up to see them coming towards me and as they got to me, pulled me into their boat. Fortunately, I was not injured in this incident.

I am very thankful to those two fisherman and to Mustang Survival for making such a great product. If I had not been wearing my life vest and kill switch, the outcome would likely have been much different. Since owning this vest, I have told many of my fellow anglers about it. One of the reasons I have been able to wear it all the time is due to it’s comfort. I will literally forget that I have it on. I can also wear it in all weather condition without fear of it accidentally inflating. Many members of my bass club are already talking about buying one of these vests because of what happened to me.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Gregg!

Hey all, Just wanted to check in and write my first entry into the blog. My name is Brian Henley and not only do I tournament bass fish, I am also an employee of Mustang Survival! My primary duties are Business Development Military but fortunate for me, I also help the marketing team with Bass fishing. There will be more about me in upcoming posts, what I really wanted to talk about today is the launch of the Mustangs Survival Safe Money Incentive Program.

Safe Money is open to all divisions of the BassMaster Weekend Series anglers who purchase a Mustang Survival Inflatable PFD in 2008. Safe Money members who finish first at approved tournaments are eligible to win $300.00 in prize money by simply wearing their Mustang Survival PFD at all required times during the tournaments.

Talk about exciting…. This is the first and only Incentive Program that I have ever heard of that will actually pay you more then the purchase price of the product!!

Visit the Safe Money page for full details.

On another note, I wanted to post a picture of the newly wrapped Mustang Survival bass boat that I will be fishing out of this season. It was taken at the Bassmaster Classic when Roland Martin was visiting our booth. Check back regularly to see my progress. Also, If you see me driving down the road or on the water, please stop and say hello!

Mustang Survival pro-staffer and TV host Dave Mercer’s Facts of Fishing Tips Series has been airing for many years on OLN, TSN, ESPN Classic, WFN, Wild TV and The Weather Network in Canada. His one minute segments are fast-paced, fun, energetic, educational, and very entertaining!

His new half-hour program – Dave Mercer’s Facts of Fishing™ THE SHOW has been airing on WFN featuring what really happens on the water. Shot in real time over one day, you get to see how many casts, how long Dave’s been fishing, how many fish he has or hasn’t caught, and everything else that happens!

If you don’t have access to WFN on digital cable, the show is coming to The Score in April. Check it out!