by REX CHAMBERS 

Back in February I decided to pony up the money and fish my first FLW event on the pro side on my home lake. Hey, after all 50th place pays ten grand and that’s a gimme on you’re home lake, right? Sure it is!

Before the off limits period, my regular tournament partner and I found some great fish and in plenty of areas that we could both fish since he too was fishing on the pro side. Come practice time, the weather had changed a bit but nothing major. The major change would come soon.

Practice days were great. Light winds and sunny. Catching fish and getting bit in just about every area on a variety of baits. Then all of a sudden it’s tourney time. Day one brings 30-40 mph winds and heavy rain. When I say heavy rain, it was actually so hard at one time I couldn’t see my co-angler in the back of the boat. Bite was horrible on day one. Boated about a dozen fish between the two of us and not a keeper in the bunch. A day one ZERO on my home lake. Had probably two bites that I missed all day that felt like good fish, but who knows. The good news was that nobody else was killing ‘em either. Only a little over 4lbs was in 50th place which was the 10K cut off line.

Day two. Just about the same weather. A little lighter on the wind and rain, but it was still there. Should have targeted the largemouth bite just as I should have done on day one.  But, showing the stubborn spotted bass fisherman side of me, stayed with the same pattern. The same pattern produced just about the same results. Boated only one keeper the entire day. Everything in the boat is soaked, filthy from all the mud in the parking lot and I’m pretty much kicking myself hard for a bad showing. The rest of the local boys have caught a few, but not many, so I’m not in the pity barrel all by my lonesome. Nine pounds 14 ounces is now the 50th place check.

Day three weather is perfect after a major 90 minute fog delay. Sunny and clear, so I stay with the same pattern thinking it will take about a 12-14 pound sack for me to make a check. Keeper on the first cast. Good start. Make a move to deep brush shaking David Shakey Worm on a Davis Shakey Head. Co-angler lands a nice two pounder. That should get him a check with his day one weight. Move down the bank a bit to another brush pile. Fishing about 25-30 feet deep. Miss a good bite and reel in nothing but the shakey head. Co-angler throws in behind me and lands a three pounder. Ok, luck isn’t going well, but that would be his last keeper of the day and he’d eventually land in 11th place in the co-angler division. I land three more good fish in a couple more areas and need a big fish for some good weight. The next to last stop I land a good three pounder that gets me the limit. Figure I have about 11-12 pound, but still, in the back of my mind I know I need more weight. Couldn’t get it in the last hour and figure that everybody was tearing them up today as I was.

Get to the check in boat and the guy says that flight seven only got four bags and the early flights didn’t do well. A glimmer of hope maybe for a check. Walking up to the weigh in area, I have photographers taking pictures of my bag acting as if it were one of the best of the day. Turns out it was the fourth biggest limit of day three. Only problem was that it wasn’t the 11-12 pound sack I thought it was. Hit the scales at 10-6 for a three day total of 11-15. Stand around and see my good friend and local tourney director Spencer Lynn take home the co-angler 20K check. Then they announce the 50th place weight. Maybe, maybe, maybe….NO! I fall 7 ounces short in 56th place. It takes 12-6 to make the $10,000 50th place mark. So, I end up dropping three grand and enduring some of Mother Nature’s fiercest wrath on my home lake with absolutely nothing to show for it except for a pat on the back from one of my best fishing buds best friends telling me “good comeback”. Well, kinda made it worth it all.