Normal Topic Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX (Read 3385 times)
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Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
10/22/08 at 04:37:38
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Keri and I had the privilege and honor of fishing in the "Fishing For Freedom" tournament on Lake Belton, TX on October 4th.  The cool thing about this tournament was that each team consisted of a soldier from Fort Hood.  Some of these soldiers had fishing experience, some not.  But that didn't matter.  Just getting them out on the water during a tournament of this size was the fun part.

This is a huge event, with hundreds of people involved, lot's of sponsors, and plenty of media coverage.  The catered banquet Friday night was quite the event to say the least!

Keri and I were paired with Staff Sergeant Yao Benie, a 10 year career soldier who was born in the Ivory Coast of West Africa.  He had never been bass fishing before, and had never thrown a baitcaster.  No worries, we like to teach.

There were 193 boats in the tournament, and we were boat 193 - last ones out.  Having never fished this lake before,  and having only 3 hours of prefishing the day before, we jetted off behind all the other boats.  The ride was fantastic.  We drove right into the gorgeous sunrise, Staff Sergeant riding shotgun!  As we pulled up to our only spot where we caught a (dink) fish the day before, I was amazed to discover nobody else was on the spot.  Either we were very lucky, or everyone else knew something we didn't!

As I pulled off plane, I looked over at Yao.  He had a huge grin on his face!  He's never gone that fast on the water before, and clearly he enjoyed it.

Keri took the front while I proceeded to teach Yao how to fish.  I rigged up a Carolina rig and threw it out there.  Then I showed him how to wait for it to hit the bottom, reel up the slack, pause, lift the rod tip and repeat.  Just as I was telling him how a bite would feel, WHAM!  Fish on!  On the first cast!

Well that started things off right.  Once he got the hang of throwing a baitcaster, which he caught on VERY fast, he proceeded to catch 2 fish!  One was a keeper.  Then Keri got a keeper.  Then he got another keeper.

We ended up pounding the same 100 yd stretch all day.  We just moved out deeper as the day progressed, catching most of our fish in 30-45 feet deep.  We caught 9 fish total. My contribution was 2 "anchor" fish of around 2 lbs each. LOL!

Time to head back to the weigh-in.  As we arrived at the checkpoint, they asked if we needed weigh bags.  They seemed a bit surprised when we said, "Yes".  When asked "how many", I raised my hand, showing 5 fingers.  They looked really surprised now.

We pulled up on shore, and our friends greeted us.  "Did you get any?" they asked. "We limited, " we said.  "What?!  What were YOU doing?!"  That's when we learned most people fished shallow and up river, whereas we were fishing a main lake point.

By now,  Keri and I were giving each other puzzled looks.  It was beginning to become clear not many fish were caught that day. 

We showed Yao how to fill the bag and place the fish in it. Then off to the weigh-in we went.  Our total was a palsy 8.26 lbs.  Nothing to write home about.  "So what's the fuss?" I thought.

Well, to make a long story short, we ended up 18th out of the 193 teams!  Not bad for a couple of "Northerners" and a guy who never caught a bass before!

But the real joy was watching Yao getting excited as he caught fish.  THAT was the best reward for Keri and I.  At the end of the day, he assured us he now has a new hobby.

The icing on the cake was that we even beat Zell Roland and his partner, who took 22rd with 7.74lbs  Smiley

We had a blast at this event.  Really the competition wasn't the main motivation for us.  It was a small yet significant way for us to say "thanks" to our military for everything they do.  THAT made it worth it no matter how we placed.  If you ever get a chance to fish an event like this, DO IT!  It's well worth it!

I need to thank Lane & Tony at SureLife for making this possible.  They invited us to this event, covered the airfare, and drove us to/from the airport.  They're the best!

I also need to thank Cliff Brown, organizer of this event.  Not only did he oversee this huge undertaking, but he also loaned us his boat, tackle and gear, AND arranged the accomodations!  I can't thank him enough - the list of things he did for us and everyone is just too long.

And finally, I need to thank one of our own, Fletchero.  Keith lives near the lake, and was more than helpful by providing us tips and information about Lake Belton.  Keith is a class act!

We also got to meet Billy Raymond of BassFeed.com.  It was great to finally meet face-to-face and talk fishing.  I also was introduced to a new site that had great representation there - armybassanglers.com.  Great site - check it out.  We also got to hang out with the crew from texasfishingforum.com.  J.P. and Elizabeth make you feel right at home.  Great people!

Here's a link to a story about the event:
http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=28405

Here are a few pictures:












  
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Chris B.
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #1 - 10/22/08 at 04:45:34
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Nice pics Glenn.  The Basscats are out in force out there.
  

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Larry S.
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #2 - 10/22/08 at 05:26:18
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Awesome Job You Two!! keep it up!!!! Grin Grin Grin Grin
  
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Pays2no
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #3 - 10/22/08 at 14:50:57
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Very cool Glenn and Keri!  It sounds like the two of you have been living the dream lately....great pictures and post.
  
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BassAholic
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #4 - 10/22/08 at 16:04:16
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Very cool wish I was fishing in the warm weather right now. Way to support are troops. BASSCAT!! I only saw that nice Triton Keri was standing on Wink
  

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The_Rev.
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #5 - 10/22/08 at 22:36:54
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It must be nice to be you!  Why do I keep finding myself envying you two?  I'm available for adoption!  That was a great trip and excellent report!  Thanks.
  
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DUNE HOPPER
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Re: Fishing For Freedom - Belton TX
Reply #6 - 10/23/08 at 15:47:10
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I've heard about several different venues to support the armed forces such as this.  They are awesome!
From a veteran's perspective:  
THANK YOU FOR REMEMBERING ALL OF US!

Smitty Wink
  

Retired From Everything but Feeshin and doing April's bidding
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