How about that Chris Lane? We should all take our hats off to him. Staying on top all four days under those challenging conditions was no small thing. It’ll be a while before that one fades into our memories, if it ever does. That’s about as good a fishing performance as we’ve seen in a long time.
At the same time I say that, though, I’m going to declare a victory of my own over the Sabine River. I’ll admit it was a close call, kind of a split decision, but it was still a victory in my mind.
I certainly didn’t do as well as I wanted to – 30th place isn’t exactly a dynamite finish and will never make me totally happy – but at least I fished on Saturday. And, if I’d landed all the keepers that bit my baits I might have earned a spot in the Top 12 and fished all weekend. (I lost several fish – I don’t know why.)
Anyway, the good thing is that I didn’t put myself in a deep hole starting off this year like I did the last time we competed on the Sabine. That was really my biggest fear. When you start out bad in this business it has a tendency to follow you around.
I’m not talking about making up the points so much as I’m talking about the mental side of things. It’s hard to put something like a really bad start behind you. At least it is for me, anyway. I know I always say that I put a bad event out of my mind and move on to the next one, but really, a lot of the time I struggle to get over a disaster. I don’t know if I should admit that but the truth is the truth.
There’s another good thing about this tournament: I didn’t wreck my boat. That has to count for something.
It’d be nice if I was off until we go to Guntersville, but I’m not. As you’re reading this I’m on Toledo Bend working with Toyota at a media get-together. I don’t really mind it, though. Toyota has been a very loyal sponsor and supporter of bass fishing for many years. It’s really a labor of love to help them out. They deserve everything we can do for them.
After I get done with that Pete Gluszek and I will be filming several how-to videos for The Bass University TV. Once again I have to say that’s it’s not really work. Those of you who know me know that I’m a big supporter of education. This is a part of that. Besides, you learn a lot when you teach something to somebody else. It forces you to think logically and to answer a lot of how and why questions.
Once all that’s finished, it’ll be time to prepare for the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville in early April. That’s another one I have to get straight in my mind. I didn’t do very well in the 2014 Classic there, you know.
Mike Iaconelli’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter or visit his website, mikeiaconelli.com.
