I think I’m in the right place!
Media Day…welcome to the twilight zone! Parking lot was one space after another full of wrapped trucks and boats. Of course I looked for a regular, read that as not one for truck and trailer, spot as close to the pavilion as I could get and it just happened to be a spot in the front row. A few steps across the grass and I was in the mix. I’ve been out of the bass fishing loop for a few years now so I didn’t recognize many of the faces so thank goodness they all had name tags…on their fishing shirts. Media credentials in hand, I started to do what any Southerner does, find someone younger than you are and just start talking. Wouldn’t you know the first guys I talked to were from the University of Minnesota. Wait a minute, I thought this was a professional tournament.I had forgotten that 1 collegiate team from the Lake Chatuge tournament would be fishing along with the pros in the Cup.Turns out they knew one of the guys from the Anglers at USC that has been on the show several times, a Mr. Gettys Brannon. I’m starting to wonder if there is anyone out there he doesn’t know. Anyway, they have lost of bass in Minnesota if anyone wants to make the trip North. Of course the next pro I looked for was Casey Ashley from Donalds, SC. We talked a little about the bite during practice, what he thought a good day would be…13 to 14 pounds…and why fishing Lame Murray in the doldrums of August is so tough. We shook hands and I wandered across the pavilion. A couple of older gentlemen and what looked to be a grandson came up and the youngster started talking about all the fish he catches. Casey asked him what his favorite fish was and the kid said anything in saltwater! Well, Casey spoke up and said he likes to spend the whole month of October on the SC coast fishing the salt. After a few minutes they were off to someone else so Casey and I shook hands, told him I would find him out on the lake and I wandered across the pavilion.I had never met him before, but Stephen Johnston from Hemphill, TX just looked like a guy who likes to talk…and we had a good time doing just that. He said Lake Murray just has too many schools of herring and shad swimming around in it and that it made the bass lazy this time of year. He spoke a little bit more about what he thought would be a 4 day grind to Sunday but then we got off on the topic of hunting and fishing in Texas…because there is so much hunting and fishing to do in the Lone Star state. Somehow we got on the subject of day jobs and his wife paid me a compliment which I will treasure,”well you sure don’t act like an accountant.” That just made my day! I found his Facebook page, Johnston’s Guide Service, and found out he’s a true cut up…that just loves to fish. Again, a parting handshake and I was off to find “Shin”. I just met Shinichi Fukae down at the ICAST show in July and was really glad to see he made it into the Cup with a last qualifier win on Lake Champlain. I asked him exactly how he many years he had been fishing, 13 years in Japan and 12 in the US, and what it was like coming that far to bass fish. They said it was a huge decision but one they both wanted to make, although they didn’t know any English when they first arrived. Can you imagine moving all the way to Japan and not knowing any Japanese? Their most amazing thing they found out…how big our country is and all the water he can fish. Shin’s fishing both the FLW Cup and the Bass Master Classic, so we will see him again on Lake Hartwell in February. That’s about it for day 1. I can’t get a steady signal so the pictures will have to wait until I get to the weigh-in tomorrow.
