Click
HERE
to watch video of the Day three weigh-in
Click
HERE
to visit my Kentucky Lake Photo Gallery
Click
HERE
for
Current Angler of the Year standings
Out of a 100 boat field...I am VERY proud to say that I am
"holding my own" in my second year of fishing Professionally.
The Kentucky Lake
tournament was such a GREAT tournament for SO many different
reasons! Great Finish, Great Lodging, and New friends
I stayed at the
Inn
By The Lake
owned by Mike Wells. It was PERFECT to say the least. You see,
the way that this place is set up, it offers so many
opportunities for "socialization". Between the pool, the
restaurant, the bar and the umbrella table outside, there was
always someone around mingle with. It also was SO easy to get
around with my big boat with LOTS of electrical hookups.
Mike and his staff made us all
feel SO welcome. I mean, he even had special placemats made up
just for the ladies that had the Women's Bassmaster Tour logo
on them! They also opened up the breakfast buffet 3 hours
earlier than normal to accommodate our fishing schedule. I'm
telling you, they rolled out the red carpet!
They also had a WBT "Crawfish
Boil"! Yup...this was a new experience for me...I mean, I am a
"Yankee" after all...at least that's what most of these
Southern ladies call me...lol But now I can say that I've
mastered the art of eating those little "lobster like" things
Staying at the Inn by the Lake
was a real treat for me, because I've been staying at cheap
hotels in my desperate attempt to save money. This typically
means that I am isolated from the core group of WBT ladies,
and end up spending WAY too much time alone
.
But, the
Inn
by the Lakeoffered a special rate for the WBT ladies, and for that I
am SO grateful!!! Staying at the
Inn offered me the
opportunity to bond with many of the lady anglers who I never
really had a chance to spend any time with. Oh my gosh, we
laughed, we joked, we had fun with whipped cream
(thanks Sue! lol), we stressed out, we encouraged each
other...it was great to say the least. And oh boy was it ever
HOT down there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The restaurant was always a
happening place, and they even had live music there in the
evenings. The
Inn is located in a "dry
county", but still was licensed to sell alcohol, therefore,
this place is the social HOT spot! So between the food, the
music, and the beverages...the ladies had no choice but to sit
around and socialize
What made it even more special
was having a roommate...Lisa from
Pennsylvania. You
see, this was her first WBT event, and she was fishing as a
Co-angler. We spoke on the phone lots of times before she
finally got up enough courage to commit to this event. I'm SO
glad she did because we had a GREAT time together
Lisa prefished
with me for a couple of days, and this was actually our first
time ever meeting or spending time together. I still think it
is so cool how "fishing" can bring people together, regardless
of any other factors. All you need is that one common bond to
make a very special friend.
We had a great time out on the
water, and I got to show her some "Marcia" Style fishing.
New methods, new baits...it was exciting! Well, that was until
I turned around to talk to Lisa, only to realize that she was
totally crashed out on the rear deck of my boat!
Awww...she's
just a "Newbie" and not used to these crazy tournament hours
and long hot days in the sun. Man...I should have taken a
picture of her while I had the chance
I
guess she got bored with me fishing in this one area that I
kept on insisting had fish in it...lol. I just had a hard time
leaving this area because it just looked TOO good, and there
was way too much activity on my screen for there NOT to be
some fish. So I kept at it, probably longer than I should
have. Finally, I had one on, and that was when I turned to
Lisa (while she was sleeping) and yelled..."I've got a
fish!!!!". I thought I waited long enough to announce this,
because I would have hated to wake her up for a false
alarm...lol. So I had this fish on in about 30 feet of water
for a bit, when all of the sudden, it came to to the surface
far away from my boat, went airborne, and ended up throwing
the hook!!!! Grrrrrr..... But
hey, at least my suspicions were right...there WERE fish
there, I just had to figure out how to get them to bite
Okay...so
now I could finally leave this beautiful area...lol
We also did some prefishing in
the
Marina, and I'll
tell you what...there are some serious fish there! I really
didn't think that they would call the entire area off limits,
but as it turned out...they did. I was at a loss, because that
would have been my 'honey hole'....Yup...that was
when the decision was made to "just go fishing".
This
Kentucky lake
tournament had a totally unexpected outcome for me, as my
prefishing was BEYOND horrible!!! Would you believe that I
only managed to catch 2 keepers during my 6 days of official
practice??? Yup…only 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the briefing and
registration the night before the tournament, I informed my
day one Co-Angler (Renee Brisendine) that I was not "on" fish, and that
basically we were just going to go out, have a great time,
and just "Go fishing"…Luckily for me, she was fine with that,
or so she made it seem fine...lol I mean, it's not like there
was any other option available...lol
On
day one, I did manage to bring in
a limit of fish (putting me in 13th place) which was a
real surprise to me. Heck, I wasn't even sure that I'd be
walking across the stage with one fish let alone 5!!!
One by one…my day shaped up.
The decision I made that totally saved the tournament for me
was fishing what I was familiar with. Fishing my strengths;
Boat docks, Rip Rap, Points, and Grass.
I knew that the fish were on a
"ledge" pattern...but this whole "ledge" thing was new to me.
And even though I did catch one of my nicer keepers off of a
ledge...I just didn't have enough experience or time on the
water to understand what features a "highly productive" ledge
must have for me to have any confidence in fishing ledges. For
all I knew, that one ledge fish might have been a fluke. You
see, the ledge bite can be very very slow...BUT, the quality
of fish that you catch can make it worth the wait. I don't
know...it just seemed to risky for me, which is why I opted to
fish what was familiar to me.
Here
is the picture of the ONE ledge fish that I did manage to
catch during practice...
The last few minutes of Day one on Kentucky Lake will not be
quickly forgotten, that's for sure! You see, I was one of the
last boats due back since I was in a later flight. So,
basically, I had about 90 ladies weighing in in front of me.
Well, there was this beautiful rip rap point that lead into
the
Marina where the "checkpoint"
was. I mean, it was only a couple hundred feet from the check
in. So how many ladies do you figure cast at this perfect rip
rap point? Probably every one of them if they were smart!!!
Okay, so here I am with 4 fish
on the boat, and 3 minutes left to fish. I impulsively said to
my Co-Angler…"Okay, we have 3 minutes to fish, lets make the
most of it!". I was due back at 2:40pm. It is now 2:37pm.
I throw my little
Title Shot Jig with a
Lake Fork Twitch worm, and unfortunately (or fortunately) get
hung up and had to break off. I glanced down at my selection
of
G. Loomis rods on my
front deck to see what else looked good for this
situation….Hmmm…Rip rap….long tapering point…..Bingo…a
Crankbait ought to do it! So, I picked up my little deep
diving Root beer colored crankbait and threw it across this
point. All of the sudden, my rod went down, and I'm screaming
"FISH ON!!!!!"
By this time, it 2:39pm, I'm
due back at 2:40 and
the checkpoint is still a couple of hundred feet from me!
Of course the fish just had to
get stuck by every single hook on each treble hook!!!! I had
NO time to deal with this, so I jumped down into the drivers
seat with this fish ON my lap, threw on my preserver, started
up the main motor, and without ever lifting up my trolling
motor, crossed the checkpoint with only SECONDS left to go!!
Talk about an exciting
finish!!!!! Gosh, and to think about how many other ladies
worked this point on their way to check in, it still amazes me
that that fish was there for me! He must have known how badly
I needed him!!! Lol
So there you have it…Pretty
awesome end of day one huh??? Unfortunately, Renee', my
CoAngler did not get to walk across the stage :-(
Day one results - 5 fish
weighing 10.6lbs putting me in 13th place.
Day two, I was paired up with
Angela Mitchell. Angela is
probably the most confident
Co-Angler that I have yet to fish with in the WBT. As the
matter of fact, she was the first one to get a fish on the
boat, and it was a nice one too!
As we were leaving the
launch area, I see these HUGE swarms of Mayflies that I had
not seen the previous day.
I had remembered reading at
some point that if the Bluegill are on beds, and the Mayfly's
are hatching at the same time, that that could lead to some
pretty good shallow water fishing. Guess what? The bluegill
were on beds AND the mayflies were hatching!!!
I found some shallow water with
a little grass, overhanging trees and bushes where the
mayflies were literally "dropping like flies" into the water.
The fish were gorging on these mayflies!!! Like they say…1 + 1
= 2 and I found myself enjoying some nice topwater action for
the first time on
KentuckyLake. I
have a feeling it was my feathered treble hook on my topwater
bait that the bass really liked. In the water, that dressed
hook kind of resembles a mayfly. You may want to remember that
little tip next time you see that the mayflies are hatching!
Day Two results
- 5 fish weighing 9.11lbs moving me up to 8th place
which meant that I was fishing another "TOMORROW!!!" :-)
Day
Three I was paired up with
Crystal Scott-Langston. Oh my
gosh...she is just too funny! I was under some serious
pressure to get her on some fish because today was Crystal's
Birthday! She (jokingly) told me the night before the tourney
that tomorrow was her Birthday, and that it MY
responsibility...yes MY responsibility to "MAKE SURE that
she had an awesome Birthday!!!" Man...lol...Talk about
pressure to perform! Heck, I even had an anxiety dream because
of that statement!!! I dreamt that I went to the store to buy
Crystal a Birthday card, but the aisle was blocked by wooden
displays that were too tall, and too heavy to move. But...I
could see the cards just on the other side of these things!
The clerk was totally unwilling to help me out, even when I
explained to him how important it was that I show up with this
Birthday card for Crystal...Funny huh??? lol
Crystal and I had a great day
out on the water. (even though watching her eat her Vienna
Sausages made me sick to my stomach!) Oh, and it was really
funny when her bottle of Garlic Scent exploded all over her
and her tackle bag. I swear, it was SO strong that if I was
down wind of her, it made my eyes water. lol...it also gave me
a hefty craving for some good Italian Food!
We both caught fish which is
always a good thing :-)
Day 3 Results - 5 fish limit
weighing 9.6lbs for a total weight of 29.7lbs. This gave me my
highest WBT Finish to date - 7th Place!
*Believe it or not, there were
only two ladies to weigh in a 5 fish limit all three days.
They would be Lucy Mize (who won this tournament), and ME!!!
I really needed this strong
finish to move me up in the Angler of the Year Standings,
that's for sure! I'm currently in 16th place, but only the top
12 will fish the championship. I'm only 40 something points
out of 12th place, and 60 or so points away from 10th place.
Hopefully my momentum will keep
up, and I will do well on the
Red River in September. I'll
keep every appendage on my body crossed until that tournament
Living where I live in
Ohio, there are
no rivers to fish. So basically, river fishing is very foreign
to me.
I'll really need the "fish
gods" watching out over me for this next tournament.
I really wish that I could
afford to go down and prefish for this tourney just because of
everything that is on the line here...
Darn...where is that winning
lottery ticket when you need it?????
Video - Day one weigh-in - click
HERE
Guntersville Photo Gallery - Click
HERE
Final Standings - Click
HERE
I just wanted
to let everyone know that I'm home from Lake Guntersville,
Alabama. Not only am I home, but I came home with a 13th place
finish and $1,300 check!!!
This tournament
was very special for me because I brought my daughter Hanna
along. I pulled her out of school for the week for a little
Mom/Daughter time. This was her first experience at seeing
first hand what I do, how I do it, and all of the hard work
involved. Now she totally understands that when "Mom" is away
fishing, that Mom is actually out there busting her rear end
and is not just out there "fun fishing". She was so proud of
me, and I can't even begin to tell you how awesome of a
feeling that is.
I really needed
that strong finish to move me up in the Angler of the Year
standings. Right now I'm sitting in 29th place, even with my
poor finish on Lake Amistad. Yup, that tournament hurt me
quite a bit, but I was dealing with circumstances that were
WAY beyond my control. (my daughter ended up needing emergency
surgery on what would have been my first day of practice, and
then ended up back in the hospital on day one of the
tournament.) I'll admit, my head was not in tournament mode at
all, but hey...I'm a Mom first, and I really just wanted to be
home with my (16 year old) baby.
Lake
Guntersville was quite an experience, as we only had 2 1/2
days to prefish for the tournament, when we normally have 6
days.
Basically, there was no time to mess around, and it was
CRITICAL that I unlock the key to Lake Guntersville real
quick!
My prefishing did not go very well, and my confidence level
was, well, let's just say not very confident...lol As the
matter of fact, I never caught more than two keepers on any of
my practice days!!!
The Women's Bassmaster Tour was coming in on the heels of the
Men's Bassmaster Elite tournament, which meant that this lake
had just had a lot of pressure on it. Not only that, but they
also began spraying for weeds on the guys last tournament day.
I know what happens around here when they start spraying for
weeds, and I know that those fish are NOT happy campers when
they do it!!! And if the Fish aren't happy....well
then....Marcia's not happy either!
By the time our tournament started, the fish were pretty much
all off beds, so I was targeting post spawn fish. (although I
did see a couple smaller fish on beds on day two of the
tourney that weren't there during my prefish)
The shad were spawning in the grass, so a spinnerbait seemed
to be a likely choice. During my prefish, I had only caught
one fish on my spinnerbait, so that wasn't up there in my list
of "confidence" lures....
The water
was pretty stained, and the colors that I found to work best
were either dark (green pumpkin or black), white / shad, or
chartreuse. I struggled getting a topwater bite, which really
bummed me out! I LOVE fishing topwater!
Day one I weighed in 3 fish (5lbs 12oz)...Nothing to write
home about, but hey...they are points on the board, and that
is my ultimate goal...enough points to make the championship.
After day one, I was in 26th place.
Day two...what a great day it turned out to be, but trust me,
it didn't start out that way!!!!!!!!!! About an hour after the
tournament had started, I picked up what I now consider one of
my greatest confidence baits ever, the new
LIVE Magic Shad by Lake Fork. These soft plastic swimbaits
are absolutely amazing to say the least!!!
Natural shad colored baits did well on this lake, so I started
throwing my shad colored
LIVE Magic shad by
Lake Fork
Tackle. I threw that thing out as far as I could possibly
throw it, and WHAM....I had on a BIG fish!!!! My heart started
pounding when I saw it's size. Even from so far away, I saw
that fish as it jumped out of the water as it looked at me
with its mouth wide open and it's gills totally flared. It
thrashed it's head side to side...and...well....do I even need
to tell you what happened next???? lol...Yup....As quickly as
that moment occurred....it was over just as fast. The fish
threw the hook, and I just about cried! As I'm standing there
with a limp line, my co-angler (Tracy) exclaims...."I've got one on!". I'm
happy, I'm sad...I'm happy...I'm sad...lol
I feel great when my co-anglers do well, and feel terrible if
they don't catch fish. I grab the net, and land Tracy's nice
bass that
she just nailed with her rattletrap. She just about cried, and
kept thanking me and thanking me over and over. Well, the day
was still VERY young, and I tried real hard to move on, and
get over me losing that fish. The mental video of that moment
was haunting my thoughts, and I KNEW that it needed to go
away, and NOW!
Well, with her landing her fish, and me losing mine in the
same area, at least I knew that this area held decent sized
fish. We stayed in the area for a couple more hours, but I
only managed to catch a couple small fish. Ugh...it's almost
noon, and I don't have a fish on the boat. Man, I really
needed that first fish.
We packed up and head to another part of the lake. Now I'm
fishing rip-rap instead of grass. Tracy kept feeding me
encouraging words. She too realized that I really needed that
fish. Especially since at this point, it is after noon, and we
are due back at 2:40pm. Not much time to pull out a
victory...lol
I ended up pulling two keepers off the rip-rap. With a 15"
limit on this lake, finding fish that will keep is no small
task! It seems that there are LOTS of 14 3/4" fish though! lol
I started getting antsy to move, because the end of the day
was drawing near. With only two averaged sized fish on the
boat at 1:30, things weren't looking too good that I'd be
fishing another "tomorrow" :-(
So, I did what I have done in a few of my other WBT
tournaments when things just weren't panning out, I decided to
fish "Virgin" water. I mean, I had seen this area on my way to
and from some of my other areas, but never did fish there. It
looked good though, but heck, almost everything on Lake
Guntersville looks good!!!
So I pull up to this "virgin" spot...turn around and look at
my day two co-angler and say..."Just so ya know....I've never
fished here before, and so I really have no idea what to
expect." Not only was this a new area to fish, but now I'm
fishing boat-houses which were definitely not in my game plan,
because they didn't pay out during my prefish! She looked at
me as if I were absolutely crazy and said..."REALLY??????
You've never fished here, boat houses were not part of your
plan, and you're fishing here now with only one hour to
go???????"
I laughed at her response, and I told her that I really don't
know exactly WHY this typically works out for me, but the
truth is that it DOES! I have two other Women's Bassmaster
checks to prove it...lol Yup...two checks that I cashed last
year came from virgin water. Not only virgin water, but also
with baits that I had not even practiced with!!!! Hey, when
things aren't going your way that means it's time to make a
change!!!! And change is what I did!!!!
So here we are with about an hour to go. She has one keeper. I
have two. On my second cast in this new area....BAM!!!!! Oh
my...I think this is a nice fish! Well, okay, not as nice as
the first one that I lost, but it did have some weight to it
compared to the other two in the livewell I caught her right
where she was supposed to be.....in the shade, under a low
hanging tree. She was very obviously a post spawn female. Too
bad I didn't get to meet her when she was still full of eggs!
My knees where knocking....My hands were shaking, and so were
my co-anglers! She really was so excited for me!
Okay, now I have three fish on the boat....I’m feeling a
little better.....I turn the boat around and throw my
Title Shot
jig/Lake
Fork twitch worm combo into the 12" of shade that the
little boat house created. My line got heavy, and I yelled
"Fish ON!". Wow! Another decent fish on the boat!!!!!!!!!!!!
My oh my how things are changing around here!!!! Now I'm
looking at weighing in my second limit of my WBT career. I
just needed one more fish! Well, unfortunately, I couldn't
find that "one more fish" that I needed, but that was okay
because my day went from not looking very promising, to me
probably making the cut to fish the third and final day! Who
could complain about that?????? I knew it would be close
though, because I had only weighed in 5-12 on day one. I
figured I had about 11 pounds in the livewell with my four
fish. I was close, as the weight turned out to be 11pounds
5ounces. This was enough to bump me up into 20th place which
meant that I'd be fishing ANOTHER "TOMORROW"!!!! (the top 25
fish on day three)
Day three....I decide to go back to my new found "confidence"
spot where I had pulled those two nice fish from on day two.
Now I'm fishing a whole other new way with a lure that I had
only caught one prefish fish on....a spinnerbait. Now I'm
fishing secondary points with a spinnerbait. The funny thing
here is that as I reach down to pick up my spinnerbait, I said
to my day three co-angler..."I don't know why I'm picking this
thing up....It's only caught me one fish during my prefish
(but it was my largest prefish fish). But....that little voice
inside my head was screaming at me to pick it up, and I'm not
going to argue with such a strong opinion!" lol I went on to
tell my co-angler that I have learned to listen to that little
voice...well, okay, it's not so little....lol The crazy thing
here is that that voice always seems to point me in the right
direction. That "voice" has now earned me three of my four
Women's Bassmaster Tour checks!
So, I cast out this spinnerbait of mine onto this long
tapering sandy secondary point. There was some feeding action
going on in the area, it was evident by the flying baitfish
and the loud splashes all around us. I'm retrieving my
spinnerbait in a slow, yo-yo'ing, rolling fashion. All the
sudden, my rod was just about torn from my grip, as this nice
bass engulfed my offering My Co-angler laughed, and commented
how it looked like I had made the right choice to pick that
lure up...lol. Immediately, she tied on a spinnerbait that
resembled mine, and I gave her the trailer that I was using
(white with chartreuse tips).
It was EARLY, with LOTS of time to get 4 more fish. Ahhh....the
first fish monkey was off my back, and that my friends is a
GREAT feeling! I continued to work in this general area, but
failed to catch another keeper. I moved over to the rip-rap,
and caught 2 more keepers. Yes! 3 fish on the boat!
As soon as the sun came out, I moved back to the boat houses,
and caught two more keepers. Hooray! I'm weighing in my second
limit with the WBT!!!!
Even with 5 fish, I knew that my day two weight with 4 fish
was a bit more than what I had today with 5. But that's
okay....it's a limit!!!
Day three weight was 10-13 which gave me a grand total for
three days of 27 pounds 14 ounces. Enough to earn me my
highest finish yet - 13th place :-)
18th
place finish (and a check!) on Lake Dardanelle
Just wanted to
let all of my friends know that I am back from Lake
Dardanelle. I LOVE that lake!!!! No, not just because it
earned me a check either....lol I love that lake because of
it's diversity. No matter what type of angler you are, you
will be thrilled fishing this lake because it has it all!
Bluffs, flats, grass, chunk rock, rip rap, lily pads, bridges,
submerged roadbeds, etc...
I had two great
Co Anglers, Brenda Bates and Laura Elkins. Laura, who I fished
the third and final day with, ended up moving up from 11th
place (after day two) into FIRST place! Yup...she won! She
ended up weighing in 5 nice fish to pull that victory off. I
was so proud of her! Even better yet, I felt an incredible
amount of satisfaction knowing that I personally contributed
to her success. It must be the "mother" in me...lol
So, I had a few
goals going into my 2007 tournament season. They were: 1) To
weigh in my first 5 fish limit 2) To cull 3)Make the final
day cut
It's hard to
believe that I ended up in the Top 20 Angler of the year in
2006, never even weighing in a limit of fish! I was determined
to change that!!!!
Culling....lol...who would have ever thought that culling
would be so difficult to do??? Let me tell you...it just felt
plain WRONG to throw back a "keeper" fish!My day two
CoAngler became my "counselor" at that moment, and she talked
me through it with confidence...lol She was laughing at
me...Heck, I was laughing at myself!!!
I'm a bit
disappointed because I ended up being penalized 10 ounces for
weighing in two dead fish
My
livewell decided to totally empty out on me on my way back to
weigh-in, and my poor fish were just thrown around in an empty
livewell. I felt sick about it....I mean, I felt absolutely
horrible...for those poor fish
Those
10 ounces did however cost me what would have been my highest
finish yet, 16th place...and 100.00 dollars!!!
Check out my
video's below...The first one was filmed at the day two
weigh-in when Lurch informed me that I had made the cut. I
knew it would be REAL close, and knew that that 10 ounce
penalty had the ability to take this opportunity away. I
wanted this moment SO bad....you can see the look of
nervousness and anticipation on my face as I was attempting to
look over Lurches back to see the monitor that showed
everyone's weights. To say that I was just a little bit
excited to finally make the cut would probably be an
understatement...lol
Here I am on
day two of the weigh in, talking about, and showing my BAD
case of
"BASS HAND" to Deb and Lurch on stage. Living in Ohio, "Bass
Hand" is somewhat foreign to me...lol All I know is that I
can't wait to get it again!!!
And
here is the fish responsible for it! Unfortunately, I was
alone, so this was a self taken picture. It was definitely the
biggest fish that I have ever caught. I am guessing it was
between 7-8 pounds, being closer to 8. Guess what I caught it
on? You got it, the new bait by Lake Fork Tackle, the LIVE
Magic Shad! Man, that bait is absolutely beautiful in the
water!!!!
Here is a
picture of my day three CoAngler, Laura Elkins who walked away
in first place! I felt so proud of her you have no idea!!!
Lake
Dardanelle has some VERY nice fish...Their coloring is so
rich, and their bellies are so fat! Talk about some "Happy
Bass!"
I just wanted
to let all of you know that I have arrived safely after a VERY
long trip from Cleveland, OH to Del Rio, Texas. I've never in
my life spent that much time in a car....We are talkin' 3 days
on the road, sleeping in truck stops, and Wal-Mart parking
lots is not a lot of fun....
When
I left home, we had just had a major snowstorm.
I had no choice but to tow my
boat through this nasty weather. Not quite my idea of a good
time I might add!
Anyway...I
arrived here at 4:00 am....At 6:30am...my cell phone
rings...its my daughter Hanna. She called to tell me that her
remaining ovary (her left ovary was removed a year ago due to
a very rare condition) is causing her an incredible amount of
pain.
Great, here I am, 3 days worth of driving away from her, and
the cost to fly home spur of the moment was just not even an
option.
She was taken
to the emergency room last night, where it was was determined
that surgery needed to be done ASAP.
Her remaining
ovary is taking the same course that her other ovary did,
which is not a good situation, being that her other ovary was
removed approximately one year ago.
Hanna is in
good hands, and being well taken care of by by family. That
however does not make it any easier on me...Nobody takes the
place of "Mom"...you know? Gosh, talk about poor
timing....Ugh....
Meanwhile, I'm
trying hard to get focused on this upcoming tournament, but
will be honest and tell you that I am struggling in my
attempt.
I hate the fact
that nobody seems to know exactly how to deal with Hanna's
health crisis. I mean, there have been approximately 5
reported cases of this in the entire world, so it's not like
anyone has any experience with this situation to know what
works and what doesn't...
Obviously,
getting her out of pain is my number one concern. But right up
there is maintaining her fertility. She wants babies so
bad...As the matter of fact, after her last surgery the first
thing out of her mouth as she was waking up from the
anesthesia was "Mommy...can I still have babies?"
The doctors
game plan is to do a "wedge resection" of her ovary to reduce
it's size. Right now it is more than 5 times larger than a
normal ovary. The one that they removed was the size of a
grapefruit, and this one is growing at an extremely rapid
pace. He will be "tethering" her ovary to make sure that it
does not "twist". He will also be removing her appendix and
attempt to find this mystery "ovarian remnant" that decides to
show itself on the ultrasound every once in a while. This
ovarian remnant is where her ovary "used" to be, and she has
complained of severe pain on BOTH sides ever since they
removed her other ovary a year and a half ago. Her previous
doctor believed that Hanna was being "dramatic", and refused
to believe that she was telling the truth about the pain that
she was in. The doctor believed it was "phantom" pain. This
whole "phantom pain" theory has totally frustrated Hanna. And
when her "good" ovary started hurting her, she was not taken
seriously because the ultrasounds, up until the last one, all
came out looking good, with no obvious source of pain.
Well, I KNEW
that her remaining ovary did not look healthy to the
"EYE"...The doctor that did her first surgery told me that her
remaining ovary looked like a "mini version" of the one that
she removed. This however, you cannot see on an ultrasound.
Hanna's pain
has persisted, and we have been to the hospital for countless
ultrasounds. All that came back "normal"....
So now here we
are in more of a "crisis" situation because of the size and
amount of pain it is causing her....
Please pray for
my Hanna.....Pray for her to be pain free....Pray for her
fertility...Pray that cancer is not present....Pray that they
can preserve her ovary...Pray for a fast recovery...Pray for
me to get through this. Lord knows that we both need strength
to get through this, especially because of the distance
between us...I am going crazy not being there with her, but my
hands are tied.
She is
scheduled for surgery at 6:00pm today....Just a couple more
hours....
UPDATE on HANNA...
First of all, I would like to thank ALL of you for your
prayers and words of encouragement. Trust me, these last 5
days have been so hard on me. My guilt and stress were
immeasurable, and until I knew that Hanna was doing alright, I
couldn't even DREAM about being out on the water prefishing.
Hanna's
surgery lasted for 3 hours. Talk about a LONG three hours....oye...
The surgery went well, or so the doctor said. He removed
1/4 of her remaining ovary, and also took out her appendix. He
looked for scar tissue from her last surgery, and also looked
for this "mystery" ovarian remnant that decides to show itself
on the occasional ultrasound. He found no scar tissue, and no
ovary remnant left over from her last surgery. So basically,
there is still no explanation for the pain that she has
experienced on the side where they removed her other ovary a
year and a half ago....They did a biopsy on this ovary, and
thank god, it came back okay.
The doctor
informed me that Hanna is now the only person in the WORLD to
have this condition of her ovaries...Lucky her...lucky
us...Now we have two members of the immediate family making
medical history, with me being the other one. I made medical
history when I was 4 years old, when I tore my cartilage
playing red light green light on slippery grass. Evidently, I
was, and still remain the youngest person in the world to ever
have their meniscus removed. I've never in my life known
anyone to make it into the "medical history" records...and now
the only two I know are in my family...Tell me what the odds
of that are??? You know...I'd rather win the lottery with
those odds!!!!!!
Anyway, Hanna
is now at home resting. They have given her lots of Percocet
to keep her comfortable during her recovery. We really have no
idea what the future has in store for the 3/4's of her ovary
that is left. Because there is absolutely no previous cases,
everything that is done is being done on an experimental
level. Our next step is to hang on to whatever eggs are left,
and pray for future babies somehow....some way.....
Meanwhile I still have a
tournament ahead of me.....
So I missed the
first two days of prefishing because of the whole thing with
Hanna. I didn't know if I'd be packing my things up to head
back home or what. Besides, there was no way I could have been
out on the water knowing what my daughter was going through at
home....ya know? I basically just stayed in my hotel room
methodically organizing my baits. Yeah, I guess it was my
version of "Therapy"...Like they say, those that feel "out of
control" feel the need to control whatever they can. In my
situation...I could control my baits, and that is exactly what
I did. Trust me, I don't think that I have ever been so
organized...What a shame that it took this experience for that
to happen...lol
So yesterday was my first day on the lake. Wow, it as
absolutely beautiful, and the water is like nothing I have
ever seen before. Clear is an understatement!
Unfortunately
though, Del Rio just got hit with a MAJOR cold spell which has
brought water temps down to 48 in some places. Amistad has
never seen temperatures this low, and trust me, the fish are
NOT happy campers right now!
I have thrown
everything imaginable in my attempts. Yes, "attempt" would be
the key word here....lol
Fast, slow, big, small, deep, suspending, shallow, crankbait,
Carolina rig, Texas rig, split shot, drop shot, spoon, blade
bait, spinnerbait....Heck, the only thing I haven't thrown is
the darned kitchen sink!!!! I'm telling you, I have NO idea
what these fish want at this point. This is a terrible feeling
because under normal circumstances, I have a firm game plan in
place by now. Not this time!
Rumor has it
that the other ladies are struggling as well, so I guess I
don't feel totally inferior...lol Now if they were all on
fish, and I wasn't then that would be a different story...
It sure is hard
to believe that here I am on Lake Amistad, and finding it
impossible to get on some fish! I mean, come on! We are
talkin' Lake Amistad not West Branch!!!!!! Hopefully the
fishing will get better as the weather will be warming up for
the next couple of days. I only have 2 more days of prefishing
left, when in reality, I'm feeling like I need another
week!!!!!
So to add
insult to injury...My motor died on me today when I was out in
the middle of nowhere land. I knew it was my linkage, or I
guess you could say that I assumed it was my linkage because
this had happen to me one other time while I was fishing at
Bull Shoals.
I did see
another boat, and used my trolling motor to approach them. I
needed some assistance getting my cowling off, because losing
it in 40 feet of water would not be my idea of fun...lol
So, between the
two of us, we moved a few things around, and amazingly, we got
it to start up. I was relieved trust me!!!! But then not only
30 minutes later, it happened again, and then happened
again....There is NO way that I could not be out on the water
tomorrow because of my two missed days in the beginning, so I
have no choice but to take my chances. Unfortunately, the
Evinrude dealer is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Maybe one of
the ladies hubbies will know how to make the proper adjustment
to my linkage. I'll have to keep my eye open for a "mechanic"
looking guy hanging out by the launch :-) I've got the tools,
I just don't have the "know how"...But...I CAN index my spark
plugs!!!! Betcha' didn't know that! All the things I learn out
of necessity...Unfortunately, it's usually a crisis situation
that leads to me learning how to deal with these things as
they come up...
Time to get to
bed...I'm beginning to get into my "tournament mode". Tomorrow
I wake up at 5:00am.....fun huh??? lol Trust me, I'm not a
morning person, so this adjustment doesn't come easy...
On that
note...I'm off to bed....2 things I would love to dream
about....Finding the fish and my motor being dependable for
the next couple of days so that I can stay out on the water.
I'll keep ya posted as I have time....
Last Day of
Practice...I'm still struggling, and so is my boat :-(
At this point,
I certainly am wondering if this tournament was really ever
meant to be. I mean, what could go wrong did. Even my fridge
in my hotel room decided to go bonkers on me, and I ended up
losing all my food to the garbage!
Not wanting to
risk my motor quitting on me during the tourney, I had no
choice but to give up some practice time to run it up to the
local motor "Expert". After
starting/stopping/starting/stopping my motor a bizillion
times, he informed me that he had no idea what was wrong with
my motor. Ugh...not very comforting when the expert can't
figure out the problem...lol Don't you just hate it when the
problem just mysteriously disappears at such inopportune
times?
I sat there as
patiently as I could as he attempted to figure out the
problem, but all I saw was time...very precious time slipping
away fast, and I began to get anxious. This was my last day
out on the water. I was way far behind schedule in my attempt
to unlock the mystery of Lake Amistad, and I seriously needed
to get out on the water for the few hours that I had left.
I left the
dealership and head to the ramp with the problem unsolved. I
backed the boat in, and wouldn't you know it???? Yup...my boat
wouldn't start!!!! Thank god Chris, one of the BASS guys that
sometimes travel with the WBT was standing by at the ramp.
Chris, being the mechanic that he is knew quickly how to get
me out on the water in a hurry.
Chris taught me
the art of jumping my starter through my solenoid by making
contact to both of them with a screwdriver. Every boat owner
MUST know how to do this!!! I watched Chris do this a couple
of times and felt confident that I could do this on my own
should the need arise.
Okay, so here I
am, out on the boat with Monica Altman (who I met for the
first time at the ramp that morning) on the last day of
practice. It was a last minute thing that she ended up on my
boat that day, but boy am I glad because Monica and her
husband Max are now very good friends of mine :-)
Sure enough, my
motor acted up, and I needed to do the little screwdriver
trick that Chris had shown me earlier. Well, one thing that he
forgot to tell me was that when I make the contact between the
starter and the solenoid that it needs to be done FAST...as in
NO HESITATION!!! lol
I'll admit, the
thought of that little spark made me a bit hesitant, but I
went ahead and did it anyway because it's not like I really
had a choice! lol. Oh my gosh...boy did it throw a spark! It
startled me to the point that my legs basically acted like
"springboards", and I practically launched myself right off
the back of the boat when that spark went flying...lol
Tournament - Day One
My
Co-Angler for this tournament was Lilly. What a great woman
she is too! I told her about what my last week had been like,
and she was quick to reassure me that this was "her" lake, and
she felt absolutely confident that she could find us fish.
Ahh...this was such a relief for me because as you know, I had
just had one of the worst weeks of my life, and my head was
just not in "tournament mode" (as you can see by the picture
of Lilly and I at the weigh-in)...It was fate that brought us
together, I swear! So being that I really did not have any
"confidence" areas, I thought that going to her spots would be
a good decision for the both of us.
We hit her spots first thing, and much to her dismay, the fish
just weren't there! Not even small ones!!! I told her that I
had one spot that I had caught one of my "small" keepers
during my practice, so that was where we went. I managed to
catch 2 small fish off of one brush pile with my
Title Shot Jig/Twitch
Worm combo.
Lilly meanwhile caught one keeper off of another nearby brush
pile. These were obviously buck bass, but hey, they measured
and I really needed the points.
Lilly
got a real kick out of me and all of my "Plug In" products
that keep me fishing when it's super cold outside. Believe it
or not, I have a jacket, bibs, hand muff, and socks that all
have the ability to Daisy Chain together and then with one 12
volt plug. It is made by
Gerbings Heated Clothing.
I can keep every part of my body nice and toasty in frigid
temperatures! Yup...you should be jealous because to me, this
setup is an absolute lifesaver, and has extended my fishing
season by months! Heck, I am out on my boat now until there is
ice on the water!
Morning of Tournament
Day Two....
Emergency flight back to Cleveland....(almost)
I thought I
already received the phone call that every parent fears last
week when I was informed that Hanna required urgent surgery to
address her pain related to her ovary.
Being so far
from her at a time of need, as you know was incredibly hard
for me. At 5:00pm yesterday (day one of the tournament) I get
a phone call. It's my sister Michelle informing me that Hanna
had developed a high fever (102), and that she was very
nauseous and chilled.
I call Hanna's
doctor and he instructs me to get her to the Emergency Room
ASAP. My sister (thank god for my sister) picks Han up and
takes her in to be evaluated.
The news is not
good, as they see a "mass" in her lower right abdomen that
they at this point are saying is an "abdominal abscess". My
sweet little Hanna is in serious pain and feeling very
frustrated that she is even back at the hospital having to
deal with more poking and prodding. I think she has reached
her breaking point because she has basically turned into an
incredibly uncooperative patient, and is refusing to let the
doctors do what they need to do to get a better idea of what
is going on internally. They even gave her two doses of an
"amnesia" drug in their futile attempt to perform the
necessary procedure. Even drugged, she is resisting. My poor
sister is beside herself, totally not knowing what to do, or
exactly how to handle the situation. As it stands right now,
Hanna is calling the shots regarding what she will allow or
not allow to be done to her.
An abdominal
abscess is a very serious, and potentially life threatening
situation that needs to be addressed NOW. If
this were to rupture, it could put her into septic shock,
which could be fatal.
I called the
airline and begged for them to issue me a discounted airfare
and explained my emergency situation. Whoopee...they offered
me a whole 10% off the "Full fare" price. This frustrates me
beyond belief!!!!....do they ever make exceptions for someone
in a medical emergency situation??? I mean more than 10%?????
They were stone cold and utterly heartless on the phone as I
was practically in tears begging them for assistance to get me
home to my daughter. They wouldn't budge...
So I am packing
up my things and flying out in just a few hours. I obviously
will not be fishing the rest of this tournament.
Please keep
Hanna in your thoughts and prayers....
Tournament Day Two -
Update
Okay...wow...First of all...Thank you so much for your
prayers and support during what has turned out to be one of
the most stressful couple weeks of my life. What a wonderful
feeling it is to know that we have a network of friends.
To make a VERY
long story short...This abdominal "MASS" that the doctors saw
on the CAT scan, and ultrasound turned out to be her
OVARY!!!!!!!! It was NEVER a mass...For some crazy reason, the
doctors in the Emergency Room were misinformed, and they
thought that she did not have an ovary on her right side. So
when they saw this "mass" (her enlarged ovary), they thought
that this was a "post surgical abscess", that could
potentially be life threatening. My sister and Hanna told the
doctors over and over that she HAD an ovary on her right side,
and that it was her LEFT ovary that was completely removed.
But, for some crazy reason, this fell upon deaf ears.
So after
booking a flight to leave for home on day two of the
tournament and packing up my truck and boat...I get a phone
call, literally minutes before leaving for the airport. It was
my sister...She informs me that Hanna did NOT have this life
threatening abdominal abscess, and this 'Mass" that they were
measuring was indeed...her
OVARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They now said that this
high fever is most likely due to a viral infection, not
related to her surgery.
This was a
breath of fresh air for me, because I don't think I slept a
wink that night. Between phone calls from the hospital all
night, and my mind just being totally uncooperative to
sleep...I pretty much laid there wide eyed all night.
Day Two - I manage a
"Half Day" out on Lake Amistad
Okay, so I
didn't launch with the other ladies on day two. But after
finding out that this was not as serious as they had thought,
I called Deb, the tournament director, and asked her if I was
still able to fish the rest of the day. She found an observer
to go out on the boat with me. I missed a good portion of my
day, and I was in an early flight so my fishing hours were
very short. I just firmly believed that the only reason that I
ended up out on that lake was because I was destined to catch
the 10 pounder that I dream about. lol...Well okay...that
didn't quite work out ... :-)
I fished some
beautiful areas that contained all of the great elements for
some big
bass,
but unfortunately, it was just not my "time"....
I'll be honest
in telling you that my head was just not in this tournament
like it should have been. I was stressed from almost the
moment I got there after I received the first phone call about
Hanna...Then my motor dies when I was alone on the water...I
couldn't fish the area that I originally had intended on
fishing because it was just too long of a run to attempt with
my motor being so iffy...The last thing I needed was to drift
over into Mexican waters by myself without a Mexican fishing
license or boat permit. Then I get the second phone call about
Hanna....Yeah, it was pretty nuts...
At the weigh-in
on day two, many of the ladies were confused about me being
there because they had been told that I had to get back home
because of Hanna. Christy came up to me to ask if everything
was alright, and if I was doing okay. Gosh, I couldn't even
answer...I just started balling my eyes out right then and
there among the crowd at the weigh-in. Very not like me to
just lose it like that, but after days of constant stress, I
think I just reached my breaking point. As a Mom, I was just
trying to stay strong for my Daughter. But as an individual, I
was falling apart inside.
All
I knew was that I couldn't wait to get back home to see my
baby. Well, okay, she is 16 years old...but she will always be
my baby...ya know?
I gave it my
all though, at least all that I had to give. Amistad is an
absolutely
gorgeous
lake...and wouldn't it figure that I caught a nice bass the
day after the tournament ended??? lol I have pictures to
share with you of the lake. I'm telling you, it was
breathtaking in some areas. I also got to see my first live 10
pound bass weighed in on stage. Wow...that is all I have to
say!!!!
I'm not proud
of my first finish of the 2007 season that's for sure,
although if anyone knew the entire story behind that low
finish, they would understand. I have plenty of opportunities
to make up for this bad finish. Bottom line is that I am out
there doing what I absolutely LOVE to do....fish
Hanna is still
feeling under the weather, and continues to sport a fever of
about 100 - 101. She is a real trooper though, but I'm sure
that she is SO ready to just feel normal.
By the way...wanna
know what was catching the bass on Amistad??? A
Title Shot jig paired up with
a
Lake Fork Craw tube or a
Lake Fork Twitch Worm. I was
able to throw these little jigs into the nastiest thickest,
gnarliest trees, and pull it through almost effortlessly. I
also rigged the jig with a finesse worm, which the fish also
seemed to like :-)
Just wanted to let you know that I am still
alive and kicking after those two very long weeks in North
Carolina... The weather was brutally hot!!!! I came home late
Monday night, and have been playing "catch
up" sin
.
(thanks Sue! lol), we stressed out, we encouraged each
other...it was great to say the least. And oh boy was it ever
HOT down there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
New methods, new baits...it was exciting! Well, that was until
I turned around to talk to Lisa, only to realize that she was
totally crashed out on the rear deck of my boat!
Awww...she's
just a "Newbie" and not used to these crazy tournament hours
and long hot days in the sun. Man...I should have taken a
picture of her while I had the chance
But
hey, at least my suspicions were right...there WERE fish
there, I just had to figure out how to get them to bite
My
livewell decided to totally empty out on me on my way back to
weigh-in, and my poor fish were just thrown around in an empty
livewell. I felt sick about it....I mean, I felt absolutely
horrible...for those poor fish
up" sin