I recently returned from Italy where I participated in the Black Bass World Championship as a member of the USA Bass Team. I visited Europe about 10 years ago, but this was my first trip to Italy, and it was definitely a memorable experience.
Our event was based in Rome, so as a country boy from Arkansas, it was a very different experience. Everything moved very fast there, but the people were very friendly and the food was excellent.
Of course, Rome is known for its amazing cultural and historical sites, so I enjoyed visiting those. The one thing that struck me the most was the awareness of where I was standing.
With my faith, realizing that I was walking the same roads that the apostle Paul did really blew my mind. We went down by the coliseum where the main Roman square was, and I walked on the original stones.
Besides that, just to be that close to the famous Roman architecture; all the buildings that were built so many years ago, it’s pretty incredible.
As for the fishing, Lake Bolsena where we fished was crystal clear with tons of grass. You could see the bottom in 20 feet of water.
This lake reminded me of a mixture of Lake Champlain and Lake St. Clair. It was a beautiful body of water, the fish were all fat and healthy and they ate really well. Finesse tactics, like drop shots, jighead minnows and unweighted fluke-style baits accounted for most of the fish, but our anglers also caught fish on topwaters.
As far as the competitive experience, I’ll admit I wasn’t able to converse too much with many of the anglers, especially Team Italy, who came in third the event. But I was really impressed with the level of competition I encountered. Those guys are very capable fishermen.
It helps because they live close to Lake Bosena, and they can fish it as much as they want to, while we just showed up and fished. But even beyond their local knowledge, they know what they’re doing.
In the end, Team Spain took first place. Team Australia came in second, and those guys don’t ever fish Italy. They still did better than we did. My team, Team U.S.A., placed fourth. I think we focused too much on the deep water, and the fish were more easily catchable shallow.
When I look back at the event, I have to say I was very proud to represent the U.S., but there was an even deeper takeaway. Something very personal for me.
I have a very patriotic view of my country, and in the moment that Team U.S.A. was walking up to the event with all of these other countries, I thought about all of the U.S. military personnel, like my grandfather, who fought to help liberate much of Europe during World War II.
It was a really emotional moment for me. I felt a companionship with the anglers that I met. But it also meant a lot to me, knowing that my grandfather played a role in what allows us to now enjoy bass fishing with all of these wonderful people.
