We know who won the last time. Of that there is no doubt. But this is another tournament, another time. It’ll be me against the Sabine River. I’ll give no quarter, and I’ll ask no quarter come Thursday, March 19.
The last time we visited this Orange, Texas, fishery I was handed one of the worst defeats in my career. I could deal with that if the other anglers had done it to me. That’s what professional bass fishing is all about. But they didn’t. It was the river.
What happened is complex. There’s no doubt that I didn’t put together what I should have in practice but, really, that’s no excuse. I grew up fishing rivers. I know how to do it. I should have done better. I let that winding ribbon of water get into my head. When it did, I was finished.
The one positive out of the whole thing remains, however. That’s the reordering of my life priorities. Off and on since it happened I’ve talked about what the accident — when I put my boat into the trees along the shoreline — did to my thinking. Everything I’ve said over the past two years stands.
(Photos of the incident are available here.)
In an instant I realized that my life could have ended. There’d be no more Becky. There’d be no more kids. Just as bad, maybe worse, I could have killed my Marshal. The whole thing was a nightmare, but one that turned out to be good for me in the end. My vision is sharper than it used to be. I see life better these days. Believe it or not, guys, there’s more to life than catching a fish.
That thinking will always remain with me, and so will my need to exact revenge on the Sabine. My plan this year is to use my practice time to explore areas I didn’t in 2013. I think there are places that hold better fish and that if I find them I can catch them.
That’s going to require some running. I wasn’t willing to do that last time because you can run for an hour or more to get to some of the places I’m thinking about. It’s like a maze. In a professional tournament you have to be pretty sure you’re on fish before you do something like that. You can’t eat up that much fishing time in a day without getting results. It’s counterproductive.
I’m also going to change up some of my baits this time. I have some new lures and techniques that I think might work real well. I’m going to approach the Sabine River like it was the Delaware River without the wild tidal swings. Actually, in many ways, they’re similar. We’ll talk more about that after practice and after the tournament.
Before I go let me remind everyone that it might be cold and snowy now, but it’ll be spring before you know it. Now is the time to get your equipment and your tackle ready. The early bird gets the worm fish, 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.
