Wednesday, October 27, 2010

What do you do with over a month of downtime?

I haven't had a fishing tournament since the first week of October, I think I now understand the term "Stir Crazy", that, or I'm going through the DTs, haha.  I have been fun fishing several times, and that was a hoot, no pressure, just plain old catch em if you can, if you don't, no big deal. 
I have spent a few days getting ready for duck season.  The pit blinds are ready, firewood is split, the only remaining item is to put the pump in and add some water to our field.  Duck season doesn't start until Thanksgiving day, so that still leaves a month of what to do?  There is a buddy tournament at Kinkaid lake on November 7th, its an Anglers Choice event.  I think for lack of a better thing to do, I'll go fish this one.
Other than that, I'll spend the next month working my Labrador retrievers, Calli my oldest dog is seasoned veteran, Harley, my youngest dog (just over a year old) has been getting some training every day, he's at a pretty critical stage in the learning curve (he's learning hand signals right now) so I'm sure I'll be busy with him.  Other than that, not much going on here!
God Bless,
D

Monday, October 18, 2010

The season is over...

Last week's PAA event marked the last tournament on my schedule.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, so minus a buddy tournament or two, the 2010 fishing season is over for me.  That's a bummer!  I'll spend the next few weeks storing tackle, checking inventories of baits, and trying to decide what direction to go next year.  I have a couple of leads on potential sponsors, they're slim chances though.  This is the area of fishing that I have had the most difficulty in getting going.  I have been able to acquire several tackle sponsors, Lunker Lure and Hawg Caller Baits, my newest sponsor Powell Rods (www.powellco.com) , even with over 22 million media impressions in the last two years, it has been difficult to acquire any paying sponsors.  So, It looks like, Lord willing, I'll start 2011 with enough revenue to get the year started and see if anything materializes.  I'll just have to let the Lord guide the business, and do my part with preparatory work.  On a bright note, duck season is about 5 weeks away, and it looks like we are in position to have a fantastic season.  I'll post more about that later.
God Bless,
Duke

Sunday, October 10, 2010

BFL Regional is finished

I just competed in a BFL Regional event at Lake Barkley in Eddyville, KY.  To tsay the least this was not a very good event for me.  I was able to locate a couple of areas holding quality fish, but never capitalized on the bites that I got.  My day one co-angler did however manage to catch all of teh fish that bit for him, as he finished day one in 2nd place.  On day two of the event, I managed to catch several nice fish, but it was not enough to pu tme in the check line, or advance me to the BFL All-American.  My day one co-angler made the cut in the strength of his day one catch, and managed only one keeper on day three, but it was enough to give him a berth into the All-American.  Congrats Louie!!
For me, it looks like the season is over, I have opted not to compete in the last PAA Tournament at Table Rock Lake, or the American Fishing Series Invitational on Lake Wheeler.  Hopefully, I can get a few things going in the sponsor world and be able to fish again next year.
God Bless,
Duke

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

BFL Regional on Lake Barkley

3 full days of practice are complete and two have been good, and one has been brutal.  I'm looking at a pretty long run to get to where I am fishing, Lord willing the wind won't blow too bad.  I'm going to spend a half-day on the water tomorrow, closer to take-off to see if I can locate a back-up plan if the weather is rough.  Lord willing I'll be able to get to where I'm wanting to fish, and have a successful day. I may not have any internet service during the tournament, I'm switching from the hotel where I'm at, to a friemds house. so I may not be able to update until after the tournament.  Stay tuned!
God Bless,
Duke