3 different experiences as Bassmaster Marshal at the LSC Elite event.

[edyer]

     I just read what a couple of other guys shared and thought I should do the same. I had thought about being a marshal in the past, but wasn't sure I really wanted to spend three to four days in a boat and not be able to fish. Dan SHine got a hold of me this spring and said they were short of Marshals for the LSC event, so I signed up.
     The first day I marshaled with Jason Williamson, also known as J-Will. We met at the launch. He had this giant wrapped truck with all the gadgets. I backed him in and then parked the huge rig. I had heard that Jason didn't talk much in the boat. He doesn't talk much anywhere. When we were matched up at the pre tournament meeting/dinner, he walked over to me and pointed to his shirt and said,"This is what my truck looks like, meet me there at 5:30." Then he turned and walked away.I saw that some of the other pros, like Shaw Grigsby, invited their marshals to sit with them at dinner,, and felt a little disappointed Jason didn't do the same. Our whole day was spent on LSC. Jason's first fish was a Muskie over 40 inches long that he caught on a Megabass jerkbait. He cut his line after a couple of minutes. He alternated between the jerkbait, a lighter weight tube jig that he dragged, a heavier tube jig that he made very high and long casts with, and a drop shot rig. Jason talked very little all day. He would just say"Lets Go!", when he wanted to move, of "What time is it?!!" He never offered any information or conversation. He was so non-talkative, he was almost rude. He never peeed all day and only drank a little water. He fished hard all day, right to the very end.He caught around 15.5 pounds. He mad the cut for Saturday and ended up placing around 38th.
   After such a weird first day, I wasn't really looking forward to the second day, until I was matched up with the first day leader and eventual winner, CHris Lane. Jason had to get his key out of the ignition, that he broke off, so I went with him to the service area. Chris was there and I introduced myself and we made plans for the next morning hook up. Chris gave me a very nice dry bag, with Power Pole printed on it and it was filled with a bunch of nice stuff. He was the only Marshal to do this for me.CHris was very talkative and friendly. He seemed to really appreciate being able to fish in the Elite tournaments, and was very nice to every body.We ran to the St, Clair River and after a pretty long run, stopped in the middle of the river. I asked, "We are fishing HERE?" He said, "No, I have to pee." Peed about 12 times during the day. We ended up fishing the shipping channel edges going out into Lake Huron. He fished mostly a drop shot on the channel edges.We had about 4 foot waves. Chris said the wind was stronger and had changed direction. He didn't have a seat on the front deck. I swear he almost fell in about a dozen times. I urged him to put his Mustang PFD on, but he didn't. The fish didn't bite as good as the first day. He did catch three keepers in that area, including a 5-12 that was big bass for day 2. We had the Bassmaster camera boat following us for the first 4 hours. When Chris hooked the big one, he yelled to the camera boat,"If this is a bass, it's a giant!" I was taking pictures of Chris as he was catching his fish. I texted them to the Live Blog all three days. You can see me doing this in the Bassmaster Elite link: Chris Lane,, day two. I was in about 45 pictures with Chris. They even posted a picture of us on the Legend Boats FB page.After about four hour Chris Said,, "I'm going to show you something you are really going to like!" We headed back into the river.chris threw a homemade spinner bait with copper willows and a copper head. It had a perch pattern skirt. He mostly threw it along the seawalls. He kept having big fish follow, but not strike. He said he caught some 4's and 5's doing this in practice and on the first day. He finally hooked up with a 3 pounder. He then pulled up to the end of a sea wall and put down the power poles.He threw a bunch of different baits, but the drop shot caught the most fish. He caught about a dozen fish in the river, and we headed back. Chris thought he had about 15.5, but I told him he was closer to 17. He was disappointed. I told him that some of the guys were struggling on Erie, and that would be in the thick of things yet and would still have to catch over 20 pounds the next two days regardless. He wighed in 17-1, and dropped only to 4th place, three pounds behind Mark Davis.
     I was on the waiting list for day three and really didn't think I would get called, but I did and drew Keith Poche. Keith was originally from Louisiana, but now lives in Alabama. He took third in the Bassmaster Classic that KVD won in Louisiana. Since then, Keith has struggled. Read the story Don Barone did on him the day I marshaled with him. I met keith at the staging area. His girlfriend was there when I got there. She was very nice and very cute. Keith told me we were running to Lake Erie. I had hoped to not have to make that run, but in a way, i wanted to. I told Keith I had rode in a Nitro and a Legend, and the Legend was the better ride. Keith said his Skeeter is fast but rides hard. He was right. The ride to his spot in Erie took about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I didn't think it would ever end. Most of the time we were going between 67 and 72 mph. We ended up stopping about 15 miles on the east shore of Erie. We were in about 14.5 fow, which surprised me. The action was slow at first, but then Keith was on FIRE! In no time he put over 20 pounds into the boat. He also caught a couple of four pound walleyes on his Jackal cross tail shad baits on the drop shot. I told him, he was going to give me a heart attack,, the way he would reel those big smallmouths close, then put his rod down, grab the line, and stab at the fish with his hands. Luckily, he never lost a fish.Fish saw every fish he caught on his Humminbird. On the way back, we stopped at a marina on the left side as we entered the Detroit River to get some gas. The fuel attendants were all pretty girls in Bikinis. Mark Davis was at the dock in front of us, and Aaron Martens pulled in behind us. They both said they had pretty good bags for the day. Mark warned us to be careful on the way back, because it was going to be very rough. I had no idea how rough it would be! The waves in Detroit, and on LSC, were the worse I have ever encountered. Keith stopped about 6 times on the way back to check on his fish. On his last stop, one of his fish went belly up. Keith was pretty stressed out at this point, and hoped the dead fish wouldn't cost his a chance to fish on Sunday.The day before, Keith had a two hour delay because of boat problems, and only caught 14.5 pounds. He lost a big fish on Thursday, and ended up with around 19 pounds. i honestly think he was on the fish to win this tournament. Keith weighed in with 20.7 pounds,, but had to take a 4 ounce dead fish penalty. Alton Jones ended up in the last spot, just 3 ounces ahead of Keith. I felt really bad for Keith. Keith doesn't have the sponsorship like guys like Alton Jones have. Keith was a great guy to ride with. I wish him the best of luck. I hope I never have to make the ride back from Erie again on a weekend. It was one of the worst things I have ever had to do in my life. If I ever say I'm going to do this(ride to Erie on a weekend from Metro) again, punch me in the face.

[Dan]

Enjoyed it Ed! Concerned about C. Lane's prostrate though. That ride to Erie is one that I too made, and several times on the way to Pelee in those 7 footers I was asking my self why and wished someone would have punched me. I'll have dramamine next time.

[edyer]

I never felt sick, I was more annoyed than anything.Kind of like torturing a prisoner.

[motocross269]

Great stories.....

[rudycard72]

Great read man, thanks for posting.

[Waterfoul]

I'll punch you in the face Wed. night at Branns.   

[thedude]

you should marshall some more events and then write a book about the bathroom habits of elite series pros. you seem a bit fixated...

[dartag]

Thanks for the stories.

I doubt BASS would be using any of them for marshall advertising.  I think they should get paid instead of paying.

[Dan]

Well my Day 3 story is up on my teardropbass.com site. Dan gave me heck up above for not posting it here so I guess I had better:  

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2013 B.A.S.S. Elite Series Lake St. Clair Plano Championship Chase, August 23, 2013 - Day 3</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat44.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Day 3 Dawn with blue skies and calm winds. You can see the flag in the photo above hangs limp on the pole. That's a good sign for those making the long runs to Erie or Huron. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mark Davis, finished up Day 2 with a one pound four ounce lead over a surging Aaron Martens. Most Fantasy Fishing participants did not likely have Mark on their short list of anglers to be leading after Day 2. Mark is an accomplished angler, but has suffered from back problems the last few years. Anyone familiar with fishing the East side of the state knows that the rides on St. Clair and Erie can cause back problems let alone aggravating a preexisting condition. We'll see if Mark makes his run again, and finds his smallmouth home.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat55.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After a gruesome ride to Pelee Island out in Lake Erie yesterday, I was kind of hoping for a pro who would be staying in St. Clair. When I heard I had drawn Tommy Biffle as my Day 3 pro, I thought maybe he'd be flipping largemouth in the canals around the launch area. However, once I met up with Tommy he said we'd be running to Erie. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Waiting for Tommy to motor over from the launch, I was recounting my pounding from Day 3 with some fellow Marshals. I was talking about my bout of sea sickness and lamenting the fact that I had not gotten any dramamine. One of the Marshals I was talking with immediately offered me some that he had. I didn't hesitate on taking him up on his offer.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat54.jpg" border="0" alt="tommy biffle. " /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As we bobbed around the staging area, Tommy pulled up along Bobby Lane and they chit chatted a while. Bobby always seems to have a smile on his face, he's very personable and a fan favorite. On the the other hand, people respect Mr. Biffle, and admire his fishing prowess, but he often can come across as a bit gruff. Having ridden with him before though, I found him to be quite different from his public persona. He is very conversational in the boat and very considerate. He treated me very well, and I found him to be a great pro to spend the day with.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the guys that I know that is Marshaling this event, Ed Dyer, drew Bobby's brother Chris who led the tournament after Day 1. In talking with Ed after Day 2, Ed said that Chris was also a very upbeat happy-go-lucky angler who he really enjoyed riding with. A Bassmaster camera boat followed Chris around for half a day yesterday and Ed ended up being in a bunch of pictures that you can view on Bassmasters. Here is the link: Day 2, Chris Lane on the Water.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat53.jpg" border="0" alt="nate wellman. " /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Michigan anglers, KVD, JVD, Chad Pipkens, and Nathan Wellman would be out in force hoping to make up some ground and try and put themselves in the Top 12 for Sunday. It's not looking good so far. Nate Wellman looks like he'll have the best shot at making the Sunday cut.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><strong style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat52.jpg" border="0" alt="josh bertrand. " /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Josh Betrand is a second year B.A.S.S. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> pro who had had a pretty good first couple of days. I did a little research from his website, and there he claimed that he was catching his fish</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> "on a dropshot rigged three inch Berkley Gulp Minnow on the 7'3" TFO Tactical Series Dropshot Rod, 8 lb. Berkley Nanofil Line with 6 lb. and 8 lb. Trilene 100% fluorocarbon leaders."</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat49.jpg" border="0" alt="john crews. " /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My buddy Rick "The Cementman" Skinner drew John Crews for Day 3. Rick has ridden with John before on Lake Guntersville a few years ago. He had a good day then and was looking forward to another good ride.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat48.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The familiar line up with the anglers ready to pass by to get their final check ins taken care of. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat47.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The official time. Running a couple of minutes off the scheduled start, but pretty close considering all that has to occur in the morning darkness. Dave Mercer does a great job all morning long disseminating information and keeping the crowd that is on the docks watching entertained and informed. Dave is quite well known for his B.A.S.S. emceeing, but started it all with Facts of Fishing.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat45.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again it's out through the short cut and under the two bridges to St. Clair.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat43.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The exciting time that all the slow meandering of take off culminates in, that first run of the day! </span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat42.jpg" border="0" alt="detroit river elite series 2013. " /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As I have mentioned, Tommy said he was running to Erie. Don't quite know where, but wherever we are going dictates a run down the entire 24 mile length of the Detroit River.  Here is a bit of info from Wikipedia, the preceding blue length will take you to the entire page. "The Detroit River is a 24-nautical-mile-long (44 km; 28 mi) river in the Great lakes System. <sup id="cite_ref-EPA_2-0" class="reference"></sup>The name comes from the French, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" title="French language"></a>Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as River of the Strait. The Detroit River has served an important role in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Detroit" title="History of Detroit">history of Detroit</a> and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. <sup id="cite_ref-detnews_3-0" class="reference"></sup>The river travels south from <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Saint_Clair_(North_America)" title="Lake Saint Clair (North America)">Lake St. Clair</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Erie" title="Lake Erie">Lake Erie</a>, and the whole river carries the international border<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93United_States_border" title="Canada–United States border"></a> between Canada<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" title="Canada"></a> and the United States<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States"></a>. The river divides the major metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor,_Ontario" title="Windsor, Ontario"></a> — an area referred to as Detroit-Windsor. The two are connected by the Ambassador Bridge<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Bridge" title="Ambassador Bridge"></a> and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat40.jpg" border="0" alt="tommy biffle. " /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tommy booking it down the River. Nascar bad all the way baby!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="images/Blog/August/EliteSat/13augelitesat39.jpg" border="0" alt="tommy biffle. " /></p>

PS
It wouldn't let me post it in its entirety because I exceeded the 20,000 character limit. Oh well, never said I had a rep for being concise.

[Waterfoul]

Um.... Dan you type funny.  I think you have some code issues in your copy/paste.

[Dan]

2013 B.A.S.S. Elite Series Lake St. Clair Plano Championship Chase, August 23, 2013 - Day 3



Day 3 Dawn with blue skies and calm winds. You can see the flag in the photo above hangs limp on the pole. That's a good sign for those making the long runs to Erie or Huron.

Mark Davis, finished up Day 2 with a one pound four ounce lead over a surging Aaron Martens. Most Fantasy Fishing participants did not likely have Mark on their short list of anglers to be leading after Day 2. Mark is an accomplished angler, but has suffered from back problems the last few years. Anyone familiar with fishing the East side of the state knows that the rides on St. Clair and Erie can cause back problems let alone aggravating a preexisting condition. We'll see if Mark makes his run again, and finds his smallmouth home.



After a gruesome ride to Pelee Island out in Lake Erie yesterday, I was kind of hoping for a pro who would be staying in St. Clair. When I heard I had drawn Tommy Biffle as my Day 3 pro, I thought maybe he'd be flipping largemouth in the canals around the launch area. However, once I met up with Tommy he said we'd be running to Erie.

Waiting for Tommy to motor over from the launch, I was recounting my pounding from Day 3 with some fellow Marshals. I was talking about my bout of sea sickness and lamenting the fact that I had not gotten any dramamine. One of the Marshals I was talking with immediately offered me some that he had. I didn't hesitate on taking him up on his offer.



As we bobbed around the staging area, Tommy pulled up along Bobby Lane and they chit chatted a while. Bobby always seems to have a smile on his face, he's very personable and a fan favorite. On the the other hand, people respect Mr. Biffle, and admire his fishing prowess, but he often can come across as a bit gruff. Having ridden with him before though, I found him to be quite different from his public persona. He is very conversational in the boat and very considerate. He treated me very well, and I found him to be a great pro to spend the day with.

One of the guys that I know that is Marshaling this event, Ed Dyer, drew Bobby's brother Chris who led the tournament after Day 1. In talking with Ed after Day 2, Ed said that Chris was also a very upbeat happy-go-lucky angler who he really enjoyed riding with. A Bassmaster camera boat followed Chris around for half a day yesterday and Ed ended up being in a bunch of pictures that you can view on Bassmasters. Here is the link: Day 2, Chris Lane on the Water.



The Michigan anglers, KVD, JVD, Chad Pipkens, and Nathan Wellman would be out in force hoping to make up some ground and try and put themselves in the Top 12 for Sunday. It's not looking good so far. Nate Wellman looks like he'll have the best shot at making the Sunday cut.



Josh Betrand is a second year B.A.S.S.  pro who had had a pretty good first couple of days. I did a little research from his website, and there he claimed that he was catching his fish "on a dropshot rigged three inch Berkley Gulp Minnow on the 7'3" TFO Tactical Series Dropshot Rod, 8 lb. Berkley Nanofil Line with 6 lb. and 8 lb. Trilene 100% fluorocarbon leaders."







My buddy Rick "The Cementman" Skinner drew John Crews for Day 3. Rick has ridden with John before on Lake Guntersville a few years ago. He had a good day then and was looking forward to another good ride.



The familiar line up with the anglers ready to pass by to get their final check ins taken care of.



The official time. Running a couple of minutes off the scheduled start, but pretty close considering all that has to occur in the morning darkness. Dave Mercer does a great job all morning long disseminating information and keeping the crowd that is on the docks watching entertained and informed. Dave is quite well known for his B.A.S.S. emceeing, but started it all with Facts of Fishing.



Once again it's out through the short cut and under the two bridges to St. Clair.



The exciting time that all the slow meandering of take off culminates in, that first run of the day!



As I have mentioned, Tommy said he was running to Erie. Don't quite know where, but wherever we are going dictates a run down the entire 24 mile length of the Detroit River.  Here is a bit of info from Wikipedia, the preceding blue length will take you to the entire page. "The Detroit River is a 24-nautical-mile-long (44 km; 28 mi) river in the Great lakes System. The name comes from the French, Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as River of the Strait. The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river travels south from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, and the whole river carries the international border between Canada and the United States. The river divides the major metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario — an area referred to as Detroit-Windsor. The two are connected by the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.



Tommy booking it down the River. Nascar bad all the way baby!



With this buoy breaking the current Tommy stopped to give its broken concrete foundation a try. He had caught a few fish here on Days 1 and 2, but they weren't cooperative this morning.



As Tommy plied the area around the buoy. Several of the anglers in the later flights began to scream by on their way down river. By the big bite on the front of this boat it can be no other than Mike Iaconeli.



Not sure which of the Nitro boat guys this might be. Sits like KVD, but it might be Ott Defore or Edwin.



South bound and down. Up on the pad, and rolling down the river!



I do believe this is Tight Lines pro Bill Lowen.



Tommy left the mid river buoy and went further down river to some steel walls and areas with rip rap. He took out his casting rod and tossed his namesake "Biffle Bug" down the walls. He picked up largemouth and smallmouth. The "Bug" was rigged on a 11/16th ounce Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead jig. Tommy told me that the Hardhead works extremely well, because the hook pivots around the weight making ti a much harder jig for the bass to get leverage against and throw the hook.

The problem with the copy/paste is that the code carries the links and the pictures. This is easier to read, but doesn't have the links or the pics.

[Waterfoul]

OK, new post with the rest of the story!!

[motocross269]

I went to Dan site and read his blog...Great story and some cool pics...well worth the effort..

[Dan]

Finally got the last day of the Lake St. Clair Bassmaster event up on my site. Check it out at teardropbass.com. You'll get to see a pic of a mustacheless Lt. Dan Kimmel.

[MikeD]

great stories! thanks for sharing your experiences!