My 3 days as a Marshal....

[djkimmel]

I would like to hear everyone's stories INCLUDING Dan's. I rarely have the time to visit any additional websites than the ones I own or manage so I would really appreciate if he would 'type it twice' and post at least some of it here. I'm sure others would appreciate it too! Besides, even an ole retired guy probably knows how to copy and paste?!?

[motocross269]

Sorry it has taken so long to post day 3 but I have been working 84 hour weeks for the last month or so....

On Day 3 I drew Greg Vinson.. I really didn't know much about him but he has been a pretty consistent finisher on the Elite series. I had actually met him on Monday before the tournament up at Fawn Island. I asked him about marshalling and what to bring and he was very friendly and open with information..Pretty funny coincidence...

He said his wife would launch the boat and to just meet him in the staging area after I picked up the BASS Tracker unit..That was kind of nice because I didn't have to deal with any of the launching duties..

I met up with him in the morning and met his family..Greg is fairly young and has a nice young family. Seeing them there in the morning gave me somewhat of an understanding about some of the sacrifices these anglers and families make to continue to do what they love..I asked Greg pretty pointedly about it and whether or not it was really worth it. Without hesitation he said he loved the sport and if it wasn't for his love of fishing and competing he wouldn't be out there...It sure wasn't about the money...

We launched and headed out into Lake St clair for a short run...Once we came off from pad it was pretty obvious we would have company.  KVD, JVD, and 3 or 4 other boats were working the same area. These guys are very comfortable working in close proximity and there really didn't seem to be any confrontation. It was alot different then I have seen on the BFLs that is for sure..

Greg worked a jerk bait and switched back and forth Drop shotting once he got a strike or saw something on his electronics..Like I said..These guys work hard and you won't see them dragging tubes around. They are in constant motion.

Greg managed a small limit. As he was catching fish I would load them in the BASS Tracker and send it off to BASS. I am not so sure about these tracking units, It gives the exact location of the angler and the size of fish he is catching...BASS could make a fortune selling this information or an unscrupulous operator could help his buddy out by providing him with data that should be kept tight lipped..Maybe I am just being paranoid but who knows??? There is alot of money involved and things happen..


I actually made the Bassmaster website photo section a few times..You can see here what I mean when I say Greg was fishing in a crowd...




Overall I had a great time Marshaling and I got a better feeling of what life is like for these guys.  I was also impressed on how big a production it is and the level of logistics it takes to get these tournaments on the water..Would I do it again??  Not sure but I am glad I did it this one time to see what it is all about..If you get a chance sign up...Just make sure you are healthy enough to take the beating on the water for 3-4 days that these guys can dish out..There is no "cruising" that is for sure..

[djkimmel]

Bring an extra seat cushion...?

I could have sworn I passed him a lot farther from shore that day?? Of course, I did not know you were in the boat with him. Did not come real close as we were on the hunt for bigger fish.

I'm beginning to think some kind of stealth technology is in use by some of these guys. Or my vision through old prescription sunglasses is even worse than I thought?!?

Thanks for taking the time to follow up!

[motocross269]

I don't know what it is but that picture is decieving and makes us look closer to shore....We were in 14-15 FOW....

[djkimmel]

That can happen but where I thought I saw you guys was a lot farther offshore than that. That's a different part of the lake too. Maybe my memory is even more toast than I thought it was? I might have all kinds of things mixed up??