I sometimes have to stop and remind myself how lucky I am.
I spend almost every day with my son doing something we both love and I’m able to make a living doing it. A lot of the credit goes to our sponsors. Some of them, like Evinrude, Ranger, Luck-E-Strike and CMC have been with me for years. My new sponsors, like JB Custom Rods and US Reels are just as great. These people allow us to go on the road and do what we enjoy most – fish.
It would be an understatement to say we’re a fishing family. Stella and I got to watch our son Dion win the Bassmasters Classic in 1997. That year, we became the first father son duo to have won the tournament – I won the Classic back in 1988. A few years later, Dion got to watch his own son, Paydon, win the Jr. Bassmasters Classic. No one will ever know what these moments mean to us.
Enough about my luck as a father and grandfather, because I lost my Larry Nixon’s lucky horseshoe last week at Table Rock. Those were three of the longest days of my career. I only hope the FLW tournament on Lake Norman in Charlotte, N.C. will be better.
We’ve spent the last two days sorting tackle and trying to get ready to go, so we could spend a few days fishing here at home. Tomorrow, Dion, the boys and I are going to go fishing. The water temp is 40 degrees, but that doesn’t mean a thing when, just last weekend, it took eighteen pounds to win a tournament here.
I also want to put a few more hours on my new Evinrude E-TEC. Last week I got it up to seventy four miles per hour. I think it will do better. Here’s to some quality time on the water. Try one and see for yourself.
