DAY 1 - Trevor Romans
Since I signed up for this, I had visions of me kickin' it with a big name pro like Van Dam, Swindle, or Aaron Martens. It never crossed my mind that I would be in a boat with a rookie on the first day. I met him at the briefing on Wednesday, he told me he didn't have a good practice, and I was worried I wouldn't even witness a fish catch on Thursday. Throughout the first day, Trevor became some guy from Texas I've never even heard of, to one of the best guys I've ever met. We ran to his first spot near the mouth of the Chattahoochee where he would flip matted hyacinths and some reeds. He missed one. He caught a mud fish. He caught a small keeper. And then the lull began. After trying a couple more spots without avail, we made a run back to the Flint River to look for spawning bass in small coves. The first cove we pull into has several boats in it, so it's on to the next one. The second cove has a couple boats, one being Alton Jones. He decided to look for spawners although they were more than likely already picked through. This faired well, as he boated a nice fish spawning in slightly deeper water on a couple stumps shortly after arriving. The next fish came up shallow off of a bed. Then after working the deeper stumps again, Trevor was able to boat a 5+ pounder. Another fish, and a cull later in a different cove, Trevor went on to weigh right at 16 pounds of bass. The day I spent with Trevor was one of my favorite days on the water. I got the opportunity to learn how to make things happen under immense pressure. It was his first day of his first year on the tour. He's doing all he can to afford it. He had a terrible practice. Yet, he found a way to catch them.Not to mention his wife makes some KILLER homemade cookies!
DAY 2 - Chad Pipkens
On the second day, I drew a second year pro from Michigan, Chad Pipkens. This dude is full of positive energy and I had an absolute blast watching him fish. He was just outside the cut going into Friday, and he wanted badly to fish on Saturday. We talked on the phone the night before and he told me what he was going to be fishing. I was pumped for him because I know Seminole enough to know that he had the chance of catching a HUGE sack. We ran to Spring Creek to a flat where the big mommas were sure to be staging and moving up..........we thought. At around lunch, he had yet to get a single bite, so we ran into a canal where he said he could flip up a limit. And he meant it. within just a few flips, he had four fish in the boat. Knowing that size wouldn't help him, and not wanting to miss if the big ones moved up, we ran back out to his flat. He was mixing it up between a Speed Worm and a Lipless crank. All he had to show on that spot was one heckuva Jack. With time drawing close, he went back to flip up his fifth fish, which didn't take long. He tried to make some last minute heroics on a couple spots on the way back to weigh in. And, I applaud him for his confidence. He felt, on every cast, he was going to catch one. With four minutes left to weigh in, he was still casting, saying, ''This is it. 6 pounder.'' Though, it never happened. Even with the lack of action, I still learned a great deal by watching him fish.These guys in the Elites are the real deal. Even when it's tough, the majority of them are still stand up guys who will do anything to help you out. I know I had an awesome time on the water with these guys, even though I couldn't fish. I would encourage anybody and everybody to sign up to Marshal next time these guys come around!
