Tenmile Lake March 26, 2011

The Twenty-Seven Pound Bag by Jim Hill

The season was on its way on Saturday March 26^th; we had a good turnout for the first American Bass Association (ABA) event for the South region. The major talk from all of the competitors was the weather and yet, because we were testing our skills on the legendary Tenmile Lakes, a sense of optimism still lingered in the air.

Bobby and I enjoyed getting to know some new faces and catching up with our friends after the winter layoff. We had 25 boats sign up to test their skills against each other, the weather and the big largemouth lingering in the lakes.

All of it seemed quite luminous for the average fisherman, but the ABA professional fisherman took to the cold with gusto and through the numb fingers and toes and the driving rain, hail, wind and small bits of sunshine they competed. These men and women are cut from a different cloth. Along with their love of the sport, they believe, in spite of the circumstances, they can prevail with toughness and grit.

Perseverance and toughness is just what was needed! Only one limit was caught and brought to the scales on Saturday. But what a limit! Chris Carpenter and Travis Glass brought in 27.24 pounds of fish. As usual, this team of Carpenter and Glass had everyone amazed by their ability to catch big bass.

Carpenter and Glass are the reigning anglers of the year and they put themselves in prime position to repeat this achievement with an outstanding performance. Catching such big bass on a day when the bite was really tough for the rest of the professionals was a really amazing accomplishment and beyond impressive.

Paul Brown and Rob Wardan captured the second spot with 14.2 pounds of bass. These two professional fisherman and obvious good friends did a nice job on finding good quality bass. Their bag had a 6.09 giant as a kicker to bring their four fish average to almost 3 ½ pounds.

Darryl Burkhardt and Braxton Burkhardt took home third place honors as this father and son team brought in four fish weighing 12.65 pounds. Darryl and Braxton did some impressive work on such a tough day of fishing.

Michael Gibney and Karen Benedick took home the big fish honors and an 8^th place check with their 6.22 pound lunker! I am sorry that I didn’t get the details on what made the monster bite, so we will have to check up on Michael and Karen at the next tournament.

In all, Tenmile did not produce the number of fish we all hoped for but the quality of fish was still good. There were several factors weighing against the anglers; fishing pressure, cold front, cold water temperatures and the wily Black Bass. All who participated can be proud that we faced the elements and in the end, for all but a few, it was only the wily Black Bass who beat us.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

(James 1:2-4)

When you show up at the ramp for your next tournament do not fear the man in the fancy boat or that has the most sponsors on his shirt. Watch out for the guy who has that weathered look on his face, is wind burned and the years of perseverance of chasing the Black Bass is etched all over his face. He may just be the guy who has faced the worst of trials and did not quit but is here today to catch a 27 pound bag.

FYI - 40% of the professional anglers (10 of 25) at this year’s Tenmile South ABA event took home a check for either finishing in one of the top eight spots in the overall standings or capturing one of five spots in the big fish categories. Check out the full results on our website at http://www.fish4life.net/ABA.html