Regarding the "talk me down off the ledge" post

[Lizard Dragger]

What was the worst tourney day that ended up good for you? Here's mine:

5 years ago I was fishing the Big Spring tournament on Apple Valley Lake with my 12 year old son. Fighting winds all morning and 2 dinks in the box, I went into a cove at noon to retie our C-rigs and grab a bite to eat. I told my son I had enough and was gonna release our 2 dinks and go home. He started crying and begged me to stay and we did. The sun came out and the winds continued, I positioned the boat in protected areas off points and we threw Lizards on the rocky points the rest of the day. Came in 3rd place out of 60 boats and missed 1st by 3 ounces. I was never prouder on that stage than I was that day! Several BBC'ers were there watching the weigh in as well.

[slsmith93]

Mine started while unloading the boat and motor would not start. Worked on it an hour. tourny already started. The wire to the choke worked loose. Then to make matters worse I had prefished with rain and wind. I was on the fish. Then the sun came out no wind. fish had moved up to spawn. No bites all day long. Took me to noon but finally figured it out. boated 5 fish in less than 2 hours. Not enough to win but did place third and win big fish. Remembering that day helps get me through some tough days on the lake.

[Bassman Ia.]

12-14 years ago was fishing Stockton Lake in Mo. Nov. and it was cold, at the launch one of the teams had a boat slide down the ramp because it froze over from others launching. Luckily it just wrinkled a fender when it hit the dock --no damage to boat.
About 4 hours into the T my partner once to call it quits, I have one smallie in the box. I have never quit, (been skunked plenty of times) I put one more in the box---we got a check. Wasn't a big check, but it was a check----------oh, and he didn't refuse his half.

[Dennis S.]

I fished a club tourney on G'ville one November day, after a major front with 25+ mph winds. Not a bite all day! Coming in to ramp with 12 minutes to go, already gave an apology speech to coangler for not getting around the fish, and he throws to a milfoil mat that has blown up to the riprap by the ramp, catches a 3 lb'er. I spin the boat (25 mph wind) and throw a spinner bait, 6.5lb'er, then another cast a 4lb'er. Won the tournament because everyone else had the same bad luck we had most of the day. In the words of Ike, 'never give up'!

[Indyrocket3]

Damn I feel Like Fishin!!!!

[corybyrum]

Won a two day last february. I had 10.5 the first day and 20 was leading. Going into the second day everyone said we were all fishing for 2nd but we put together a 19lb bag to win by .5 of a pound

[CHUGGBUGG]

Fished a T a couple years back on the Upper Chesapeake Bay. It was the third or fourth time out in my new 929 Nitro. Ran across the flats on high tide. Caught a bag of fish and headed back. Came back across the flats at low tide. Ended up being about 25 yards off my track over. Stuck the boat at 60mph. Water was about 52 degrees. I had to push the boat out to the channel while my co-angler stood on the back of the boat watching me. Didn't expect him to get in (it was my fault) but he could've stood on the front of the boat. Before getting in the water I tried to use the trollin motor. Ended up spinning off the prop. Luckily my freind that I sold my old Nitro to was fishing the tournament also. I knew that I had given him a spare prop. I had to find him to borrow it because there was still a hour and a half left once I got off the flat. I ended up winning the tournament. And no damage was done to my brand new boat.

[jomo924]

The poor guy is contemplating hari Kari and you guys post what can only be seen as gloating stories? Yeah I am sure they will comfort him

[ChrisH]

Fishing Lay Lake one spring. I had 4 keepers and a decent fish. I knew I needed to cull at least one to have a chance. Had an hour left and had fished out my areas down river. Took a chance and ran up 20 minutes. I always set my alarm clock so I know when to leave an area. Alarm went off when the last cast was in the air. Caught one over 4 to go with another 4 pounder. Came in 2nd and had big fish I think.

[looking4five]

Early December....Caught a 4+ in 1st 5-minutes, not another bite until around noon, and it was just a swimmer. Fished as hard as I have ever fished in my life, and didn't get another bite until about 2:15pm (3pm weigh-in). Finished out my limit in about the last 15-minutes I had to fish. Got 2nd place & big bass that day.

It was an emotional roller coaster that day for sure.

[eriedude]

Great stories guys.
Fished a BFL out one Erie about 10 years ago. I had a flat loaded with 4-5 lbers out in the middle of nowhere and had won a team tourney there 2 weekends before. Work had been really slow and my funds were quite low but i was so confident in my spot that I wrote a bad check for the entry fee and fished it anyhow. First thing in the am I landed a 3 lber and then nothing. I watched my co fill out his limit pretty quickly but I struggled. The fish were there but I couldnt get them to bite. By 1:30 it had turned flat,dead calm and hot. I felt cooked in more ways than one.
With 30 minutes to fish I tried deadsticking a tube on the bottom of a long cast . It was tediuos but it worked . I went 3,4,4 ,2 and a 3 . We both weighed in over 17 on a relatively tough day . I took 6th and my co was 3rd and was so stoked he slid he a hundy for gas lol.

[07SkeeterZX225]

Fished a tournament last fall at my favorite local lake. We had been on a good smallmouth bite up the river for the past few weeks. Takeoff was delayed about an hour and fifteen minutes and we finally left the dock. Ran about 2 miles out of the narrow creek we were in, the marina is at the head of the creek, and ran into a very very dense fog bank. Slowed to an idle and before I knew it another boat came flying by and absolutely soaked me and my partner. Idled through the fog and headed up lake, got to a low bridge that we idle under and heard someone screaming for help. There was a boat in the middle of the lake and I figured someone had fallen off but it ended up being the boater had backed the trailer in and the strap broke and boat floated off. We idled over to him, picked him up and took him to his boat. Made it to the spot and caught fish all day long. Went to leave about 2:00 (3:00 weigh-in) and the motor wouldn't start. Running the graphs and livewells all day had drained it. Did a quick swap with a trolling motor battery, ran back down the lake and let my partner fished while I idled around. Ended up winning the tournament by a pound or two. Loaded the boat up and noticed that my partner had jackkniffed the trailer while trying to park it and dented the tailgate on my less than 1 year old truck. Very memorable day to say the least

[H2O_Fowl]

A long time ago I was fishing a buddy tournament and my trolling motor bracket broke on a run in rough water first thing in the morning. Pulled into a protected cove and caught 4 bass weighing almost 22lbs total. One was an 8.16 lber. Caught those fish right away and then spent the day tied up relaxing in the boat until weigh in. Won the tournament and big bass.

[jaycount]

The only tourney day I've ever had end up "good". My first tournament. Actually, one of the first times I went bass fishing. It was a BFL, and actually my first time in a bass boat. Grand lake, Spring 2008. We decided to avoid lodging fees and just commute down, I Was living in Pittsburg, KS at the time.

It all started the night before, I was living in the dorms and it was Spring break but I had to stay behind for work and the tournament so my roommate was gone. It was about midnight and I was just in shorts and socks when I Decided to go fill up my coffee pot for the next (Early) morning. I locked myself out of my room There was only one RA left in the whole building so I went up there, shirtless, to introduce myself and ask for him to unlock my room Got about 4 hours of sleep, drove down to meet up with my boater at the ramp. I had a Zebco 33 combo, a Shakespeare spinning combo, and a Quantum Escalade (cheapie made for Dick's Sporting Goods) on a cheap Abu rod (my first baitcaster!). Needless to say, he didnt take me very seriously. I wore jeans and a hoodie, it was like 40 degrees. I froze to death all day. He knew it was my first time in a bass boat and he pushed that puppy. It was pretty windy and he was trying to run as fast as he could, one time I heard the motor come clean out of the water and hit the rev limiter I caught one fish all day, it was a little over 2 lbs. Just enough to catch 30th-ish place and cash a check for $129. I was on cloud 9.

That pretty much spawned the beast, I went on to fish the BFLs for a couple years and never won another dollar. Now I just fun fish and fish smaller tourneys

Go figure that $129 check has caused me to spend thousands on equipment and a boat.