Wednesday, March 1
(Lake Murray, SC)
Annie writes:
We put our big CITGO decals on the motorhome this morning, what a job, then we packed up the site and headed to Columbia. There are so many errands we need to do so we are camped in a parking lot for the day and took the truck all around to get things done. We got a lot done, then noticed it was pretty late. We decided to stay in the Walmart parking lot for the night and head out early in the morning.
Thursday, March 2
(Driving)
Annie writes:
We were supposed to get an early start, but that didn’t happen. I went to Walmart to do groceries while Dan ran to Staples. We both got back about the same time and were getting organized to leave, we had the door open so Cooper could look outside. Well, we get a lot of people who come around to visit, and today a car stops, a lady gets out and is just standing at our door. I went over and she handed me this slip of paper, and she told me they said she should come at 11:30. WELL, it turns out the mammography motorhome was also in the Walmart parking lot that day, and she thought we were it! She was here for a mammogram! Dan and I were laughing hysterically (after she left), and he kept saying "You should have told her to come in, we’re doing manual mammograms today" It was so funny!!
We finally got on the road and knew we had a long way to go. We did great driving and would be close to our destination by the end of the day. We stopped at O’Charleys for dinner, as I was starving and we had to get fuel. There were 2 restaurant managers that kept coming to visit us because they saw us pull in and wanted to know more about us. Then we were on our way once again.
Dan & I both have CB’s in each of our vehicles to communicate. Mine is not great, but it works good enough for now. It was about 10:00 p.m., very dark, and we were in Alabama on Interstate 65. I follow about 3 tractor trailer lengths behind Dan most of the time. It was a 3 lane highway and fairly empty tonight. We were traveling about 70mph in the slow lane, and there was a truck coming up on my left towing a Uhaul. He was in the far left lane and as he was going past me he was moving into the middle lane. As he did so his trailer started to fishtail, and as he tried to slow down it got worse and worse. I put my brakes on, as this guy was weaving through all 3 lane at this point. I thought he was going to roll over, and I got on the CB and yelled to Dan "ACCIDENT! IT’S NOT ME!" That was all I could say as I was slamming on my brakes now way over in the break down lane. The truck with the Uhaul crashed into the Jersey barrier on the left side of the highway, and when he stopped, his truck was balanced on top of the barrier, with the Uhaul out in the 2nd and 3rd lanes. Keep in mind that all of this happened in less than 10 seconds. As I coming to a stop I could hear tires screeching, and I didn’t know who’s they were. They could have been mine, or it could have been my boat trailer (I was towing the boat,) but as I looked in the mirror I saw that a tractor trailer right behind me had his wheels locked up and was right on my tail. He just barely stopped in time. I was so scared. Meanwhile my CB is going crazy -- it is Dan screaming "ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?" He never saw any of this, and at this point is pulled over on the side of the road up ahead around the bend. Another car, who was apparently with the Uhaul, had seen the crash and the people were now running down the highway. The woman was already on the phone with 911. She gets up to me and is screaming "WHERE ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE?" I looked up and thankfully there was a mile marker sign not 5 feet away. We had all the lanes tied up at this point, and Dan had heard nothing back from me since I had yelled "ACCIDENT!", so I radioed that I was OK, and then moved out or the way to let some traffic through.
I pulled up behind the camper and the second I stopped the truck my arms and hands started shaking uncontrollably. I began sobbing, and tried to explain to Dan the whole incident. He calmed me down, and then we got back in the truck and circled around back to the scene. To my great relief the driver of the truck was not hurt, and no other cars were involved. We got back to the motorhome and Dan just held me. It was so scary for us, and we realized once again how lucky we were and we are, and we thanked God.
We eventually got back on the road and ended up making it all the way to the tournament site, at Lake Pickwick, Alabama. We got a campsite and got hooked up at around midnight. I thought I would have had trouble sleeping, but everything today just wore me out.
Friday, March 3
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
We are here for the final B.A.S.S. Eastern Invitational - the 4th out of 4 tournaments this year on that trail. It rained hard this morning so I was in no hurry to get out fishing during the rain. Around noon things began to clear and I went down to the local tackle shop and bought a map of the lake. Back at the camper I studied it and decided that the areas I’d like to fish are about 50 miles away, down towards Pickwick Dam. I went back to the tackle shop and bought another map, this time of Wilson Lake, which is only about 5 miles away, on the other side of Wilson Dam. You’d have to lock through the dam on tournament days, but for practice you just drive over the dam and launch your boat on the other side. This I did later in the afternoon, and fished for a couple of hours.
Annie writes:
I cleaned the house from top to bottom today. I washed every possible inch of the inside. I did some laundry and once again we do not have a 50 amp hookup so I am blowing the circuits every so often. I called Kate to see how her couple of days snowboarding went and she said she did very well. Dan came home around 5:30 and we were outside for a little bit. There are a couple of guys in the site next to us who are sleeping in their truck. We went over to apologize for making so much noise last night when we came in and they never even heard us. One of the guys got all excited at that point and started saying " I know who you are". Yes, they knew of us and said they were talking about us just that morning and then BANG here we are. It was pretty funny. I called my Dad to tell him about our near accident because they would find out from someone who reads the journal and they don’t like to hear things that way. When my Mom got home and heard the news she called me to see how we were. We talked for a while, she is all excited because it is now March which means we will be home next month. Bobby & Deanna Wilson came over to visit for a while, they are staying a few sites down from us. We started watching a movie (There’s Something about Mary) during dinner, but will continue it tomorrow since we can not keep our eyes open.
Saturday, March 4
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
Five practice days left. Fished Wilson Lake again today. There are lots of fish to be caught - it would be easy to catch a limit of 13-14" fish, but of course here the limit is 15". The 13’s and 14’s you can’t even weigh in, so these fish won’t help you. I caught 2 keepers today, pitching a Ninja Jig under boat houses.
Annie writes:
It is freezing out this morning, thank goodness Dan said I did not have to go fishing. I told him I would make him a nice pork roast for dinner. I did some more laundry and mostly odds and ends things that are on our list. We had a nice dinner, watched the rest of our movie, and Ron & Phyllis Poirier came over to visit for a little while.
Sunday, March 5
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
Four practice days left. Today I trailered down to the dam area of Pickwick Lake, which will be about 50 miles by water, and fished all day down there. I fished Yellow Creek hard, and all the area within 10 miles of the dam. I caught only one keeper and two 14" fish all day, so have written off this area as a potential.
Monday, March 6
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
Three practice days left. Fished with Ron down around mid-Pickwick Lake - we both caught one keeper all morning. I decided to give up on Pickwick Lake and concentrate on Wilson Lake, so I quit at around noon and headed back to the camper. When I arrived at the park, I could see from far away an orange boat sitting in the parking area. That’s my CITGO boat! It was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but apparently the truck delivering it showed up a day early. This worked out great. Since I had quit early today, I was able to spend the rest of the day getting the new boat set up and all my stuff transferred over.
Annie writes:
I had to go find the Ranger guys to set up a time for us to pick up our CITGO boat, which was being delivered here tomorrow. Our loaner boat is supposed to go back on the same trailer. I rode down with Deanna Wilson (we rode their bikes) and our boat was already there! And it sure is orange! The truck with the delivery trailer had already left, but they said not to worry about the loaner boat - it was going to someone else here at the tournament.
Bobby Wilson was at a trailer getting his boat serviced, so we visited for a while and then rode back home. Dan came in around 12:00, and I was shocked. It worked out great because we went over to get our new boat, and worked on it all afternoon. After dinner we went out to the car wash the clean the loaner boat up for the next guy who gets it.
Tuesday, March 7
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
Two practice days left. Fished out of the CITGO boat for the first time today, and brought Annie and Cooper with me. We fished up in Wilson Lake again, and ran around trying to figure something out. There are A LOT of boats fishing this lake now - it looks like the majority of the tournament guys are going to be locking through and fishing up here. Once again I caught a lot of fish today - 12 to 15, but only 2 keepers. These I caught flipping and pitching that Gambler jig again to boat houses, so it looks like that’s what I’m going to stick with come tournament day.
Annie writes:
Cooper and I went out in the boat today and I organized Dan’s tackle all day. I restrung his line and put things away so he will not have too much to do tomorrow night. We went to one place to let Cooper swim, and when he jumped off the boat his leg got caught in the trolling motor rope and he did a faceplant into the water. I was yelling "GET HIM, GET HIM!" as his head was straight down under water and wasn’t coming up, and we were about to jump in to help him when he got himself untangled. I thought for sure his leg was broken, but instead it is just very bruised. That does not make him like the new boat too much.
When we came home we were exhausted. Dan cooked us dinner and we went to register for the tournament at 8:00. Afterwards, we had a bowl of ice cream and went to bed.
Wednesday, March 8
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama)
Dan writes:
Final practice day. Spent it breaking in the CITGO boat, and trying to put some hours on the new engine. It’s hard not to just let it run, but I always try to go through the proper break-in procedure whenever I have a new engine. I ran around on Wilson Lake all day, fishing some and marking good looking boat houses on my Lowrance LMS 160 GPS. I have 15 or 20 marked now, so my plan for tomorrow is simply to run to as many of these as I can in my allotted time, and see if I can’t get a few decent bites doing so. This B.A.S.S. tournament is a draw format for partners, which means that I get only half the day to do what I want. Combine that with the lock schedule, and I could end up with as little as 2 hours to fish my fish.
Annie writes:
I was planning on going fishing this morning, but Dan said he was going to be fishing with his life jacket on and running around a lot. Basically I would probably be in the way more than helping him. That was fine with me. I arranged for our next package of mail to be sent to us and ordered a part we need for the coach. Dan came in early and we got the boat all cleaned up and organized. We ate a quick dinner and were off to the meeting. It was nice to get to see everyone again, and lots of people commented on how good we look all dressed up in our CITGO clothing. Came home, had a bowl of ice cream, made Dan lunch and we were off to bed.
Thursday, March 9
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama - B.A.S.S. Eastern Invitational - Day 1)
Dan writes:
Drew a partner from Georgia who was fishing his first B.A.S.S. tournament. He was fishing in Wilson Lake, also, which was a good thing. If he were in Pickwick Lake, then we would have a hard time deciding who’s fish to go to. If we couldn’t agree, and tried to fish both lakes, then neither one of us would have much time to do their thing. So we locked through to Wilson and spent the day there.
The lock schedule was predetermined for this tournament. The gates would be open in the morning to let us in, and would close at 7am sharp. It was then about 45 minutes to fill the lock with water, and let us out the other side into Wilson Lake. We’d begin fishing around 8:00. Coming home, you had to be inside the lock by 1:50pm, as this is when they shut the gates to take us back down. That meant that we had 5 1/2 hours to split between us for fishing.
The fishing was about what we expected. I ended the day with one keeper, caught on the Ninja Jig, and plenty of 14" fish.
Annie writes:
Dan is due in at 3:30. I spent the day cleaning house, writing some business letters and made a big pot of stew for dinner. I have not got high hopes for this tournament, so no matter what Dan comes in with will be fine with me. I went to the weigh in with Phyllis and Dan came in with 1 fish. That’s pretty good because 126 guys did not catch a fish at all. Dan met his partner for tomorrow and we got the boat out of the water. We came home and cleaned the boat, got his tackle ready for tomorrow and had a very nice night together. We watched a movie and had a bowl of ice cream.
Friday, March 10
(Lake Pickwick, Alabama - B.A.S.S. Eastern Invitational - Day 2)
Dan writes:
I drew a partner for today who fishes the Top 150’s, and who is fishing the dirty water up in the backs of the creeks on Wilson Lake. He’s fishing for big fish, allegedly, with a jig, and I agreed to go with him to his fish, at least for the morning. When we got there, I could see that there was big-fish potential, and as the sun was not going to shine at all today, I didn’t have much confidence in my boat house pattern. I ended up letting him have full control, to do whatever he wanted today, and he finished the day with 2 fish, of about 3 pounds apiece, and I had nothing.
Late last night the thought occurred to me that, unless I was likely to get a check at this tournament, I would really be better off spending a valuable extra day practicing back on Lake Murray for the upcoming FLW, instead of just killing time here with the last day of this tournament. We agreed that if I don’t catch enough fish today to catch up, then we’d skip tomorrow altogether and move back over to South Carolina a day earlier than planned. Looks like that’s what we’re going to do.
Annie writes:
We plan on leaving tonight if Dan does not do good today, so he can get in as much practice as possible in SC. That meant I had a very busy day, getting prepared, just in case. I got the house ready for travel, cleaned up the yard and put everything away. Then I went to get my nails done and run a few errands before weigh in. I visited with Deanna for a while and they will also be going to SOC. next. Dan came in with no fish, which really did not bother me. We went back to the camper, and Ron & Phyllis had invited us over to dinner, so we had planned on that. We got the boat ready to go so we could head out quickly after eating. We had a delicious turkey meal, and ice cream. We were stuffed and it was pouring rain, with tornado warnings all over, so we decided to stay the night and leave early in the morning.
Saturday, March 11
(Driving)
Annie writes:
We drove out of the campground at 6:30am, and had a long drive ahead of us, We drove, drove, and drove some more. We stopped for breakfast, but not lunch. We arrived in South Carolina at our campground at about 5:30pm. We got situated and were right next to John & Laraine Hobbie, so we had a quick visit and went home to cook dinner. We were extremely tired from driving almost 500 miles today, but we are glad that we’re here. Dan called Dick, who’s been here fishing for a few days, and made plans to meet him on the water tomorrow.
Sunday, March 12
(Lake Murray, SC)
Dan writes:
FLW tournament - 3 practice days left. I was real excited to get out fishing today. I was catching them good two weeks ago in pre-practice, on a jig, and was anxious to find out if this pattern still exists. I met Dick at 7am and we talked awhile about what he’s been doing for the last few days, and then we set out. We fished in the dingier water upriver for the first few hours, and it was very slow. Dick caught two 13" fish, and I got nothing. We moved back down to the clearer water and I took Dick into some of the places I caught fish 2 weeks ago. In the first pocket I took him I caught a 4 pounder on a spinnerbait (the wind was blowing into the back of this pocket), and Dick caught one close to 5 pounds on a worm. In the next pocket I caught a 2 ½ pounder on a worm. In the third pocket we agreed that we’re not setting the hook any more and catching any more of these fish. Well Dick got all the way to the back to the very last dock and he flipped his worm over there, and a fish bit it. He tried to pull it away but the fish wanted it so bad, and just wouldn’t let go. The fish hooked itself, and it was over 7 pounds.
Annie writes:
I did laundry all day and set the house up to be here for a while. I cooked a stew for dinner and when Dan came home I wiped the boat down and then went out to do groceries. I came home and Dan was visiting at John & Laraine’s house. I went over for a quick visit and then had to come put away the groceries. Things are starting to get to me. Dan has to deal with fishing and that is all that is on his mind and it feels like I have all of the rest of the worlds problems on my shoulders and they are really bothering me. Dan can not get involved in them, because he has to stay focused for fishing, and I understand that, but feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I worry about a lot of things that I have no control over, or that I should not worry about, but I can’t help it. I tried and am trying not get on Dan about things, but it is inside me and I wish I could just forget about them. We have done nothing but fish or drive for a while now, and we really need the time off that is coming up after this tournament.
Monday, March 13
(Lake Murray, SC)
Dan writes:
FLW tournament - 2 practice days left. Even though it sounds like we had a good day yesterday, I’m frustrated because I cannot make my jig/floating dock pattern work. I didn’t have one bite on it yesterday. I decided today to throw that worm that Dick caught 2 big fish on yesterday. Well this I did all morning, and never caught a fish. Dick did it all day long, and never caught a fish. I eventually caught a few fish off of beds in the afternoon, but this is not what I had wanted to do this week. I am not a great bed-fisherman, and I feel there are too many variables involved. These include: 1) fishing pressure - there are lots of guys fishing the beds right now; 2) weather - we’re expected to have partly cloudy to cloudy skies for the tournament days - I need both the sun and calm winds to see the fish; and 3) water level - we had rain a couple of days ago and the lake level is rising - it’s up a foot already and still coming up. That just makes the both the beds and the fish a foot deeper and even harder too see.
As I said, I’m frustrated because I cannot catch a fish off a dock. We spooked quite a few out from under the docks today, but they are not biting anything. I took John Hobbie out with me today, and he says that it’s because of the cold front that went through - it was 30 degrees with a heavy frost this morning. He thinks that fishing will pick up as the week progresses. Well I agree with him on that, but that doesn’t help me to make a plan. Do I continue to fish the docks - though I haven’t caught a fish in two days doing this, or do I start bed fishing? I have only a half day of practice left to figure something out.
Annie writes:
John went fishing with Dan today. I got up right after they left and had to run some errands. Laraine let me use her car. I had to go to the Post office and get a few little things. I came home and did some computer work, more laundry and cleaned the house. I wiped the boat down when Dan came in and helped him get his clothes and cooler emptied and organized. We went out to dinner for Johns birthday with John, Laraine, Bobby & Elaine Smith, and 2 other couples, Judy & Rodney and Jack & Susie. We had a great time and when we got home I checked our messages on the computer and I got an IM message from Dan’s son Chris. We talked for a little while and it was wonderful. It is the first time we got to talk on IM. I can’t wait to go home and spend time with them.
Tuesday, March 14
(Lake Murray, SC)
Dan writes:
FLW tournament - final practice day. I spent much of my time today just looking. That is, with the trolling motor on high speed I’d just run down the banks looking for fish. When I’d see one, I’d slow down to see what that fish was going to do. The fish usually get spooked and run off when they see the boat, but many of them return to the same spot very quickly. If they then stay in that spot even after you turn the boat around to watch them, then chances are they are relating to a bed in that spot. (For some reason it is difficult to see the beds themselves here, and much easier to see the fish.) I found quite a few fish who were "locked on" to beds with this method today. I threw at some of them, and most of them I could get to bite within just a few minutes, though I shook them all off and didn’t set the hook on any of them.
The other thing I did this afternoon as I was zipping along with the trolling motor on high speed was I threw a buzzbait in between beds and in the backs of the pockets. I had taped the hook up so I couldn’t catch the fish, but I had 5 bites on the buzzbait once I started throwing it. I don’t know how big they are, but those would be all bonus fish if they were to bite tomorrow.
So here it is - my plan for tomorrow is to go sight-fishing. I have marked on my Lowrance GPS every spot I’ve seen where there are fish on beds. I’ll just run from one to another, and hope that the weather stays calm enough for me to see what I am doing. I only wish that that I had figured this out 2 or 3 days ago, so that I had more spots to run to.
Annie writes:
I was going to go out fishing with Dan today, but he said he was going to be moving so fast that there was no need for me to go out. I ironed clothes most of the day. Dick called on his cell phone, and he was broken down out on the lake, but I had no way to get in touch with Dan. He finally flagged another boat down to tow him in.
Dan came in late, around 5:00, we had a lot to do in a very short time. I helped him get his tackle ready and then we got dressed and ran out to the meeting. We registered and then ate the free dinner they serve at these meetings. Dan got a late boat number, and met his partner, who seemed very nice. I think this is his first big tournament. Dan told him that he was going to be sight-fishing, and apologized ahead of time. Sight-fishing tournaments are not good for the non-boaters, generally. We stopped at a car wash on the way home to wash the Suburban - it was filthy. Got home, hooked the boat up, and had to go out and fill it with gas. There was a CITGO station right across the street, so that was easy. Came back home and John came over to see if he could catch a ride with Dan in the morning.
Wednesday, March 15
Lake Murray, SC - FLW Tournament - Day One
Dan writes:
Today was an up and down day for me, emotionally. I did my thing out there for eight hours, and feel I could not have done it any better, based on what I found in practice. I moved a lot, and I looked at every place I had found with fish on beds at least twice today. I got off to a good start, with a solid 3 pound’er early. The second fish was also over 3 pounds, now we have a real good start. The third fish was just a 12 inch’er, but the next one went 4 pounds. That’s 11 1/2 pounds for 4 fish - solid. Unfortunately, I never caught a 5th fish, so I weighed-in 11 1/2 pounds.
Normally, I’d be pretty happy with 11 1/2 pounds the first day. But this is not a normal tournament. The bags being weighed-in today were HUGE. The cut for 75th place right now is 14lbs. 2oz. I am in 94th place with my 11 1/2 pounds, and all the beds I know of have now been picked clean. After all of the practice we’ve put in here for this tournament, tomorrow I am going to have to start fishing brand-new water.
And Oh, by the way, 10 different guys today brought in a 5 fish limit that weighed over 20lbs.!!!
Annie writes:
I went out with a Laraine, Elaine & Susie this morning and then we got some lunch and had a picnic at the launch ramp while waiting for our husbands. Dan was due in at 4:00, and boy were there some big weights being brought in. Dan came in with a little over 11 lbs. I was very happy with that. This puts him in the running to get a check tomorrow if he can get another good bag, but he says he’s run out of fish. After the weigh in we had to go to the service truck for a part on the trolling motor. We did not get home until 7:00, and Dan was exhausted. I wiped the boat down and cooked dinner. We watched a little TV and were in bed by 9:00.
Thursday, March 16
Lake Murray, SC - FLW Tournament - Day Two
Dan writes:
I had to start again from scratch today - all of the fish I know of have already been caught. I just put the trolling motor down right there at take off and start looking. The weather today was cloudy, with periods of heavy rain, and a little bit of wind to ruffle the surface, too. Decidedly not the best conditions for visually searching for fish, or for bed fishing, but I still managed to catch 2 fish, a 3 pounder and a 2 1/2. It was obvious from the conditions that all of the weights were going to go down today, and they did. Lots of guys who really caught ‘em good yesterday didn’t do much at all today, and there were even some guys who caught a 20lb. bag yesterday who ended up not even getting a check. The cut for a check was around 24lbs, and I had 17.
More than any tournament I have ever attended, this tournament was dominated by sight-fishing. In fact I don’t know of a single person who figured out how to catch the fish that were NOT on the bed. I heard numerous people comment on how they could not get these staging fish to bite anything. There were plenty of fish hiding out under the floating docks, but no one seemed to be able to catch them - it was just the fish locked onto beds who were being caught. The only exception to this might be the fish caught on a wacky worm - a number of guys caught ‘em by throwing a 4 or 5" straight worm rigged wacky-style next to the docks and letting it sink - but there’s no telling whether it was fish suspended under the docks that were biting, or fish bedding under the docks. The bottom line is though, no matter what pattern you were catching them a week or two earlier, if you weren’t "lookin’ at ‘em" this week, or sight-fishing, then you just weren’t catching ‘em. As I said before, I only wish I had figured this out a few days earlier. This is the first tournament I can think of in which I can honestly point to my lack of practice time as the cause of a poor finish. Some readers will now be saying "Wait a minute, you practice more than any guy I know, and you still never figure it out." Well I can’t argue with that, but this time I did figure it out, but because I was off fishing the B.A.S.S. tournament last week, I just didn’t do it until it was too late.
Annie writes:
I went to lunch with Laraine and Elaine, and we got it to go and had another picnic at the launch ramp. Dan was due in at 3:20, and this time he only had 2 fish. He had a total of about 17lbs, and it took 23 or 24 something to get a check. Oh well. When it was all over we got the boat out and got home around 6:00. We ran through the shower, changed, and were back out the door for a CITGO pro-staff dinner. We had a really good time and got home around 9:45. We were exhausted and have to get up early tomorrow for a photo-shoot, so we went right to bed.
The next tournament, at Beaver Lake (Arkansas), would be great to win because it is huge. The winner gets $200,000. I am ready, and we really need to have a good tournament, so any one that can help us to get on fish out there next month can feel free to email us at Help@Danielkeyes.com It’s time for us to win!
Friday, March 17
Lake Murray, SC - FLW Tournament - Day Three
Dan & Annie write:
We were up at 5:30 and trying to look our best. We met the rest of the CITGO pro staff at the lake and had a big photo shoot. It was a lot of fun. We also did some shots on the water. We all went out in 4 CITGO boats right there in the harbor where the weigh-in was and we could see beds all over so we tried to catch the fish on the beds so the photographer could get some shots of this. Well, who do you think caught the first fish? ANNIE!!!
We finished up around 11:30 and went back to our campsite, where we packed everything up and moved over to a parking lot next to the Walmart. We watched the weigh in, went to dinner with John & Laraine, and later moved the camper and boat over to the Walmart parking lot.
Saturday, March 18
Lake Murray, SC - FLW Tournament - Day Four
Dan & Annie write:
Dan got up and went out to wash the truck and the boat. We look really good parked here with all of our stuff that proudly displays our sponsors. Glenn, the CITGO photographer, came over to take some more pictures of us. We went to work at the fun zone for 11:00. It was a cold day, but a very good day. Dan parked the CITGO boat next to the race car and it looked real good. Dan and the rest of the pro staff autographed 720 hats today, and Brian, William, Dan & myself got hooked into dancing at the Coca Cola booth. They always have the kids dancing during the day, and when they saw us go by they forced us to come over and join in. It was fun, as well as funny! Afterwards, Dan & I got to do the drawing for CITGO up on stage with Wayne. He is great because he always introduces us as the stars of their TV commercials, and Dan got to tell everyone about our journal here on ESPN.com. When we got off stage the marketing director for Operation Bass called us over and asked if they could do a story about us and our travels. So things are looking good, we just need to catch more fish. We were very tired after weigh in so we decided to stay where we are and leave in the morning. I went to do a few groceries while Dan went to get a pizza and we met back at home.
Sunday, March 19
(Charleston, South Carolina)
Dan & Annie write:
We got up at 7:30, open up the house and started driving. We drove to Charleston and found a nice campground to stay at. We paid for 2 nights and have no idea how long we will stay. We met my girlfriend Christina at 3:00 and had a great day with her. We went out to dinner, did a little shopping and then hung out at the bar at the restaurant she works at. I had not seen her in almost 2 years and it was great to catch up.
Monday, March 20
(Charleston, South Carolina)
Dan & Annie write:
We woke up and it was pouring rain. What a great day to make you stay inside and get things done. I showered, dressed, put on comfy clothes and had a very busy day. We did lots of computer work, cleaned the house and did laundry all day long. Dan did some computer work in the morning and then went out to run some errands. We went to the movies to see Erin Brockovich this evening, and had a wonderful time.
Tuesday, March 21
(Charleston, South Carolina)
Annie writes:
Dan woke up before sunrise and started working on the computer. We stayed home all day and got a lot done. I gave Dan a haircut, started to give Cooper a haircut, did laundry, cleaned the inside of the suburban, laundry, more laundry and lots of other things. Dan got lots of work done on the computer and also got some sponsor names on the truck. Dan cooked dinner and we lounged around and watched a video.
Wednesday, March 22
(Charleston, South Carolina)
Annie writes:
A perfect day. Dan was again up at sunrise and I am really enjoying sleeping in. We worked around the house until noon and then we went into Charleston. We took a scenic tour with a guide that was quite interesting, then we spent the day walking around town. We must have walked 4 miles. We went out to lunch, walked to the Battery, lounged in the grass at a little park and just walked hand in hand around town, did some shopping, but did not buy anything. We came home and made some Nachos and are really happy that we took the time to enjoy the town and have fun.
Thursday, March 23
(Leaving Charleston)
Annie writes:
It is pretty chilly today so we decided this is the day to leave. We packed up our campsite, organized the house and headed to Nashville, there is a big Camper store there we want to go to. We got as far as Columbia, SC and there was a big shopping strip there I wanted to go to. We went to the mall and I got the coolest pair of boots you will ever see. They are silver glitter, maybe we can get a picture on the web site because I will not be wearing them to the weigh ins. They are fun boots. By the time we left the mall it was after 7:00 and we had not eaten yet. We decided to camp out in the Walmart parking lot for the night. I talked to my Mom tonight for almost an hour. She has been getting our mail for us and sorting through it. I sent her a cookie bouquet to thank her for all she’s done.
Friday, March 24
(Driving)
Annie writes:
We got up pretty early and Dan is working on his emails. He has a ton to catch up on. I decided I am cutting my hair again and went to the Mall for 9:00, but they did not open until 10:00. I got my hair cut and highlighted and it looks very cute. When I got back to the camper Dan was taking a break from his emails and cooking lunch. He had written himself a note, and left it on his computer table that said "Dan, no matter what, you LOVE Annie’s hair!!!" That was his reminder for when I came back. He’s so cute. We hung around for a while and got some more things done, then we headed on the road around 3:00pm. We drove out of South Carolina finally and drove through all of North Carolina and stopped for the night at a Walmart in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Saturday, March 25
(Driving)
Annie writes:
We made it out to around Nashville, TN, before we stopped at the camper store there for supplies, and then got on the road again. We saw a bad accident on the highway, and that really makes you think, and also makes you very thankful. We are tired of driving and wish we could get there soon. We slept at a Flying J truck stop right off the highway.
Sunday, March 26
(Driving)
Annie writes:
We had a good day of driving and got just beyond Little Rock, AR. We could see a storm up ahead and then all of a sudden it was like someone was throwing rocks at us. The traffic on all 4 lanes of the highway was pulled over and there was not a soul driving, it was hailing the size of golf balls. I had never seem hail so big. It lasted about 3 minutes, and then we were on our way, but not much farther. We stopped at a Flying J truck stop in Russellville, AR for the night. The weather was getting pretty bad and it was only going to get worse. They were predicting tornadoes all around us. We ate dinner and were in bed by 8:30. We slept in what we like to call our tornado clothes, ready for quick action, because we did not know if the tornado was coming. We just went to bed hoping for the best.
Monday, March 27
(Arrive at Beaver Lake, Arkansas)
Annie writes:
We had a pretty quiet night. The storm ended quickly with no damage to our surroundings. We got an early start and arrived in Lowell, Arkansas, around 1:00. This is where we will be staying for this tournament. We are so glad to be here. Jerry & Carol Wright, from Texas, are also here, but for a different tournament - the EverStart, which is this week. It is great to see them again. Dan got the outside somewhat organized and I am trying to get the inside organized and already have the washer going. The house needs a major cleaning. Dan cooked us an early dinner and I did the dishes then we watched a movie.
My sister-in-law called me to tell me that they finally sold their mobile home and have to be out be the middle of April. I was glad to hear they finally sold it, but they have no idea where they will go. They are now looking for a house.
Tuesday, March 28
(Beaver Lake, Arkansas)
Annie writes:
I went out to do some errands for a while. I had to get our names embroidered on some of our CITGO shirts, did groceries, had the truck washed, made an appointment for the truck to be serviced tomorrow morning, and then returned home. Dan put some more sponsor names up on our motorhome, as well as our website address. I got to talk to Kate for a while on IM. We can’t wait to go shopping together. Dan and I went for a little walk after dinner and had a quiet night.
Wednesday, March 29
(Beaver Lake, Arkansas)
Annie writes:
We have not been on the water yet, or even near it. It is raining, hailing, thundering, with lightening bolts all over, and it is freezing. So glad we don’t HAVE to be on the water. The EverStart tournament began today, but it was so nasty outside that we did not even go see the weigh in. I had an appointment for the truck at 10:00 and got all the scheduled maintenance done. I got home around 12:30 to find that Dan was having a very bothersome day - personal issues we his "ex" that we have to deal with. We stayed in and did work in the house for the rest of the day, and babysat Cooper Dog, who goes crazy with the thunder and lightening. You have to let him sit in your lap all day, else he’ll be barking up a storm.
Thursday, March 30
(Beaver Lake, Arkansas)
Annie writes:
Dan was working on some computer things so I took the truck out and had it serviced. I met Dan back home for 2:30 and we went to the weigh in together. We had a pretty quite night at home after that. I talked to Kate today and she is on the Varsity tennis team in the # 2 spot. She was so excited and we are so proud of her. Not long now and we will be able to see them, this is a hard 2 weeks because we are so anxious to be home with our family.
Friday, March 31
(Beaver Lake, Arkansas)
Dan writes:
Here’s what’s going on: We arrived here at Beaver Lake on Monday. Our FLW tournament doesn’t start for another two weeks, so we’re in no hurry to start practice fishing. I’ve been working on the computer, and trying to get some changes and updates made to the website in the last few days. At the same time, Jerry "Doc" Wright is here camped next to us, and he is fishing the EverStart tournament here that started Wednesday, and he has been filling me in on the fishing conditions throughout the week.
Conditions are this: The lake level is at a record low for this time of year - probably 10 feet below normal pool, so there will definitely not be any fish in the bushes. Water temperature is mid 50’s upper lake, low 50’s lower lake, and water clarity in phenomenal - in 20 feet you can look down at rocks and trees and fish on the bottom. The fish are currently in a pre-spawn pattern - staging on cover and structure 10-15’ deep and preparing for a big move shallow.
I did make it out on the water for half a day today. I fished up the river 5 or 10 miles, and caught a total of 2 short fish. At the EverStart weigh-in - today only the top 30 from the first two days got to go out - it appeared that very few of the top 30 competitors, maybe one or two, were fishing upriver. This confirms the rumor we’ve been hearing that most of the fish being caught this week are coming from down the lake, way down towards the dam. It took only 7 1/2 pounds today to make the top 10 cut. Jerry came in 14th overall. Not bad.
Annie writes:
I had the car today so I put Dan in the water and went running all over town. I had my nails done, got some of our names embroidered on our CITGO shirts, washed the truck and met Dan at the weigh in for 2:30. We socialized for a bit and then came home. Dan had to run some errands in town so I went out with him. My Mom called and I got to talk to her and my Dad for a while, they can not wait for us to get home.
Link to:
April 2000
March 2000