Dave,

     Thanks for your post on my win. I've been meaning to post a thank you for awhile but due to computer problems was unable to until now. This was the only national trail I fished in 2010 (BFL, Bass Weekend Series etc.). As some of you know and for those that don't I lost my job in Sept. of 2008 and went jobless until July of this year. I decided to fish this tournament in August with the sole intent of winning it. One might ask isn't that always the intent when competing in any event? The answer is yes to an extent. When you fish a tournament trail like the FLW BFL or Bass Weekend Series you want to win but what's also important is catching enough fish to keep you in the points race for regional qualification. This tournament for me was different. I was only fishing this one event so winning was everything. Let me tell you all how my day went.

     First off let me tell you all that I didn't practice for the tournament. I had only been working my new job one month and wasn't about to take any time off to endanger my new job. I also hadn't been on Lake Champlain for over a month. But I was confident with all my time on the lake that I could win the tournament. Confidence is everything when fishing in a tournament and can often make the difference in winning or losing.

     The tournament launched at 5:30 p.m. and I was in the second flight of boats. My co-angler Skeeter Harvey was very unique in that he's deaf. If you haven't had the pleasure of fishing with someone who's hearing you don't know how much fun your missing. Skeeter is actually the third deaf angler I've had the pleasure of fishing with. One thing you learn right away is that when you hook a fish you have to use your foot to bang on the deck of the boat to get their attention in order to help you land your fish. But many times their senses are so attuned that they feel you set your hook and are ready with the net.

     I had a plan right from the onset, hit my best spot first and then if need be run and gun to my most productive areas. We arrived at my first spot and the first blessing of the day happened, we were completely alone. I mean that in every sense of the word because even the fish decided to leave us alone! For an hour I worked this spot and caught nothing. I then moved to my second spot. Throwing a jig working outside grass edges I hooked a big fish. The fish surged toward open deeper water and came unbuttoned. I turned to Skeeter and said this might end up being a long day to which he agreed. With no more bites we moved to another location. I finally put a fish in the boat, about 3 lbs. but couldn't get anymore fish to bite. The time was 9:30 am and I only had one fish in the boat. I needed to move again I told myself so I did just that. I was driving to my next spot and like any good angler was surveying water as I drove. I was driving by an area I had fished in the past that typically didn't fish well at that time of year so it wasn't on my mind. I began to feel a strong urge that it looked extremely fishy to me. It's hard to explain when you get that feeling but the best tournament anglers have fantastic gut instincts and now when to listen to them. I did just that and pulled up on a spot that I had no intention of fishing that day at all. I wasn't heading to that spot at that time, but I had that feeling and that feeling had so many times before payed off so I wasn't going to ignore it. I told Skeeter I had a feeling and was going to work this spot for a few minutes, if nothing happened we were leaving. He left his life vest on thinking we weren't staying long. I positioned the boat and began pitching my jig. I didn't take long at all about 5 pitches and I got bit and it was a good fish. My second fish of the day was now in the boat at around 4 lbs. I think Skeeter was more excited than I was. We went about a boat length further down shore and I hooked my third fish of the day weighing over 4 lbs. I was now getting excited, I was now convinced I had found what I was looking for. My next pitch put my biggest fish of the day in the boat at just under 5 lbs. I needed one more fish to make a limit and a good limit at that. We continued down the shoreline a bit farther and I noticed a small log in the water. I pitched to it and my line jumped. I set and hooked the kind of fish you wait all day for. It was a pig, it surged for deeper water and I fought it for a few more seconds and it came unbuttoned. I had now lost to big fish that day. I was wondering if I could recover from that, but put it quickly out of my head and focused on fishing again. Three flips later and I hooked another fish and quickly landed my 5th fish at over 4lbs. I only needed to cull the first fish I caught and I would have a good chance at a win. I did just that a few minutes later giving me over 19 lbs. Skeeter was now visibly shaking. I asked him if he was ok and said he was shaking because he never saw something like what he had seen before. In just over 20 minutes I had put a big bag of fish in the boat. I decided I was going to let Skeeter fish the rest of that shore, I threw out and let him throw in. But unfortunately he came up empty. I decided then that I was going to let him fish the better water to try and get him a good limit. He managed to catch one fish that day while I caught several more I could land any fish big enough to cull with. I was ok withthat, I thought I might have enough to win given the southern end of the lake was fishing tough for the last month. I also didn't care anymore if I won, I was already a winner. I witnessed pure joy in someone else's eyes that day and I made that happen just by what I did. That made me a winner already.

     It turned out that I did have enough to win at 19.02. I set out what I wanted to do and in doing so made a life long friend. That's what fishing is really all about.

Henry Fristik