Back on the road yet again

The past couple of weeks at home were a nice break for me. It’s a quiet time of year because we’re in between the ice-fishing and open-water seasons.
I’m back on the road this week for a lengthy trip, so I’ve been enjoying quite a bit of time at home getting as much housework and office work done as I can so that I don’t have to worry about it while I’m gone.
I managed to get most of our yard raked up, except for a few areas that still had snow cover.
As mentioned in last week’s column, I’m fishing three different bass tournaments on this trip—one in Wisconsin with my dad, and then two FLW Tour events (one in Alabama and one in Oklahoma)—so I’ll be putting on a few miles on the road.
Dad is coming with me to Alabama, so that will help out a lot on that long drive.
The tournament we’re fishing in Wisconsin is a one-day event taking place this Friday at Sturgeon Bay on Lake Michigan, then we have to drive through the night following the tournament to get to Alabama for Saturday evening.
We start pre-fishing for the FLW event at Lake Eufaula on Sunday morning. Since we only get three days to practice for these FLW tournaments, we have to be there and ready to go on Sunday morning.
Dave Bennett and I have been going to Sturgeon Bay for many years to fish in the annual Sturgeon Bay Open. It is one of the best smallmouth fisheries on the planet, with numbers of five-pound plus smallmouths that would blow your mind.
Alas, the Open takes place next week on the same dates as my Alabama tournament, so I’m missing it this year.
Sunset Country residents have had a lot of success at this event over the years, with several local teams winning the tournament. It is a big event, comparable to the KBI and Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
About a dozen teams from our area are headed down there to fish next week, so best of luck to all of them!
Going out to Sturgeon Bay this week adds on another week to my already month-long trip, but the fishing is so good and my dad has never been there, so I’m looking forward to spending a few days on the water there with him.
I promised him that he is going to catch his biggest smallmouth, so I’m looking forward to that.
My commitment to fishing in these tournaments is obviously pretty big, but I live for competing in these events so the travel is the price I have to pay. Thankfully, my fiancée, August, is very supportive of what I’m doing.
Our plan was for her to fly down and join me for a few days later in May, but it’s looking like her work schedule is very busy so we’ll see what happens.
If anybody runs into her, tell her that she should take a trip to visit me for a few days!
We had our wedding social this past weekend in Kenora and had a great turnout. The support from our friends was top-notch and very humbling, so thank you so much to everybody who came out and shared our night with us.
We had some great prize donations from many people in the community, so a huge thank you to all the people who helped us there, as well.
I hope the weather stays nice for everybody at home and the ice melts at some point! If I were betting, the odds of our lakes being clear by the May long weekend are not looking very good.
Hopefully we don’t have any more cold snaps and maybe things with open up.
I will keep everybody posted on my tournament results and travels over the next few weeks.