 How
important is it to have a quality team consisting of
four members? It is truly invaluable. My team has fished
one of the two Pro tours since 2004, with different
team members each year. And each year I ended up in
the same position, with only 2 team members able to
finish the season. While we did do well in some events,
it is very hard to sustain success over an entire season
with just two members on a team.
This
year I worked hard to find three other anglers for the
Reelin team that would truly be able to commit to a
season long of kingfishing. And I actually had some
luck this year. Shaun, who fished with us in the past,
returned after a broken foot side lined him last season.
Zack and Eric, who are both charter captains, jumped
at the chance to fish the FLW Pro tour with us. After
a couple of meetings we came up with our game plan,
got some practice fishing together, and looked forward
to the first event on the FLW Pro tour in Sarasota.
The
importance of having a four member team showed immediately
upon arrival in Sarasota. We were all able to have our
own small tasks, which helped the team as a whole. Zack
and Eric checked us in and then went through all of
the tackle to make sure our gear was ready for the big
event. Shaun hit the stores for food, ice, and supplies.
And I made sure the boat was ready and did some R&D
on bait and fish.
We
then prefished on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Catching bait on these days was also great practice
for us, as a team since we really hadn’t fished
much together. This really acted as a chance to see
how we would work together in a couple of days. This
was when we would see if our game plan and assignments
would work. We definitely built some confidence, as
a team, prefishing.
The
first day was a tough bite for us. We decided to stay
close and work some fish that we had found while prefishing.
Knowing a lot of boats were making a long run, our plan
was to keep baits in the water as long as we possibly
could. We did not catch a kingfish on this first day,
but I was proud of the job that our team did. We stuck
with the plan, jigged some fresh baits, kept fresh baits
in the spread all day, and never quit. Some days you
will have a tough bite, like that first day, and I believe
that is when you learn most about your team.
We
all handled our assignments that evening and had a team
meeting over dinner. With four team members splitting
the work load, we were not scrambling all night, like
I was accustomed to in the past. Everybody came through
and finished their work, even though it was a tough
first day. At dinner we discussed our options and information
that I had gathered. We then finally came up with a
game plan for day two.
We
decided to make a long run, in snotty seas, on this
second day. Our first bite came from a 25 pound fish.
The team truly functioned like a well oiled machine
and everyone came through. We had our first fish of
the event and our first fish as a team in the bag, it
was great. We caught one more 20 pound kingfish, and
then the big fish ate. It was truly an awesome battle.
Everything you hear about the big kings, like long drag
searing runs and deep circles came to fruition with
this fight. The fight lasted forty minutes and we boated
the fish. What happened next allowed me to test how
important it is to have a four member team. We weighed
the fish, which was 40 pounds, 1 ounce. We then found
out that this fish was good enough to earn us a berth
in the final day of competition. Well, that’s
when it happened, TV interviews, special meetings and
a lot of things that took a lot of time. When we finally
finished up it was late. The boat needed fuel, we needed
bait, rigs and food. Our night was just beginning and
I knew that the four member team was key.
Zack
took the bay boat out to catch bait, Eric handled the
rods and new rigs. Eric then went with me to put the
boat on the trailer to get fuel. Shaun made the Wal-Mart
run for oil and other supplies that we needed, like
food. The whole time I was thinking that this would
be impossible with only two team members.
That
long night was really when I realized that 4 team members
is key to having success on these highly competitive
tours. Having four good team members with a common goal
and a strong work ethic is very important. The one lesson
that I want to share, is choose your team wisely, because
it is crucial to success on these tours.
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