Good To Be Back Derb'n Again - Week 1 Results - John Holtz

(Written by John Holtz)

Oh my goodness is it ever good to be back derb’n again! Keith asked me to write some random thoughts, so we are just gonna let this one flow. People laugh at me about how I describe fishing tournaments. They are like, “you fish all the time… why are you making a big deal outta it this time?” Well, to the outsiders they won’t get it until they fish a tournament. It is a different mindset, style, heck it is a different sport! When I go chunk around my favorite My Bait Shop lures on a fun evening, weekend, or even practice day it is not the same. When you know that the money is down, and others have the same hope. Well, it turns into you vs. the world. Your breath gets quicker, your senses get edgy, to me it is nearly an out of body experience.

We did good at this event. One of the best tournament circuits in Kansas fished a great fishery, at a really tough time. Out of 22 absolute hammers, we came in 6th. The pain in the butt is we came in 6th with 4 fish, not 5! Today, a week later, I am still kicking myself over that! The winning weight was 5 fish for 19.64lbs… we had 4 fish for 13.22lbs.. realistically we were 1 fish away from second place, and a bigun away from winning! That is why it is more than just another weekend of fishing! The spooks and spirits of fishing come for the soul of the "derber" first… then they poltergeist around telling you to hop back in with a still broken heart the next weekend!

Results from Week 1

I wonder what people who don’t fish think about? Probably about their successful lives, and fat bank accounts… suckers! You only get one life, more if you are a Buddhist! Might as well buy the lures and go catch um!

Off to one more warm up tournament, and then Bassmaster Opens here I come! Thanks for following along on my journey! God Bless, and great hook sets to ya!

John P. Holtz

John Holtz is a touring tournament pro, and Bassmaster Opens Angler. He is primarily sponsored by MyBaitShop.com John whole heartedly hopes you take a child hunting and fishing so the outdoors will be there for the next generation.