BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Team Toyota’s Mark Daniels Jr. did not have a great start to Bass Pro Shops REDCREST Powered by OPTIMA Lithium on Lay Lake. The Tuskegee University grad managed just three scorable bass on Day 1, but a late afternoon conversation with his onboard MLF official put life in proper perspective.

“We all have bad days,” Daniels said. “I fished the way I wanted to, without forward-facing sonar, searching for shallow spawners with a wacky-rigged Senko. Practice was decent. But [Thursday], they weren’t having it. I felt pretty clueless, but I feel like my official, Bob, put life in proper perspective at the end of the day.”

A full day on the water shared between a top pro angler and a ride-along official can certainly yield fellowship if the two are mutually receptive to meaningful conversation, and that’s exactly what precipitated between “MDJ” and Roswell, Georgia-based, MLF official Bob Hubbard.

“With only 20 minutes left in this tough day, Bob was sharing how his 22-year-old son was forced to overcome a ton of adversity when an athletic injury changed the course of his life,” Daniels said. “He told me that fishing basically became a life raft for his son, and at that very moment, a bass smashed this black toad on the surface.”

Neither Bear Bryant nor Nick Saban could have convinced Daniels or Hubbard the perfectly timed topwater bite to punctuate the life-changing feeling fishing gives us, was purely a coincidence. It was a goosebump-raising moment that both men easily labeled the best part of a tough day on the Coosa River.

“That bite put it all in perspective,” Daniels admitted. “This sport helped save Bob’s 22-year-old son in many ways. I just need to go out and have fun Friday, with a clear perspective on why I’m here in the first place.”

Funny how a plastic toad became the catalyst to the best moment on an otherwise tough day for the highly likable Toyota pro.