1000 Islands, New York – Attack on America!
Wednesday, September 12
Dan writes:
At 3:30 this morning I heard Mr. Skunk rattling around in the pots and pans out in the screen house. I let him be and slept in for another couple of hours. At 5:30 I arose and went outside to make the coffee, then sat down to decide what to do today. The radio was not reporting any new attacks, and there was no way to find out whether B.A.S.S. had canceled the tournament overnight, so I got set up and went out for the last day of practice. Around mid-day I got the call from Annie – it was off. There have been no new attacks, but the realization of what actually did take place yesterday, the magnitude of the devastation and the absolute horror of it all, was just settling in on most of America, including the organizers of events like this tournament. It was not a time for fishing.
We packed up the campsite and went to the B.A.S.S. meeting at 6pm, where we got the official word on the cancellation. We all said a prayer for the victims and their families, and B.A.S.S. officials listened to anyone who had anything to say. Aside from mourning the events of yesterday, there was serious debate over what to do about the canceled tournament. Was it being canceled, or just postponed to another date? What date? Where? Who would be entitled to fish it? Would there be refunds? Nobody had any answers today. At the conclusion of the meeting we all wandered back out to our trucks, and then headed home to be with our families.
Annie writes:
I was up before Dan left this morning. He decided to put in at our launch ramp, so that means I could have the truck for the day. After returning from the shower house I watched the news on the TV in the Suburban. It was a relief to hear that no other attacks had taken place through the night, but the feeling is that this is not even close to being over with, that this is going to last a long time.
Later I went into town to do some laundry and pick up a few groceries. MaryAnn and I had decided to meet for lunch, and I was a little early so I drove by the weigh-in site to see what was going on. I saw a few guys already in for the day, and I kidded them that they must have found the fish early. They informed me that the tournament had been canceled. I tried calling Dan, but he was out of service so he I just left him a message. I found MaryAnn and told her the news. Craig’s phone was also out of reach. MaryAnn and I still went to lunch, seeing that there was not much we could do, so we went and had a conversation about everything that was happening. After lunch I figured I might as well start packing up the campsite, and that way we could get out of town and on the road tonight.
Dan finally checked-in with me mid-day. He had just gotten my message. He came in and was relieved to see most of the campsite packed. We finished with that, went to dinner and then went to the B.A.S.S. meeting. Around 7pm we started driving and made it 200 miles before pulling into a rest area, where we slept until early morning.