Tuesday, January 1, On the Road Again
Dan writes:
We’re on the road again after what, for us, constitutes a long break. It’s been three and a half months and with the holidays now over and the cold weather settled in over our New Hampshire home, we’re ready and excited to be getting out again.
This year we’re signed up to fish the FLW, the B.A.S.S. Eastern Opens, and the EverStart Northern division. These are the same events we did last year, but what’s different now is that we are no longer traveling in the motor home – economic reality is such that if we cannot make more money fishing, we cannot afford to live in the motor home any longer either. This year we’re sleeping in the truck on the side of the road, and pitching the tent when we get where we’re going.
We left New Hampshire at noontime today, headed to Florida for the FLW tournament on Lake Okeechobee. Having sold the boat back in November, instead of heading straight down to Florida we are forced to side-trip out to the Ranger factory in Arkansas to pick up a loaner. This will stretch our drive out to about 3,000 miles. One way. Non-stop. And to make it worse, the Suburban is packed FULL! We’re not planning to drive home again until May, so that’s four months-worth of clothing, camping gear, cookware, bedding, and supplies that had to be packed. And, since we don’t have a boat with us right now, everything that would normally be kept IN the boat, such as rods and reels, tackle boxes, electronics, raingear, helmets, anchors, and battery chargers, all had to go into the Suburban as well. This is going to be a loooong ride!
Annie writes:
Today’s travels were great. We are both ready for the new fishing season to start, so we were both in good spirits all day, chatting, telling stories, and going over our plans. The biggest thing we discussed was our future in this sport. We have agreed that this will be our “make or break” year. We love the sport, the business, the fishing, and our “on the road” family, but we’ve been at it for some time now and it is not inexpensive. We have tried very hard to find sponsors, and to promote ourselves and the sport, and we feel we practice hard for every tournament. The outcome of these tournaments however have not gone our way. This is not easy to write. It would not be easy for us to leave the trail, but we need to start seeing a better return on our investment. Whether that return takes the form of a sponsorship deal, or a tournament win, we need some kind of sign to tell us that this is what we should be doing. We have invested a lot of time, energy and money into this sport that we love, but sadly, this may be our final year.
With that said, I do not want anyone to think that we are giving up. NOT A CHANCE! We will continue to work just as hard if not harder than we have in the past. In the back of my head I keep thinking that maybe this step, this “make or break” acknowledgment, is what we need in order to advance toward our goal. I am really looking forward to a great season.