Life On Tour

February 24, Birmingham, AL

Dan writes:

Some time between leaving Lake Ouachita on Friday and arriving in Birmingham yesterday, the thought occurred to me that, you know, the fishing is tough, I’m not going to have much practice, the water temp will be in the forties, it’s a long drive and…, I have not paid my entry fee yet. Now, this is almost like blaspheming and I’m afraid even to be thinking like this, but… what would happen if I didn’t pay the entry fee, and didn’t come back for the Ouachita FLW tournament at all?

In the last six years I have missed only one FLW event; now I am contemplating voluntarily skipping this one, and during our stated “make or break” year. For the longest time I debated even mentioning the idea to Annie, but she knew there was something on my mind and eventually drew it out of me. We discussed the pro’s and con’s during the long overnight ride.

Pro’s:

We would not have to spend another week fishing under tough conditions, and in below-freezing temperatures;

We could spend an additional week at home with the kids;

We would save $2,000 between entry fees and travel expenses.

Con’s:

Though it would not seem likely after the practice we just had, still I would be missing a potential opportunity to finish well in a major tournament;

Skipping the event would guarantee that my year-end standings would suffer as a result;

It is not good in the eyes of both existing sponsors as well as potential sponsors to not be in attendance at these events;

In what we have defined previously as a “make or break” season, the decision not to attend would definitely, both mentally as well as statistically, shift the scale towards “break”.

Annie writes:

Over the past couple of days Dan and I have been discussing the upcoming FLW tournament on Lake Ouachita. After much agonizing, we have made our decision: we are not going to fish. Our pre-practice was both frustrating and unsuccessful. We are not optimistic about getting a check. We are going to save the $2000 it would have cost, and spend an extra week home with the kids. As we stated at the beginning of the season, this is the time of change for us. We are not sure what is ahead for us, but after making the decision late today we feel comfortable with our choice. Only time will tell whether we will come to regret it later.