During the recent Bassmaster Central Open on Louisiana's Red River, Brian Penso was flipping a hyacinth raft in an oxbow when his jig was engulfed. The Texas pro set the hook and watched as a water moccasin flew past his head.
When the snake landed in the boat, Penso quickly cut his line.
Classic Champ Boyd Duckett Settles into Season
While his ticket to the 2008 Bassmaster Classic already has been punched, reigning Classic champion Boyd Duckett of Demopolis, Ala., is not resting on his laurels. In fact, he's coming on strong.
With his eighth-place finish Sunday at the event on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, the pro has made two consecutive top-12 finals, including a sixth at Smith Mountain Lake.
"It's nice to get my head together and catch some fish for a change, huh?" he said, smiling.
Duckett had endured a slow start to his season. It began with a dismal 93rd-place showing at Lake Amistad, followed by 78th at the California Delta; then came 26th at Clear Lake, 58th at Clarks Hill and 33rd at Lake Guntersville. In two days of action at a Major in Greensboro, N.C., he failed to catch a keeper bass.
Duckett said he finally is settling into his role as an in-demand champion.
"I would have to think so," Duckett said. "I had so much stuff going on following the Classic with my business buyout and working on a divorce and buying a house. Not to mention winning the Classic and traveling so much.
"I had so much going on at the same time, I guess it just gets in your head. You just can't get settled."
These days, there are fewer demands on his time - and concentration - than at any point in 2007.
"I do feel a whole lot better," he said. "I've made two cuts in a row. The last couple of months have been real good for me.
"Just really being able to settle down and concentrate - just not feeling scattered. There's so much to think about that if anything else creeps in your mind these guys will beat you to death on this trail. They can catch them, by the way, if you haven't realized it."
Duckett was especially proud of his final-round catch this past weekend of 15 pounds, 10 ounces, which gave him a four-day total of 67-14.
"I had a good tournament going here, but in all honesty, I just ran out of fish," he said. "I had a great day today. I had 15 ½ pounds today, which doesn't sound impressive. But when you have absolutely nothing left and you scramble to catch 15 ½, that's a great day. I was proud of the fact that I fished all new stuff today."
With his newfound momentum, should those ahead of Duckett in the Classic standings be worried as the season enters the home stretch?
"You don't ever want to say that, but I do feel a whole lot better and I'm catching fish," said Duckett, who is 26th in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. "I've fished up North before so it's not completely strange to me. Never been to the Potomac, so I have to overcome that. It's hard to get on them in 2 ½ days on these places you haven't been."
FAMILY AFFAIR
It was a McClelland family reunion of sorts at the Elite Series event on Grand Lake. The McClellands live about an hour away in northwest Arkansas, and they were well represented.
In addition to defending tournament champion Mike McClelland, his father, brother and two sons competed as co-anglers.
TOYS, TOYS, TOYS
Bassmaster Weekend Series angler Jay Ladner was at the forefront of Skeeter's "Boat Load of Toys" program that recently sent 300 new toys to victims of Hurricane Katrina.Brian PensoLadner, of Kiln, Miss., donated more than 130 new toys and four bicycles.Brian Penso "Following Hurricane Katrina, our family lost just about everything, and we had tremendous support from people throughout the country, many of whom we did not even know," Ladner said. "We wanted to give something back, and this was a perfect opportunity to do so."
DID YOU KNOW?
With his finish at Grand Lake, Jeff Kriet has now made seven consecutive top-50 cuts and is one of only two anglers to cash a check at every event this year. Jared Lintner is the other.
IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO
Pro Kelly Jordon has been a professional angler all of his adult life. But there is one job he hopes he never has to do again.
"I was a mover," he told The Daily Oklahoman. "They would give you a big trailer and some jobs and you would go do them. Made about $100 bucks a day carrying stuff upstairs and downstairs. I never broke anything, so that was pretty good."
THEY SAID IT
"I go fishing. There's always someone that wants to go out fishing or there's something to do with someone that involves going fishing. I really do love it. This is a sport that you can do your entire life. I hope I've got a lot of years left. I plan on fishing, well, for many, many more years." Pro Tommy Biffle, when asked by the Tulsa World newspaper what he does during his rare time off at his Wagoner, Okla., home.