4:25 p.m. - Scott weighs in. He again has only three keepers for six pounds and change. The Mid-Atlantic Boater Division is won also by a West Virginian, Robert Harkness, with 27 pounds two ounces. Later on, Sean weighs in his one fish. It weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces. Terri and I stay for the rest of the weigh-in and applaud all of the winners.
7:00 p.m. - We go to dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the mall across the street. It is very good. I’ve already gotten over the debacle that was my tournament. I figure, someone has to come in last place. I have also decided that I need to get back to the Nationals some day to show everyone (including myself) that it all wasn’t just some kind of fluke.
8:20 p.m. - Back at the room. I’m physically and mentally drained. I relax for a while, and stay up later than the previous nights.
11:00 p.m. - I go to bed, hoping the promise of a new day will wash away the bitter taste in my mouth of the actual tournament, while leaving the sweet taste of the amazing experience I’ve had and how well we’ve been treated by the TBF.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
7:32 a.m. - The alarm goes off. I hit the snooze once and get up. I slept like the dead. I hit the shower. Terri is also up and we decide to head for breakfast, then come back to the room and start packing.
8:15 a.m. - We hit the breakfast buffet. The waitress tells me it is still free for us since I was a tournament participant. I’m not so sure she was right, but didn’t argue. We left her a hefty tip.
8:55 a.m. - We are back at the room just lounging.
10:18 a.m. - I call New Jersey Bass Federation Vice President Mike Hart. He and I have been communicating via voice mail over the past couple of days about the event. We talk for quite a while. Mike is a good friend and he congratulates both Scott and I for making it here and representing New Jersey.
10:45 a.m. - I finally begin packing up my rods and tackle. I successfully get everything back where it was originally. I’m not quite as worried about it all getting back home safely. We also start packing our luggage and other items.
12:00 p.m. - More lounging.
1:30 p.m. - We head downstairs to the Family Fun Zone set up outside the weigh-in area. We plan on checking that out, then watching the 3:00 p.m. weigh-in. We also plan on staying for the 4:00 p.m. third day weigh-in of the FLW anglers who made the cut from the Table Rock Lake event. By the way, I haven’t been outside today, but the weather is overcast with some light drizzle, although the weatherman indicated that the temperature will hit 50 today.
1:35 p.m. - Even before we enter the Family Fun Zone, we see Larry Nixon in the entrance way. I introduce myself and ask if I could get a picture. He agrees. Pretty cool already! We go into the arena. It’s pretty amazing. There are professional anglers everywhere. Many of the anglers who did not make the cut at the Table Rock event are there signing autographs and taking photos. I am just about overwhelmed. Calling me a kid in the candy store at that point would pretty well describe it. I don’t know where to start. Terri and I actually met and talked to, and got autographs from, in no particular order, David Fritts, Luke Clausen, Dave Lefebre, Clark Wendlandt, George Cochran, David Dudley, Dion Hibdon, and Jay Yelas. I also got my picture taken with all of them. We also talked to several other pros. All I can say is . . . wow!
2:40 p.m. - We get our seats for the weigh-in.
3:00 p.m. - The final weigh-in starts. The Co-Anglers are first. It was another tough day it appears and not too much weight is coming in. When it’s all over, Woody Parks, the Co-Angler from Georgia, is crowned the Co-Angler Champion with a three day total of 23 pounds, 13 ounces. He wins $5,000 and an entry into the BFL All American and Forrest Wood Cup. Next are the Boaters. Robert Harkness weighs in a good limit early on for a total weight of 40 pounds, 13 ounces, and takes the lead, remaining there until the Day 2 leader steps to the scales. He only needs a bit over six pounds to win. He doesn’t have it; he only weighs two fish that weigh less than five and one-half pounds. Robert Harkness is the TBF National Champion and is awarded his prize: $10,000 and the Living the Dream package (worth about $90,000 in money, merchandise, entries, etc). It felt good to see that an angler from our Division took the prize.
4:15 p.m. - The FLW Table Rock Lake weigh-in begins. The Co-Anglers are first. It is their championship day. Only the top 10 got to fish this day, and eventually, the Co-Angler champion, Patrick Majors, is crowned. He had over 14 pounds on the day and won $20,000.
4:40 p.m. - The top 10 pros begin to weigh in. Scott Canterbury takes the lead early on with over 16 pounds. It holds up through the rest of the anglers, almost all who are heavy hitters.
5:15 p.m. - On our way out, I see Troy Lindner with his Mom and Dad. I ask him if he would mind if I got a picture with him and his Dad. He agreed and Terri took my picture with them both. We talk for a few more minutes. I can’t say it enough times about what a true gentleman and how down to earth Al Lindner is; and Troy is a chip off the old block.
5:25 p.m. - Back in the room. Time to dress up and look pretty (!) for the banquet. In my case, that’s basically impossible, but luckily, I will have my lovely wife on my arm.
7:00 p.m. - We arrive at the banquet. We sit at a table with Tony and Mary, as well as Scott, his wife and daughter, and Brent McNeal from Pennsylvania. After the dinner, Robert Cartlidge, Charlie Evans and Forrest Wood all make speeches; and Robert introduces the new National Champion, Robert Harkness, as well as last year’s National Champion, Brian Travis, both of whom address the attendees.
9:00 p.m. - Robert begins to announce the anglers to come up front to receive their checks and trophies. The Co-Anglers are first, in reverse order, so yours truly gets to be the first one up there. On the dais, I get my picture taken with the trophy and Forrest Wood.
9:30 p.m. - I bump into my Day 2 partner, Sean Andrachick and get a picture with him.
9:45 p.m. - Back at the room, our packing continues. Our shuttle to the airport leaves at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, so we want to make sure we are all prepared.
11:15 p.m. - Time to hit the hay.
Sunday - March 15, 2009
6:30 a.m. - The alarm goes off. Time to get up and get going. I’m packing the final items into our bags. Terri is also readying herself.
7:25 a.m. - Since the hotel has slipped our bill under our door, I check out via phone. We call down for a bell person to come up for our luggage. He comes up and loads all of our stuff. I’ve packed things a bit differently this time just in case, but I am sure there will be no weight problems.
7:30 a.m. - We are in the lobby waiting for the 8:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport. Tony and Mary are there. We talk while we wait.
7:55 a.m. - The shuttle arrives. There is quite a large group of us. Terri and I don’t quite fit in the van, so we wait for the second van, which is only a minute or two from arriving. By the way, these shuttles are not provided by the hotel or the airport, they are provided by the TBF. The TBF rented the vans and, as usual, volunteer TBF and State Federation officials are driving them.
8:03 a.m. - We head for the airport.
9:02 a.m. - We arrive at the airport, unpack our stuff and head for the American Airline check-in. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 10:15 a.m., so we have plenty of time. By the way, the weather is overcast but the temperature is around 50 degrees.
9:08 a.m. - We get to the check-in. The airline employee gets us our boarding passes and charges me the requisite $30 for our bags. This time they weigh our checked bags (but not our carry-ons). Our two checked bags combined are only 86 pounds, way under the 100 pounds allowed.
9:14 a.m. - The TSA Security Checkpoint. Now that I’m a veteran at this, we breeze through. I tell the security guy there are metal reels in my case that he should see, I take all my items out of my pockets, I take my shoes and belt off and I unpack my laptop.
9:20 a.m. - We are at the gate, waiting . . .
9:27 a.m. - The boarding starts. It’s a small plane with a relatively small number of us getting on. It takes only a few minutes for us all to reach our seats.
10:12 a.m. - We take off three minutes early!
11:16 a.m. - We touch down four minutes early!
11:22 a.m. - We are off the plane. This time we have oodles of time before our 1:55 p.m. plane to Newark leaves. We slowly make our way to the appropriate gate.
11:50 a.m. - Terri decides to wander around the shops. I stay and watch our stuff and chronicle the morning in this log.
12:30 p.m. - We get some food from the fast food court across from our gate. Now all there is to do is wait. I help pass some of the time by assisting Terri in learning how to play “Free Cell” on the laptop.
1:25 p.m. - We start boarding. The flight is completely full.
1:55 p.m. - The plane pulls away from the gate right on schedule.
2:06 p.m. - We take off. According to the Captain, we have a good tail wind and the flight should only take two hours and 47 minutes, which should get us to Newark around 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We’ll see . . . .
5:53 p.m. (Eastern Time) - We land a full 27 minutes early. It seems almost too good to be true. It is, we get within spitting distance of the gate, and the Captain tells us that we can’t pull up there yet, since they are not ready for us.
6:00 p.m. - We reach the gate. It takes almost 15 minutes to get off the plane and get to the baggage claim area.
6:20 p.m. - We wait for our baggage, and wait, and wait, and wait . . . . Nothing is happening and there is no explanation. People are getting really anxious and some are angry.
7:14 p.m. - Almost one hour and a half after the plane hit the pavement; the luggage starts to come down the conveyor belt.
7:21 p.m. - I grab out last piece of luggage and call our shuttle to our parking area.
7:30 p.m. - We are picked up and brought back to our car.
7:41 p.m. - We pay for our parking and head home.
8:47 p.m. - We arrive home safe and sound. We happily greet our three cats.
10:00 p.m. - After eating something, we unpack what we need. I unpack my rods and they are undamaged.
10:45 p.m. - I am in my own bed, ready to go to sleep. It’s good to be home, but tomorrow it’s back to work. The fantasy world of big-time bass fishing is over for me for the time being.
Final Thoughts
Did I stink out the place during the event? I really did. While I caught a good number of fish, I couldn’t get a keeper in the boat. I unusually broke fish off. I finished dead last. I feel like I’ve let down many people, and not held up my end of representing the New Jersey Bass Federation at this event, at least in regard to my placing. On the other hand, I am incredibly proud that I had the opportunity to represent the Federation, and I hope I did a creditable job with all of the other responsibilities that go with that, notwithstanding my futility on the lake. On the bright side, there are tens of thousands of Federation anglers who will never get to experience a National. Also, I never gave up. I fished every minute as hard as I could. In fact, in light of the sheer number of fish I caught, you could look at it as just plain old bad luck that I didn’t have any keepers. In fact, with good luck, if just half of those fish were keepers, it would be me who was the Mid-Atlantic Co-Angler winner. I will take this experience for what it was, an opportunity to fish at the highest level of competition in the Federation. When it is all said and done, I am satisfied, regardless of the result. I would encourage any Federation angler to hold making a State Team and/or a National as a goal. They are experiences of a lifetime.
Finally, I must thank many people who supported me through this adventure. First and foremost is my wife, Terri, who seemingly unconditionally supports my fishing “habit.” In addition, I must thank New Jersey Bass Federation President Tony Going and the Board of Directors for its financial and other support as well as the anglers, family and friends who personally wished me luck. I would also like to thank Scott Weiland for helping me with information regarding the lake, and for being supportive after it was all over. Further, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my Boaters. Both Troy Lindner, who I fished with on Practice Day and Day 1, and Sean Andrachick, who I fished with on Day 2, treated me as an equal. While they were the Boaters and would have been within their rights (and within the rules) to have not even given me the time of day, both bounced ideas off of me and asked what I thought about any given situation and made sure I was in position to fish effectively. This is especially true of Troy, with who I really seemed to hit it off. I truly felt that we were working as a team in trying to figure out where to fish and how to catch’em. While it didn’t work out for each of us, I will always remember our days on the lake. Lastly, I thank the TBF for allowing a true weekend-type angler like me the opportunity to do something I love to do with a chance to achieve something truly special.
There is an old saying that goes something like, “that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger.” I am taking that saying to heart and looking forward to making it back to another National some day. In parting, all I can say is that it was a blast while it lasted.
Nick Angiulo
New Jersey Co-Angler Qualifier
2009 TBF National Championship
7:00 p.m. - We go to dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the mall across the street. It is very good. I’ve already gotten over the debacle that was my tournament. I figure, someone has to come in last place. I have also decided that I need to get back to the Nationals some day to show everyone (including myself) that it all wasn’t just some kind of fluke.
8:20 p.m. - Back at the room. I’m physically and mentally drained. I relax for a while, and stay up later than the previous nights.
11:00 p.m. - I go to bed, hoping the promise of a new day will wash away the bitter taste in my mouth of the actual tournament, while leaving the sweet taste of the amazing experience I’ve had and how well we’ve been treated by the TBF.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
7:32 a.m. - The alarm goes off. I hit the snooze once and get up. I slept like the dead. I hit the shower. Terri is also up and we decide to head for breakfast, then come back to the room and start packing.
8:15 a.m. - We hit the breakfast buffet. The waitress tells me it is still free for us since I was a tournament participant. I’m not so sure she was right, but didn’t argue. We left her a hefty tip.
8:55 a.m. - We are back at the room just lounging.
10:18 a.m. - I call New Jersey Bass Federation Vice President Mike Hart. He and I have been communicating via voice mail over the past couple of days about the event. We talk for quite a while. Mike is a good friend and he congratulates both Scott and I for making it here and representing New Jersey.
10:45 a.m. - I finally begin packing up my rods and tackle. I successfully get everything back where it was originally. I’m not quite as worried about it all getting back home safely. We also start packing our luggage and other items.
12:00 p.m. - More lounging.
1:30 p.m. - We head downstairs to the Family Fun Zone set up outside the weigh-in area. We plan on checking that out, then watching the 3:00 p.m. weigh-in. We also plan on staying for the 4:00 p.m. third day weigh-in of the FLW anglers who made the cut from the Table Rock Lake event. By the way, I haven’t been outside today, but the weather is overcast with some light drizzle, although the weatherman indicated that the temperature will hit 50 today.
1:35 p.m. - Even before we enter the Family Fun Zone, we see Larry Nixon in the entrance way. I introduce myself and ask if I could get a picture. He agrees. Pretty cool already! We go into the arena. It’s pretty amazing. There are professional anglers everywhere. Many of the anglers who did not make the cut at the Table Rock event are there signing autographs and taking photos. I am just about overwhelmed. Calling me a kid in the candy store at that point would pretty well describe it. I don’t know where to start. Terri and I actually met and talked to, and got autographs from, in no particular order, David Fritts, Luke Clausen, Dave Lefebre, Clark Wendlandt, George Cochran, David Dudley, Dion Hibdon, and Jay Yelas. I also got my picture taken with all of them. We also talked to several other pros. All I can say is . . . wow!
2:40 p.m. - We get our seats for the weigh-in.
3:00 p.m. - The final weigh-in starts. The Co-Anglers are first. It was another tough day it appears and not too much weight is coming in. When it’s all over, Woody Parks, the Co-Angler from Georgia, is crowned the Co-Angler Champion with a three day total of 23 pounds, 13 ounces. He wins $5,000 and an entry into the BFL All American and Forrest Wood Cup. Next are the Boaters. Robert Harkness weighs in a good limit early on for a total weight of 40 pounds, 13 ounces, and takes the lead, remaining there until the Day 2 leader steps to the scales. He only needs a bit over six pounds to win. He doesn’t have it; he only weighs two fish that weigh less than five and one-half pounds. Robert Harkness is the TBF National Champion and is awarded his prize: $10,000 and the Living the Dream package (worth about $90,000 in money, merchandise, entries, etc). It felt good to see that an angler from our Division took the prize.
4:15 p.m. - The FLW Table Rock Lake weigh-in begins. The Co-Anglers are first. It is their championship day. Only the top 10 got to fish this day, and eventually, the Co-Angler champion, Patrick Majors, is crowned. He had over 14 pounds on the day and won $20,000.
4:40 p.m. - The top 10 pros begin to weigh in. Scott Canterbury takes the lead early on with over 16 pounds. It holds up through the rest of the anglers, almost all who are heavy hitters.
5:15 p.m. - On our way out, I see Troy Lindner with his Mom and Dad. I ask him if he would mind if I got a picture with him and his Dad. He agreed and Terri took my picture with them both. We talk for a few more minutes. I can’t say it enough times about what a true gentleman and how down to earth Al Lindner is; and Troy is a chip off the old block.
5:25 p.m. - Back in the room. Time to dress up and look pretty (!) for the banquet. In my case, that’s basically impossible, but luckily, I will have my lovely wife on my arm.
7:00 p.m. - We arrive at the banquet. We sit at a table with Tony and Mary, as well as Scott, his wife and daughter, and Brent McNeal from Pennsylvania. After the dinner, Robert Cartlidge, Charlie Evans and Forrest Wood all make speeches; and Robert introduces the new National Champion, Robert Harkness, as well as last year’s National Champion, Brian Travis, both of whom address the attendees.
9:00 p.m. - Robert begins to announce the anglers to come up front to receive their checks and trophies. The Co-Anglers are first, in reverse order, so yours truly gets to be the first one up there. On the dais, I get my picture taken with the trophy and Forrest Wood.
9:30 p.m. - I bump into my Day 2 partner, Sean Andrachick and get a picture with him.
9:45 p.m. - Back at the room, our packing continues. Our shuttle to the airport leaves at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, so we want to make sure we are all prepared.
11:15 p.m. - Time to hit the hay.
Sunday - March 15, 2009
6:30 a.m. - The alarm goes off. Time to get up and get going. I’m packing the final items into our bags. Terri is also readying herself.
7:25 a.m. - Since the hotel has slipped our bill under our door, I check out via phone. We call down for a bell person to come up for our luggage. He comes up and loads all of our stuff. I’ve packed things a bit differently this time just in case, but I am sure there will be no weight problems.
7:30 a.m. - We are in the lobby waiting for the 8:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport. Tony and Mary are there. We talk while we wait.
7:55 a.m. - The shuttle arrives. There is quite a large group of us. Terri and I don’t quite fit in the van, so we wait for the second van, which is only a minute or two from arriving. By the way, these shuttles are not provided by the hotel or the airport, they are provided by the TBF. The TBF rented the vans and, as usual, volunteer TBF and State Federation officials are driving them.
8:03 a.m. - We head for the airport.
9:02 a.m. - We arrive at the airport, unpack our stuff and head for the American Airline check-in. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 10:15 a.m., so we have plenty of time. By the way, the weather is overcast but the temperature is around 50 degrees.
9:08 a.m. - We get to the check-in. The airline employee gets us our boarding passes and charges me the requisite $30 for our bags. This time they weigh our checked bags (but not our carry-ons). Our two checked bags combined are only 86 pounds, way under the 100 pounds allowed.
9:14 a.m. - The TSA Security Checkpoint. Now that I’m a veteran at this, we breeze through. I tell the security guy there are metal reels in my case that he should see, I take all my items out of my pockets, I take my shoes and belt off and I unpack my laptop.
9:20 a.m. - We are at the gate, waiting . . .
9:27 a.m. - The boarding starts. It’s a small plane with a relatively small number of us getting on. It takes only a few minutes for us all to reach our seats.
10:12 a.m. - We take off three minutes early!
11:16 a.m. - We touch down four minutes early!
11:22 a.m. - We are off the plane. This time we have oodles of time before our 1:55 p.m. plane to Newark leaves. We slowly make our way to the appropriate gate.
11:50 a.m. - Terri decides to wander around the shops. I stay and watch our stuff and chronicle the morning in this log.
12:30 p.m. - We get some food from the fast food court across from our gate. Now all there is to do is wait. I help pass some of the time by assisting Terri in learning how to play “Free Cell” on the laptop.
1:25 p.m. - We start boarding. The flight is completely full.
1:55 p.m. - The plane pulls away from the gate right on schedule.
2:06 p.m. - We take off. According to the Captain, we have a good tail wind and the flight should only take two hours and 47 minutes, which should get us to Newark around 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We’ll see . . . .
5:53 p.m. (Eastern Time) - We land a full 27 minutes early. It seems almost too good to be true. It is, we get within spitting distance of the gate, and the Captain tells us that we can’t pull up there yet, since they are not ready for us.
6:00 p.m. - We reach the gate. It takes almost 15 minutes to get off the plane and get to the baggage claim area.
6:20 p.m. - We wait for our baggage, and wait, and wait, and wait . . . . Nothing is happening and there is no explanation. People are getting really anxious and some are angry.
7:14 p.m. - Almost one hour and a half after the plane hit the pavement; the luggage starts to come down the conveyor belt.
7:21 p.m. - I grab out last piece of luggage and call our shuttle to our parking area.
7:30 p.m. - We are picked up and brought back to our car.
7:41 p.m. - We pay for our parking and head home.
8:47 p.m. - We arrive home safe and sound. We happily greet our three cats.
10:00 p.m. - After eating something, we unpack what we need. I unpack my rods and they are undamaged.
10:45 p.m. - I am in my own bed, ready to go to sleep. It’s good to be home, but tomorrow it’s back to work. The fantasy world of big-time bass fishing is over for me for the time being.
Final Thoughts
Did I stink out the place during the event? I really did. While I caught a good number of fish, I couldn’t get a keeper in the boat. I unusually broke fish off. I finished dead last. I feel like I’ve let down many people, and not held up my end of representing the New Jersey Bass Federation at this event, at least in regard to my placing. On the other hand, I am incredibly proud that I had the opportunity to represent the Federation, and I hope I did a creditable job with all of the other responsibilities that go with that, notwithstanding my futility on the lake. On the bright side, there are tens of thousands of Federation anglers who will never get to experience a National. Also, I never gave up. I fished every minute as hard as I could. In fact, in light of the sheer number of fish I caught, you could look at it as just plain old bad luck that I didn’t have any keepers. In fact, with good luck, if just half of those fish were keepers, it would be me who was the Mid-Atlantic Co-Angler winner. I will take this experience for what it was, an opportunity to fish at the highest level of competition in the Federation. When it is all said and done, I am satisfied, regardless of the result. I would encourage any Federation angler to hold making a State Team and/or a National as a goal. They are experiences of a lifetime.
Finally, I must thank many people who supported me through this adventure. First and foremost is my wife, Terri, who seemingly unconditionally supports my fishing “habit.” In addition, I must thank New Jersey Bass Federation President Tony Going and the Board of Directors for its financial and other support as well as the anglers, family and friends who personally wished me luck. I would also like to thank Scott Weiland for helping me with information regarding the lake, and for being supportive after it was all over. Further, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my Boaters. Both Troy Lindner, who I fished with on Practice Day and Day 1, and Sean Andrachick, who I fished with on Day 2, treated me as an equal. While they were the Boaters and would have been within their rights (and within the rules) to have not even given me the time of day, both bounced ideas off of me and asked what I thought about any given situation and made sure I was in position to fish effectively. This is especially true of Troy, with who I really seemed to hit it off. I truly felt that we were working as a team in trying to figure out where to fish and how to catch’em. While it didn’t work out for each of us, I will always remember our days on the lake. Lastly, I thank the TBF for allowing a true weekend-type angler like me the opportunity to do something I love to do with a chance to achieve something truly special.
There is an old saying that goes something like, “that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger.” I am taking that saying to heart and looking forward to making it back to another National some day. In parting, all I can say is that it was a blast while it lasted.
Nick Angiulo
New Jersey Co-Angler Qualifier
2009 TBF National Championship
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DIARY OF A CO-ANGLER by Nick Angiulo
Page Two
Page Two