Dust off the Rods

Wow!!  Its been almost 3 years since I used my blog.. Its time to catch everyone up..


Were not going to dwell on the past and the back story, its there if you want to read. After that little kick in the gut, it was followed up by the company I was working for, shut down the transportation department and the lay off of 172 of us.. OUCH!! Now lets fast forward...


Re- Married my best friend from my younger years, seems the grass wasn't greener on the other side for either of us and destiny brought us back together after 13 years and we are all grown up and having the time of our lives..


After numerous attempts at finding employment, I am finally with a company and team that I can consider a home. It seems I was over qualified for most driving positions and very stubborn about being paid for my 28 years of experience. Even took a job in Ft Worth hauling heavy equipment but I couldn't stand living in a truck for weeks on end..lol

Now lets get to the good stuff.. After all of this I was not going to lose my boat and I did everything I could to keep that from happening and it worked. I am so happy to say " I AM BACK IN THE GAME".  So with that being said I have been on the water, fished my first tournament after almost 3 years and can feel the passion growing minute by minute for the sport I had to put on hold. My wife ,family and friends have been so supportive and are behind me 110%. I nailed down a title sponsor for 2017 and am currently seeking other partners and companies to promote in the upcoming season. I intend to start my year off in September 2016 at the U.S. Open and just keep pushing on from there.. Most guys will be ending their season at the Open on Lake Mead but were going to start the next chapter there.  My adrenaline is pumping my eyes are watering the passion is still there and burning a hole in my soul to get out there and re-ignite that fire that has been smoldering for way too long. I intend to use ALL my social media outlets to promote the sport and companies that I feel are worth supporting and have the quality of products that  can make a difference on and off the water, I'll probably share some personal thoughts and opinions but were going to try to stay focused on fishing and the upcoming tournament season. For everyone that is still out there "Sorry for the dust" for those of you just tuning in and curious we'll try to make it fun and interesting to read.


Thanks Again Everyone!!


Sincerely,
Chester

To my followers I am sorry for the delay in posting!!!

The last two months have been an emotional roller coaster for myself, family and friends. Without going into too much detail.  I would like to say that my other half has decided to move on and leave our fishing community. This was a very sudden and it seems an influenced move that happened days after the Roosevelt Tournament.  In hind site this has been the best situation that could have happened to me personally.  The timing was a little off, but it's spring even the bass are in the mood for new love.  Unfortunately she also took all the pictures of the tournament at Rosy with her. (I will have a Go-Pro before next Derby) So I have no pictures to show of this tournament.  I was also forced to make one of the hardest decisions of my first year as a Pro.  I was left in a position where it is not possible for me to fish the California Delta.  I have had to do a lot of personal restructuring to maintain my home and myself. 

 

 As professional anglers we are on the road a lot.  Most of us thrive on our support from our families and friends. When we have that support it gives us the opportunity to focus and excel at the sport we love. We participate at one of the highest levels in bass fishing.  We all have worked very hard, and our families have worked very hard to get us to this level. Challenges often show themselves at the most inopportune times it's how we handle these situations that help decipher who we are.  I will miss one tournament but I will not let this challenge keep me from succeeding in our sport. The passion and fire I have for professional bass fishing and this sport cannot be put out by the faults of others. The light had dimmed for just a moment but is alive and burning with more focus and intensity than ever before. I will fish all the tournaments I originally planned including the US OPEN with the exception of Cal-Delta. I thank all of my friends and fellow anglers who have supported and stood by me as this challenge was met head on and overcome in a speedy yet personally satisfying chain of events. 

 

 With all that being said , My yellow bird and I have already been on the water and putting a hurting to the spawn and post spawn bass that have crossed our paths.. I am currently working on next years scheduling and there's a very good chance that I will be fishing the Texas Team Trails as well as the tournaments here on the west coast. I will keep y'all posted and will be sharing videos and pictures when they are available

FLW Lake Oroville 2013

Lake Oroville was a great place to start my 2013 season.  We had extremely cold weather(for a desert rat) it dropped down to the 20s at night,each morning we had ice on our trucks and boats and it really put our equipment and ourselves to the test!
    I started the first day of practice by hitting a submerged log on my way back to the ramp,luckily I was only doing about 50 cause it was so cold. This was my first time dealing with floating logs in the water.. When I say logs, I mean Mark Twain ,Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn kinda stuff floating around needless to say I'm glad it happened on the first day of practice,It gave me plenty of time to forget about the missing skeg on the bottom of my NEW Yamaha outboard..
  Practice could of been better but I was in the learning process,new lake, new boat and first time as a boater in the FLW.  I was trying to make the first derby a good one.. Then the battery problems started..  OK Skeg missing,now the battery It's a new boat ,this isn't supposed to happen..but it did. My graphs started shutting down towards the end of my practice days,my motor was harder to start all signs that I should of been paying closer attention to what my partners and team mates were telling me(change the battery), so I went and bought a set of jumper cables instead of buying a battery right away.

  Tourney Day 1
     I had told everyone that the before mentioned problems were not bothering me at all, well my fishing on the first day proved me wrong and them right(again should have been paying attention) I ended up catching 2 fish for 2lbs. My co angler had a better day on the water but it wasn't as stellar as he hoped. I had to jump start my boat twice on the water,graphs kept shutting off..   I was pretty embarrassed of my first day and showed it on stage,not too much to say, just wanted to take care of my boat issues and get on with day 2.
   Day 2
   Changed the battery last nite, re rigged poles and had a great nites sleep.. My second day was a blast, my co and I caught fish all day long!!  I had my limit by 830am and was just looking to upgrade all day long. We probably caught 50 to 60 fish between us.I ended up weighing in 7.01lbs,a much needed upgrade from day 1.  Nothing big but at least we both would have limits and I wasn't ashamed to walk on that stage today.  I believe my co even cashed a check he had a great first day and a good second day.. I am sitting in 106th place in the points,nothing to brag about,but the fat lady ain't even in the building yet..lol..Plenty of time,let's head to the desert!!!
 Lessons Learned:
Make any repairs you can,as soon as you can!!
Listen to your traveling partners,they been doing this longer than you have!!
Listened to your better half,and friends they know you better than you know yourself..lol
Trust your instincts and be confident!!  I am good enuff to be on the front of that boat!!
Nobody loves Bass Fishing more than Me!!

  As I said Lake Oroville was a great place to start the season, lessons have been learned and confidence is at a all time high!! I proved to myself that I could catch fish and that I could stand up when I stumbled.. Thanks to those who help me learn these lessons!!  Next stop Lake Roosevelt AZ.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

     I will start adding more pics and comments as our 2013 fishing season begins in January.
Our first stop is Lake Oroville in northern California, I'm looking forward to getting back on the water and beginning the year as a pro.
   I have allot happening this year including a wrap on the truck and boat and NEW sponsors and travel partners. I have a great group of  pros that I teamed up with and we are looking forward to making 2013 a great year for our sponsors as well as ourselves.
   I Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

FLW Championship 2012

  Overall I had a great time at the FLW Everstart Championship..  I got to meet and fish with alot of people that I would of never fished with.  It was cool participating in a tournament with such a high caliber of fisherman from around the country..  I finished in 77th place out of 153 .. It was the middle of the pack,but, this pack consists of the 153 best FLW anglers from all over the country..  I feel comfortable with my finish and hope to stay within this group of elite anglers..  Next year the FLW will not have a championship due to budgeting. My goal for 2013 will still be to stay in the top 40 of the Pro side in the Everstart series.  With the continue support of my family and friends and the great group of traveling partners, I will continue to promote myself and my sponsors in the 2013 season.
  I would like to thank Sportsman Center,Reileys Outboard service for there support throughout this year.. I am looking forward to working with these great sponsors again for 2013 and I've added Power Pole and Power Team Lures to my team.. With these great sponsors and the support of my friends and family, I am looking forward to a great 2013 season.. 
   THANK YOU !!!

FLW Championship Day 2

  I was partnered with Lamonte Loyd from Gilmer Texas.  Lamonte is a great Texas fisherman and showed me a short ride north about 300 yds from the launch.  We started fishing before the rest of the 153 boat field was even out of the gate.  We were fishing submerged rocky points along the river. The first 2 fish to the boat were caught on a deep diving white crank bait, then the fun started.. Lamonte chose to use a C-Rig on the point and I went with a shaky head with a green pumpkin hula grub. We caught multiple spotted bass and even had double hook ups for the next couple hours... It was a blast catching that many fish...too bad most of them were 11 3/4 inches long..BUMMER!!!!  12 inch limit in this derby!!!  it was fun tho. We then moved into a slough and the fun continued.  My Texas pro flipped every piece of cover while I chose to run a blade by each piece of cover.. I hooked up 4 times on blade fish and lost every one within 2-3 feet of the boat!!!  These fish were just slapping at my blade and not committing to eat it.  I even lost a good 3# fish that would of put me in the top 20 and possibly the top 10.. After I lost my first fish I put a trailer hook to increase the hook up but that didn't cure the problem.. After all was said and done I only weighed in 1 fish on day 2 which put me in 77th place

Day 2

Morning Coffee tent

My Phoenix 721 with Clay Lippencott at the controls

FLW Championship 2012 Day 1

I was partnered with Derick Hicks for day 1, a somewhat local from Georgia.. We traveled 50 miles south of the launch in his Bullet Bass Boat..  We had a good day on the water,conversation was great and he is a pretty good partner for the day.  The water we were fishing was cleaner than any I had fished during practice.  Most of our fish come on spinnerbaits thrown around lay down trees and along the bank.. I did catch fish on a white and black square bill crank, a RC square bill in a ghost shad pattern and a white spinner bait.. My biggest fish came on the W/B crank around a lay down.  I finished 47 on day 1 with a weight of 3.12 ...

Morning launch Day 1

Waiting for Blast Off!!!