By Trey Butler

I don't know about you, but "being lucky" is never a term that I have used to describe myself. Ed McMahon has never shown up at my door with a huge check, I've never gotten an inheritance from a long-lost relative, and I've never even been the 5th caller and won lunch for 2 at Nikki's West. As a matter of fact, the best draw prize I remember winning at a tournament was a bag cell phone (all I had to do was activate it). Before this year's event my largest check had been $500. But maybe my luck is changing.

"This won't hurt a bit," said the man as he attached the wires to me for the polygraph. I had done this once before, when I was 20 years old and trying to get a job on the loading dock at Pizitz. I had to go to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's department to take that test. When the Deputy got through he said, "well you passed, and you definitely haven't killed anyone, but you sure are nervous about being here". For a 20 year old who was more interested in drinking beer and cutting class, you can bet I was uncomfortable! But this one was different; the guy that gave me this one was only a retired FBI agent. "You passed with flying colors", he said after 3 times through the questions. Funny thing, he almost sounded disappointed.

All this over a lil' ole' fishin' tournament? Have you ever wondered why Mark does this? Have you ever really thought about how much pain and effort goes into this tournament? They only started working on next year's tournament on the Monday after this one, this is maximum effort and they do a super job. Many think that Mark does this for the money, but if you do the math and factor in the man-hours to pull this off, it just doesn't add up. I think you will agree he does this because he is a sportsman and wants to give back to the environment and the fishermen that provide him a living. I had the pleasure of spending some time with two of Mark's henchmen during the Skeeter test rides preceding the tournament. I've heard the jokes that Mark works his team so hard that they are too tired to hunt and fish, but I found both of these guys to have a genuine knowledge about fishing, boating, and the products they sell.

I enjoyed the opportunity to meet many of the contestants as I took them for a test ride in my shiny red Skeeter. As it turns out, I gave the test ride to the gentlemen from Cullman who won the draw boat. Maybe my luck is changing. This tournament represents another big effort on the part of Ken Hollis, Skeeter, and Airport Marine. Ken is an honest man and will take good care of you from both the service and a sales perspective. Give him a shot at your business next time and you won't be disappointed. Skeeter and Yamaha are awesome products, but they can only be as good as the dealership that stands behind them. The additional $20k we won came as a result of winning in a Skeeter purchased from Airport in the last 2 years-something to think about when you buy your next boat.

My partner, Mike Pitts, knows his way around a bass tournament. It is probably a name you have seen on a leader board over the years. Good thing about fishing with Mike is that he is very knowledgeable, executes well, and is a tireless tournament fisherman. Mike sets a pace for the team that maximizes the use of time, and he thinks strategically on the water. I believe he could fish professionally if he didn't have a successful career already. And, he usually has a plan (the operative word here is usually). Mike hadn't been on Lay in 2 years. I told him I had a plan and he listened. He was aware of the areas I was suggesting and agreed. (Grasshopper had finally snatched the pebble). We made a commitment to each other to live and die by this plan with no second-guessing. Last year I had put together a 7 fish, 25 lb. limit in this same area (the week before the Mark's tourney), but I was out of town on business and didn't get to fish the big event. I believed they (the fish) would be there again.

I've never fished a tournament that I didn't have a desire to win, and I have fished in several where I was very confident and knew I had a shot. But there was something different about this one, as crazy as it may sound, I really believed all week long that we would win. We didn't have a chance to pre-fish, I just had confidence that the fish would be there, and I knew that I could make them bite if they were. More importantly, I had supreme confidence in the lure and the presentation, and we did catch many of our fish on the heels of another contestant boat.

One of the keys to the win was execution; we didn't lose a fish all day. (Sorry Prater, no one is buying that it was the HBT, but I tried). Several of our fish mouthed the bait and dropped it, but we came back later and caught them. We did, however, almost make a critical error. This is my first boat with pump-out livewells. After pumping some water out in order to cull, I forgot to turn the re-circulation back on and add water. 45 minutes later we caught our next fish and realized our mistake. Fortunately, Skeeters not only have re-circulation, they have an additional aeration system. After an hour of this in manual mode our fish were quite perky again, but this could have been a $23,000 mistake.

We made a plan and stuck to it. The areas we fished were relatively small; we just hit one, let it rest, and came back later. The fish just continued to move in. I've heard it said that if luck is with you, you can't loose, and if it is against you, you can't win. I believe that it was just our day to win; we are just 2 average guys who occasionally get a check. We equaled each other's production almost fish-for-fish. In all the hype, it is important to remember that all good things come from God, not our human efforts.

A big part of successful tournament fishing is just showing up and keeping your bait wet. You can't win a big tournament if you don't enter, and there isn't another amateur event in the world that I would rather participate in than Mark's. You wouldn't believe some of the opportunities that have come as a result of this win; it has been an interesting ride. Having sponsors has been a life-long dream for me. My wife just laughs, she knows that I am still the guy that stuck a DD22 in her and our dog's lip, but that is another story...maybe my luck is changing.

STORY BY THE BOATWINNERS