Trokar Battle on the Bayou - Marshal Experience

[rstone]

I was one of the 99 marshals for the tournament and had a wonderful time serving in this capacity.  I would recommend this experience to everyone.  This post is going to be broken up into 2 main topics: how the marshal program works and its benefit, then a detailed report on riding with the Pro's.

The Marshal Program

I did not call and register on the first day that it was possible.  I waited until the next morning and it was already full so I went ahead and paid the $100 registration fee and got put on the waiting list.  If you are not selected from the waiting list then you can get a refund otherwise once chosen as a marshal you cannot.   Initially I was number 6 on the waiting list so I had hope that some people would cancel.   On March 22 I received an email stating that a spot had opened up and I could be a marshal if I was still interested.  I agreed and they sent out a marshal packet that included all of the details.  The tournament started Thursday April 14 but the marshals and Pro's had to be there on the 13th for registration and check in.  At check-in each marshal received a Trokar tournament weigh in bag, 2 packs of Trokar hooks (1 had 5 hooks and the other 6 hooks – so about $20 in hooks), a $25 BassPro giftcard, a Yamaha cap, a Bassmaster marshal hat and shirt (Columbia polo = $30 at Basspro).  They wanted us to wear the hat and shirt as our credentials for full access to everywhere. 

After check-in the marshals are briefed in a room while the Pro's are briefed in another.  The briefing consists of what we can and can't do which is not help the Pro in any way.  After the briefing was over we moved to the room with the Pro's to get paired up and my pro for day one was Zell Rowland.  We were then supposed to work out the details with the Pro for the next morning because although the official take off was at Cypress Bend Marina they could launch from anywhere.  Zell was staying on the Texas side and I on the Louisiana side so we decided that it was best for us to just meet at the Marina at 7:00 am for the 7:30 launch.  Zell and his roommate Tommy Biffle did not stay for the dinner that was provided for us but of course I did.  They had a huge feast: fried fish, hushpuppies, tamales, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon, veggies, and desserts.

I was only guaranteed two days with the Pro's since I was not one of the first 50 to register initially.  Day 3 is only the top 50 Pro's and the marshal's are paired up after the weigh-in on Friday.  The way the pairing works is they have 2 lists for the marshals: top 50 and a waiting list.  I was number 14 on the waiting list.  Trip Weldon (Bassmaster weigh-in guy) would pair Pro #1 with Marshall #1 and so on until a marshal was not present and then he would call the first guy on the waiting list.  He did this rather quickly so if the marshal was not present he got skipped.  A lot of the marshals left and at #8 Greg Vinson, my name was called for day 3.  After the pairing we were treated to a Crawfish boil complete with an open bar and live band.  Chris and Bobby Lane know Tony Chachere and stayed with him during the tournament and he catered the crawfish which was sponsored by PowerPole's.

For day 4 they only need 6 marshals to ride with the top 12 because boats 1-6 have cameramen.  To be selected for day 4 you would need to be the first 6 to check-in onsite Wednesday.  Trip had a piece of paper for the marshals to sign-up for day 4 and he said that he would take the first 6 that said 'YES' when called on Saturday night, I did not sign-up due to being about the 40th person to check-in on Wednesday.

[rstone]

Detailed Report on Riding with the Pro's

Zell Rowland – Thursday April 14th

Zell fished in the Paulo Gaucho area directly across from the Cypress Bend Marina on the Texas side.  He used 3 lures all day a chartreuse spinnerbait and a yellow magic popper (2 different sizes).  He basically fished about 2-3 miles of bank and just used his boat like a 4X4 plowing through and over stumps.  He had the trolling motor on high the entire day and was flying.  Just random casting not to points, grass or anything of that nature just random spots.  Although he wasn't catching fish very often he never changed cadence in the way he was working the popper or change skirt colors or blades on the spinnerbait.  He was not very personable.  He cussed more than a sailor: GD, MF, SOB, etc.... non-stop.  His favorite line after making a cast to an area he thought had bass would be: "if I was a bass I'd eat that shit".  He answered some of my questions, others I just got a smart ass remark.  And when he missed a fish, the look on his face could have killed someone.  The thing I learned from him was you can catch fish all day, wind or no wind on a yellow magic popper because his best fish came at 3:30 on the popper.  Also he was fishing the spinnerbait over grass but right at the surface to make it break the water like baitfish.  His Day 1 weight was 11 lbs 13 oz with a limit of fish.  I think he only culled once with the bigger fish at 3:30.  It seemed to me that he was catching more fish on the spinnerbait but he kept going back to the popper.

Kevin Wirth – Friday April 15th

Kevin made the long run to the south part of the lake.  His primary area was being shared with Dean Rojas, Steve Kennedy, Ott Defoe, and eventually Chris Lane.  Ya'll are lucky that I do not live near south Toledo because I would not tell anyone this spot if I did but they were sharing the McGee Flats area.  There were some big fish caught during the tournament in this relatively small area of the lake.  I personally saw Kevin catch a 5lb, lose another 5lb at the boat, and saw Chris Lane catch his 7lb 8oz fish on Friday.  At one point Kevin had caught a 2lber on the jerkbait and once he got the fish close enough to see it in the clear water he noticed about an 8-9lber following it trying to get the bait out of its mouth.  Sadly he never could get that fish to bite anything afterwards.  Rojas and the others were up in the pocket while Kevin stayed out and fished some underwater points that came out 100-200yds from shore.  These points were only about 2-3ft on top and as deep as 10ft on the sides and had grass all around.  His best 2 baits on this spot were a jerkbait and swimbait.   Both of the big fish Kevin and Chris caught were on the jerkbait while the big one Kevin lost was on the swimbait.  He caught a limit here but only consisted of a 5, a 3, and some 14"ers.  He moved to the 3 finger area in the major creek south of McGee's and culled all 3 smaller fish with some sight fishing.  He was using a trick worm on a drop shot and casting to beds to catch these fish.    He thoroughly answered all of my questions and was showing me what he was doing.  He was even pointing out the fish once he started sight fishing.   We kept estimating his weight and trying to figure out what he needed to make the cut (he started the day in 57th place).  I told him he had at least 15lbs but he wasn't convinced.  Kevin was catching quite a few fish by sight fishing and really didn't want to leave because he was worried about not making the cut but due to the high winds he allowed us 40 minutes to get back to the weigh-in on time.  Friday the wind was atrocious (25 mph winds with gusts to 40) and we were soaked from head to toe once we got back to the ramp for weigh-in.  The waves were so large at one point the boat hit so hard it broke the trolling motor bracket and he had to stop and secure the trolling motor before we could go any farther.  Kevin ended up catching 16lbs 2 oz and in 33rd place after Day 2 and was glad to make the top 50 and get a check.   Kevin is a top notch guy and I would love the opportunity to ride with him again.

Greg Vinson – Saturday April 16th

Greg started the day in 8th with 34lb and he figured to stay in the top 12 he would need at least 14lbs for a total of 48lbs which is 16lbs per day.   His first spot was in the Indian mounds area.  In my mind it kind of resembled the McGee flats area because there was a pocket in the back, a channel or ditch that ran through the middle and long points that came way out from the bank.  Although Greg did not have to share the water with any other Pro's, the locals were giving him fits.  I guess I'm naïve but if a Pro (someone in a jersey covered in sponsors and a wrapped boat) were fishing an area I would keep my distance and definitely not try to fish on top of them.   If I saw one I might watch to see if they were catching fish, maybe notice the lure used, and mark the spot to come back later.  That apparently is not the mindset of some people because several boats would try to fish right next to Greg.  It was frustrating him and actually pissing me off.  He however still caught a limit and culled up quite a few times as the day progressed.   He used more lures than either of the other two Pro's: jig, Carolina rig, crankbait(deep and deeper), jerkbait(hard and segmented), and a superspook(one was pencil and other had rattle and flat front to pop).  He caught a quick limit that morning mostly on the jerkbaits.  Missed one about 5lb that morning on the popper.  We moved to the Housen area to look for bigger fish and he fished several visible points and some underwater points with cranks, jerkbaits, and jigs but I think he only caught 1 and it culled one of his smaller fish.  He had caught some bigger fish the day before in that area but not on Saturday.  We eventually went back to the Indian Mounds area.  He had this small area were the point really formed a cup and the wind was blowing directly into the point and the bass were already schooling on top chasing shad and shiners that got pushed into the point.  Greg figured out that he could push the bait up by running his boat in a big circle and the bass would start feeding and he could catch a few.  The locals made it hard for him to do this.  He caught these schooling fish from 1:00-2:00 on a superspook.   He culled at least 3-4 times and actually caught his biggest fish from one of these schools.  For the last hour we went north to the Lowes creek area to crank some of the points but did not catch anything.  He said in practice he caught a 5lber in there.  Greg ended up weighing 13lb 6oz on Saturday and fell to 10th place which still allowed him to fish on Sunday.  This is Greg's 3rd year on the Elite series and his highest finish is 11th so he was really excited about the possibility of finishing higher.  Greg was a real nice guy also answered all of my questions thoroughly.  A lot of the guys ended up throwing a jerkbait during the tournament and I asked him about this.  I was wondering why not a shallow crank, fluke, or swimbait and he said in practice he tried those but the jerkbait was catching more and bigger fish.  He said it had to do with the fish responding to the reaction of the bait.  Plus being able to use a bait that has 3 sets of trebles is a great advantage!

In my mind the $100 entry fee was returned and then some even before adding in the experience of 3 days on the water with the Pro's.  2 all-you-can-eat dinners plus all the goodies equaled at least $100.  Overall I really enjoyed my experience as a marshal and I can't wait until next year and hopefully they will fish Amistad, Falcon, or Guntersville and I'm there!

[DBrooke]

Good post, if they had one close to me I'd be all over it!

[Donald Garner]

rstone,

Thank you for the detail post it was interesting reading it.  I felt like I was there with you in the boat. 

I have one question were the marshal's allowed to help the pros launch and upload thier boats? 

I notice while reading Bassmaster mag and reviewing the photos some of the pros floated their boats off and had to catch a ride out to them.  On other pictures it showed the pros in thier boats while being launched.

[rstone]

Yeah that is the one thing we could help them with.  I helped Kevin Wirth load his boat and helped Greg launch his.  Zell stayed on the other side of the lake so I just met him at Cypress Bend.

[Wildcat26]

My son and I marshalled all four days. I had Iaconelli, Sisson, Brauer and Ish.
My son rode with Russ Lane, Schultz(sp) Hite and Howell. We had a great time. All the quys were nice, I was not a fan of Ike's before I rode with him. He is a great guy, lot of fun to be in a boat with him. Denny Braeur is near my age so we did have stuff in common. Talked most of the day. I never have used jigs much but after watching Denny all day I am going to start using them.

To answer your question I drove the truck and unloaded and loaded Sisson and Brauer. Hite drove his truck an let my son back his boat off the trailer and cruise around the launch area for a while.

Ike fished  Yocum, Pirates and Houson, bays I have fished many times, but only in Pirates did he fish some of the same spots I fish. He ended that day in 8th place so I will keep fishing them. The other three guys fished north in areas I have been to only  a couple of time.


It was a great experience and I would not hestitate to do it again.

[watsjigs]

If you were with Ike the first day, then you saw me in Pirates Cove. I was in a blue and silver blazer boat with 200 envirude. As I was landing a 2lber Ike came in on my spot (south bank of Pirates Cove not far from the military launch). I was happy to move out of his way, but he could have been nicer about it. He put his trolling motor on high and blew right through my spot without even acknowledging that I was there. Then, when he went to leave he blew the point out with his big motor. 

Honestly, I lost a little respect for the guy.

My dad was the marshal for Lee Sisson on day 1 and Chad Griffin for day 2. Lee fished in San Miguel and 1215 area and Chad fished Pirates Cove and Housen.

[Wildcat26]

I remember your boat. You moved west of us and then a litlte towards the north. When we pulled in you moved out so I assumed and I guess Ike did to that you were giving the spot to us.  I do not think he was intentional being rude he just had a job to do and was doing it. As I remember it we fished the point then trolled in the bay 50 yards fishing then took off from there.

Bottom line is he was a very nice guy and I do not believe he would intentionally mess up a spot for anyone.

[~Dwight~]

Hey WildCat, I met your son Sunday morning while I was speaking to Randy, he pointed you out in the other boat.  I see you are a past competitor in the UBCS.  I am a member in Lockjaw.

[Jared LeBlue]

Dang Dwight I thought you knew Wildcat. You must have joined the club after he had got out. Dude when are you going to change your avatar?

[Wildcat26]

Dwight, I still fish UBCS when I can, thats a lot of fun. I am excited about it being on the Calcasieu next year, looking forward to it.

[watsjigs]

I remember your boat. You moved west of us and then a litlte towards the north. When we pulled in you moved out so I assumed and I guess Ike did to that you were giving the spot to us.  I do not think he was intentional being rude he just had a job to do and was doing it. As I remember it we fished the point then trolled in the bay 50 yards fishing then took off from there.

Bottom line is he was a very nice guy and I do not believe he would intentionally mess up a spot for anyone.

It's no big deal. I was moving for him to have the spot. I would have just expected a "thank you" or "you don't mind if I fish here" comment to have been said. After he went through the cove he came back to the sweet spot on the point and then cranked his motor right over whrere I was catching fish. i don't think it makes him a bad person or anything it was just one incident that happened to happen to me.