Wow! What a great year 2010 was for my growth as a fisherman, as a person, and someone trying to advance within the fishing industry. There were several highlights of the year and I'll try to summarize this and keep it brief and also try to express just how grateful I was for 2010. I did a similar review at the conclusion of 2009, but feel like 2010 was a big improvement overall.
My tournament season started in January and saw me start off on a roll. It started better than I could have ever imagined. I finished 2nd in the Fort Myers Bass Club Fish-Off on Lake Okeechobee (over $700 for one small fish) that was the coldest I have ever been in Florida and only four fish were caught in the whole tournament!
The next weekend I won the club event on Lake Placid throwing a topwater of all things. In January! The next club tournament was in February on Lake Istokpoga where I finished in 2nd. The next week was the first BFL on the Kissimmee Chain where I finished in 15th, followed by a 17th at Harris Chain the next event. At that point I was 5 for 5 on getting checks in my tournaments. Like I said, I couldn't have imagined starting that well.
I continued to do well in the BFL events and had Top 10's at the Okeechobee tournaments in April, May and September and won Angler of the Year for the Gator Division. That was without a doubt the highlight of my fishing season!
- Overall I made a check in exactly 50% of my tournaments (12 out of 24)!
- Finished 21st at the American Fishing Series Event on Pickwick Lake in Alabama
- 16th Place at the TBF Qualifier on Lake Istokpoga
- Finished 2nd at the Cape Coral Bass Club Open Night Event
- 3rd Place in Fort Myers Bass Club Points (after missed the last 2 events)
- Qualified for the TBF State Championship and BFL Regional
Aside from my tournament success, I was very proud of how much this blog has grown. I have met some great people in the industry because of it and have even met a few people at the tournaments who said "hey I read your blog all the time". Things like that make me motivated to do this. I have also had the chance to continue to partner with other bloggers/writers and work together. Thanks to Tami Curtis, Bass Pundit, Chris McDonald, ABiley, MNAngler, Daniel at FHC, Bass Brigade and BassEast.com!
I also had the great fortune of adding some additional sponsors for the year. Thanks go out to ZMan Fishing, Seaguar, Death Shimmer spinnerbaits and Aquateko! I was also fortunate to be able to do some product reviews of some great products companies are making and also interview some Pros.
More importantly than all of my fishing endeavors, I was able to get married this year. It was a wedding that was taken over by bass fishing. It was a perfect day and I was able to make my wife Tanya a T.Brinks!
Thank you to anyone who is reading this and I hope 2011 is even better for everyone!
7 comments:
You certainly had an amazing year Tyler. Competitions, marriage, and tons of support from friends and sponsors. May 2011 bring you and your family more success. -Daniel
Thanks Daniel! I hope your 2011 is great. Looking forward to seeing how you guys rep EWU in a few weeks!
I'm finally set to go. I've bulked up on my drop shot terminal and I have fresh line and a couple of new combos ready to cast.
Come to think of it, I was thinking of trying out the Invisa Swivel to reduce line twist with the drop shot - Have you tried this method before?
Tyler, never mind...Just checked out your YouTube channel and found that you do use the Invisa Swivel with the drop shot.
I'll give it a try.
The InvisaSwivel works great for it. Glad you found my video. FYI..I like to use a 3/16 oz weight most of the time and a G-lock hook and rig it texas style on Shasta.
Thanx for the mention, Tyler. You've got a great thing going. Congrats on your success (tourney, blog, and everything else) and on your wedding.
If I ever visit Florida, I'm going to look you up, but I'll be damned jealous of that channel you live on.
@MNAngler. No problem. Keep up the good work. If you ever get down here I'll let ya fish in my backyard and catch some of my pet fish.
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