I was at Disney for a 5 day corporate event and Kughn and I were eager to do some fishing. We bought travel rods and packed up enough bait to catch every fish in every condition that Disney had to offer. We had it all planned out: we'd have 3 hours to fish before the event started, we'd fish with his customer the following day and then we'd fish for 5 hours after the customers left. We had no idea what lied ahead of us.
We arrived at the Orlando Airport and instead of waiting around for the free shuttle, we hopped in a cab and split the 50 bucks to high tail it to Disney. I checked in and the Disney employee told me my room was 2243, which was really close to the lobby. Both Kughn and I took off, luggage in tow, to my room so we could get the gear ready and hit the lake ASAP. We get to the room and the keycard didn't work, so we got a housekeeper to open the room. The room was trashed and hadn't been cleaned yet. Perfect. Kughn's room was on the other side of the resort, so we grabbed our luggage and marched the 1/2 mile across the resort pulling about 70lbs behind us. By the time we got to his room we were both dripping in sweat and totally pissed off because we missed 15 minutes of fishing. I called the front desk and they said, "Oh we're sorry we told you the wrong room. You're in 2244, not 2243." At this point I was so heated i couldn't even tie my own knot. But, after a few deep breaths I found some Zen and remembered we were in Florida about to fish, so how bad could it be?
We hustled out to a spot on the lake where a bridge accessed an island. It looked like a prime spot to hold Bass. We make 3 or 4 casts on spinner baits, and a woman pulled up in a boat and told us we couldn't fish between 11AM-5:30PM. Of course we plead our case but she wasn't having it. At this point, I'm seeing red I'm so mad. We got an employee to take us to my room on a golf cart so we wouldn't have to haul our luggage across the resort. Again.
I turned around in the golfcart on the way back to my correct room and Kughn snapped this picture. If you know me, you know it takes ALOT to get me fired up. Sending me to Florida with the mindset of catching Bass and then not letting me fish will certainly do the trick.The time frame that they don't allow fishing was basically the times that we were going to be able to fish. Kughn's customer was crushed and so were we. I basically wrote it off for the week.
On the last full day of the trip we sat on the beach area of the resort enjoying 74 degrees of cloudless skies soaking up rays and drinking warm Budweiser. I stepped to the edge of the lake to put my feet in and saw several Bass swim away. That's it. I'm in Florida, in January...I'm catching a damn bass. Period. Kughn and I got our gear ready and stood by the lake waiting for 5:30. Numerous coworkers gathered at the beach to see if Kughn and I were ever going to actually catch something. I assure you, they were hoping we were not.
I started out throwing the same Heddon Torpedo topwater bait that I buried in my finger the last time Kughn and fished together. Topwater in January? Seriously? God I love Florida...I saw swirls everywhere, so I knew the fish were active. I just had to find the right cadence on the Torpedo to trigger a strike. About 10 casts later, a Bass EXPLODES out of the water and smashes the Torpedo! I've always struggled with topwater, because the tendency is to set the hook when the fish hits it. You have to wait for them to take it under and then set the hook. I set the hook so hard i nearly fell on my ass!! I landed the fish and let out a scream that had been building up over the last 4 days. Both treble hooks were buried in the Bass's mouth, he wanted that thing badly. But not as badly as I wanted him before Kughn caught one. A woman walking around the lake offered to take a picture for me and i should have checked it, but i was so anxious to get my lure back in the water i just turned around and threw the line back in. 
First Bass of the 2010 Season!!!
Kughn was not happy I caught the first fish. He was running crankbaits and spooks on the other side of the lake. I yelled over to him to switch to topwater and pop it fast, not leaving it in the strike zone very long. The Padawan had become the master.
Moments later I hear Kughn shout out and he hooked into a beautiful pig on the Torpedo.
We fished for another hour or so and both landed only one more fish. Our competition that was expected to net amazing catch results over a 5 day period ended in a 2 fish a peice tie. I had the first fish, Kughn had the biggest fish and we both caught 2. It's one tie that I'm more than happy to take.
2010 started off the right way! Rollin Bass on topwater baits in January...Who'd a thunk it. Hopefully that's a precursor for how the entire year will go! Now I just have to figure out a way to make it the next few months until the Pre-Spawn starts...I'm open to suggestions.
