Joe Thomas' Blog - Off Day

From Surviving The Reel World by Joe Thomas

Joe Thomas has been making a living as a professional bass fisherman on the Bassmaster and FLW Tournament Trails for close to 27 years. His blog will get you the inside story of life on the tournament trail. Read what it's like to live the life of a professional fisherman, TV host, author, and speaker, both on and off the water.

Thursday March 3, 2011 --
Today was our off day at the FLW on Beaver Lake with day one of competition beginning tomorrow. So what does a "day off" consist of at a tournament? THE BUSIEST DAY OF THE WEEK FOR ME!

It all started at 7:30 AM... yeah, I slept in a little. Then, I got caught up on emails and voice messages. (I never answer calls or emails during the practice round, unless of course it is my wife....I know better than to blow her calls off.) After that, I spent several hours servicing my boat, re-spooling reels and tweaking all the tackle I'll need in the first day of the tourney.

My philosophy is this, even if the fishing is tough, and trust me I just came off the toughest practices I've ever had, you can still address all the controllable variables like new line, hooks, etc.

Next, before heading off to the pre-tournament meeting, I went over to the Arkie Jigs Plant near Rogers and spent some time with the folks there, meeting the employees and looking over the prototypes of my new signature swim jig that I'm very excited about! Finally, it was off to the partner pairing.... whew! I'm ready for the tournament to start so I can rest up!

Photos courtesy Joe Thomas

For more Joe Thomas, check out Joe's personality page and his show pages: Ultimate Match Fishing Presented by Sta-Bil and Stihl's Reel In The Outdoors with Joe Thomas.

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