Back It Up! - A Non Boater Story
Brrrr, theres a chill in the air I thought to myself as I grabbed my light jacket from the back seat of my partners Dodge Ram. Stepping out, or should I say jumping off, I felt my right knee buckle, ouch! After a 3 hour ride to East Twin Lakes in Connecticut, your body can tend to feel a bit stiff. My partner heads off in the direction of a little brown shack, the rest rooms I assume. "Hurry Up" I yelled, "I gotta go too".

Feling better now that I have the required pit stop out of the way, thoughts of the days fishing ahead have me wide awake.. The 7-11 coffee helped shake off the effects of just two hours sleep and working the night shift, but the possibility of catching a few fish is like a slap in my face....a hard one. My partner is busy inspecting his boat, those last minute checks are important. My four rods are neatly stacked on the passenger side and my soft tackle bag is tucked under the passengers dash. Im ready and rareing to go.

My partner startles me with his request..."Hey Joe, back us in alright"? What???, Me??? Looking at the ramp I can see its large enough for two boats to launch at the same time and think to myself...its looks easy. My partner, Bob Casella, the Vice President of my club Atlantic Bassmasters can see I am a bit apprehensive.. Relax,he says, take it easy, you can do it. Oh boy!

He's right, I am nervous as hell. Backing up a 20 foot spanking clean, fire engine red, sleek Skeeter bass boat down an inclined ramp is not my idea of fun. In fact, its my worst nightmare. I have a hard enough time backing up my car. Its a piece of cake Bob shouts, just turn the wheel in the oposite direction you want the boat to go. Well, here goes nothing. I take a few deep breaths, start the engine and put the truck in reverse. Boy that was easy.

Stepping on the gas, the truck begins to move, and so does the trailer. I keep my left hand on the wheel, my head turned so I can look at my partner who is sitting in the boat motioning me back. Keeping it slow, the three of us, me the truck and the trailer creep gingerly down the ramp. So far so good. Half way down the trailer begins to veer to the left slightly. Uh oh, whats going on, I didnt do anything. The steering wheel is staright, I didnt move nothing. I knew it I mutter to myself, I just knew it.

Bob motions me to stop. I hit the brake hard and to my shagrin almost launch my partner out of the boat and onto his head. "Woah, woah he exclaims, Take it easy or your gonna push the boat right off the trailer. Just a slight tap on the break is all you need." He instructs me on the fine points of straightening out the trailer and try as I might I am still having trouble. Its then I realize that I am totally confused. Did he say turn the wheel to my left, or his left? I think he said his left so back I go and the trailer begins to head even more towards the left side of the ramp. Damn!

"What the hell are you doing in there screams my partner. Stop the $#@%$#%$# truck." I can sense he isnt a happy camper . I dont remember signing up for boot camp, but its sure beginning to feel like it. I can feel a bead of sweat dripping off my forehead. Sure now I am hot, the hell with this stupid jacket. My hearts beating like a runaway freight train and "Drill Sargeant Bob" wants me to head up the ramp and do it again. I think I am going to go A.W.O.L

It feels like an eternity. I start the truck on its way down the ramp once again. This time I have my fingers, legs and toes crossed. Please....please....please. Much to my relief, the trailer is staright. The big engine is now in the water. "Come on back my partner yells, just a little bit more." Giving me the stop sign I apply the break gently and the boat slides off the trailer and into the water. Whew!, its in. Bob gives me the OK sign and yells...good job. Now I have to park the truck. Oh joy.

Stepping on the gas, I feel the truck shudder. The engine is running, but nothing is happening. I can hear the rear wheels spinning but I am not coming up the ramp. Suddenly I can feel the tuck sliding back and I slam on the breaks, aaaaagh! Turning around I can see the trailer is gone. Where the hell is it? I look out the window and notice a rock bass swimming by, the rear wheels of the tuck are totaly submerged. What next? From somwhere in my overworked brain I get a bright idea. I sure hope it works.

I step on the break with my right foot and give it the gas with my left. I can feel the truck start to move up the ramp, the trailer with it. The tires screech a little, but who cares, shes coming up!
"Come on baby, I mutter to myself, you can do it." With a woosh of water and a couple of bumps, the truck and trailer are out of the water and on high ground. Nice. Looking around I spot a parking space straight ahead. Parking the trailer like a pro I think to myself...Nothing to it.

Jumping onto the boat my partner flashes me a smile and says, "nothing to it right?" takeing my jacket off he pats me on the back and says "good job." I cant help but wonder what his reaction might have been if he had been aware that I almost parked his entire rig in the lake instead of the parking lot. On reflection, I am glad he didnt notice or I might not have been around to tell this story. lol

I plan on buying my own boat someday, but for now I believe I can learn much from fishing the back of a boat. I will learn faster how to handle a boat and how to fix and maintain one. Plus by fishing out of the back you get the opportunity to be paired with different anglers who employ different techniques. One thing I have learned already is that it is important to be versatile and to be able to addapt to changing conditions. Dont die with your go to bait.

Another thing I learned is that tournament fishing is different than recreational fishing. A whole lot different. Disdaining numbers, you look for five quality bites that hopefully you can convert into five quality bass. If you can do this, your chances of heading to the winners circle are good. Even though your limit is five fish, I have learned to fish for one fish at a time. The most difficult fish to catch is your next fish and the fifith fish seems to be the hardest of all. It can be nerve racking and exhilerating at the same time. Your always on the clock and those precious minutes just keep ticking away. You gotta love it.

As a non-boater you are a guest on your partners boat so be considerate of his investment. You need to respect and treat his boat as if its your own. A $30,000. investment is no laughing matter.
Always offer to help clean and wipe down the boat at days end. Some partners will say no, others will ask you to pitch in. Either way, be a good non-boater and your chances of being invited back will increase dramatically. Oh yeah...it helps if you can put a few in the live well during a tournament, right Ray?

Now lets get back to my day with Bob. The wind rushing at my face is refreshing as the Skeeter comes up onto plane. The bow slices through the water like a knife through butter....wow I think to myself, I like this! We start out in a small cove where my partner feels the bass are likely to spawn. Its mid May and the water temperature is already in the mid 60's. The boat come to a stop a few yards off a set of docks and in seconds we are both ready to fish.

I check my arsenal. Jig & Pig, a soft jerk bait, a tube and a finess bait for bedding fish. I feel I have my bases covered. We fish hard all day and catch a few fish. We were pre-fishing and are confident in our spots. We just hope no one finds what we have found, but know that its not likley to be the case. There are some great fisherman in our club. I look over at my side of the boat and it looks like a wolverine has rumaged through my tackle. Lures, tools, weeds, cut lines and empty food wrappers everywhere. It reminds me of a war zone.

After a hard day of fishing, you cant complain. Fish or no fish, you still enjoy being out there. Tournament fishing as well as pre-fishing can be hard work, but here your the boss. You have an out door office, fresh air and natural sunlight. You dont even mind a little rain every now and again. Mother nature is always in evidence, birds, bees and bass, and all of her creatures share your passion for the outdoors. You can hear it in their song, see it in their movements. They are free and for a time...so are you.

But now its that time again....yep..."Get the truck shouts "Drill Sargeant Bob". Damn, here we go again.

Joe Pido