Hey everyone!
Firstly I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to being a part of this online community! I've browsed around a little and there seems to be some great folks on here who share the same passion for the outdoor sports, more specifically bass fishing, as I do! It's great to know I'm among like-minded and good people!
Ok, so here we go.... Not to bring up sour grapes, but I find it imperative to address something here to wipe the slate clean from my very first post on here so that it can clear the air and allow for some "closure". What I'm referring to here is the post on here from last season in regards to a tournament that I participated in and some controversy arose from... THIS THREAD
All I'd really like to say about it is that it's obviously in the past and I'd formally like to request it to stay there. The only reason I am bringing this topic up is because I intend to be an active member of this community and again, want to add a quick note for insight for everyone along with bringing a much needed "closure" to the discussion. That said...
What happened on the water was an unfortunate event that took place between Mr. Garlock and I. One that I feel did not shed a positive light on our tournament angling community and regardless of who was right or wrong it's more of a matter of "moving on" and it obviously has moved on, but because I'm now a member on here I felt it necessary to address this so that it and I, can get the real closure it/I deserve. There were people that probably formed opinions toward me or Mr. Garlock and while that is unfortunate the bigger picture is that hopefully with what I'm posting here and about to shed some light on, those views can be washed away as I feel what I'm about to relay here to everyone can give everyone some insight on what's most important in our sports and that's camaraderie! If you're reading this you're probably scratching your head lol... but trust me... read on...
You see, we BOTH left that tournament day with bad tastes in our mouths (for our own reasons and that was between him and I and ONLY him and I and also unfortunately our co-anglers) but what everyone doesn't know, and I'm here to relay... is that a few days after the tournament I returned back to the spot where the incident took place. Lo and behold, guess who was there? That's right... the "Legend" himself, Mr. Garlock! Now, I'm not gonna lie, my adrenaline started to pump as I was unsure what was about to unfold...
He was there, fishing by himself and it was a very calm beautiful Lake Ontario morning... so peaceful and serene that it was hard to not allow the tranquility of the morning's dawn that was "casting" itself over the water's surface to quell the "fight or flight" urge that comes with potential conflict within. I put my trolling motor into the water and made my way over to him... and it was on my way that I had a feeling/vibe of wanting to make peace (although there were a million thoughts going through my head at this given moment) and I felt we needed to do what we didn't properly do during the tournament day which was to hash things out between us like adult men and stewards of the sport/community.
It was when I was within his view that he recognized me and waved me on in. When I approached within 3-5 feet from his Port Side gunnel he smiled at me and immediately said "Hey, I'm glad you stopped over here... there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."
Now I won't go into detail about the EXACT conversation that took place, and primarily out of respect for the gentleman, as I would not want to invade his personal private interaction with me as well as what we discussed was a special conversation to me, and I'd like to have it had been between just him and I
That conversation gave me a whole new perspective on a guy I otherwise did not want to ever meet again. I'm here to tell ya and I'm glad to say that he had changed my mind in that regard! As an overview, we smiled, we laughed a bit, told stories, and in the end we shook hands (and come to find out, he took all that time during our conversation/interaction while he was in a tournament as this was going on between us!)... we certainly resolved the issue between us LIKE MEN and I'm proud to have been a part of that with him.
The moral of this story is that I learned A LOT from that tournament, and it had NOTHING to do with the actual tournament itself... it had EVERYTHING to do with life, your outlook on it therein, and understanding what drives us bonkers over these amazing creatures we chase after in the depths below! I have since then destroyed the GoPro footage as it does nobody any good and have buried the hatchet with Mr. Garlock along with it. My hat's off to him for what he said to me that day and I've since then become a much bigger fan of our "forefathers" of the sport that have been doing this much, much longer than I.
In closing, this is not necessarily the "ideal" introductory post that one wants to start out with among a new group of peers per se, but I felt that it needed to be addressed so that what happened behind the scenes between he and I and what the results were thereafter can be an inspiration to us all and something to ponder if ever you're involved in what he and I encountered that day during our tournaments. I also don't lose sleep if anyone has a specific negative "opinion" of me based on what was posted previously but I'd certainly PREFER that any preconceived notion of both I and Mr. Garlock can be one that is held in a much higher standard/regard now that the most important story has been told... and how ironic that the most important story about what took place had nothing to do at all with what actually took place during the tournament, but rather what took place AFTER!
Thank you for those who took the time to read this, if anything I wanted to provide detail moreso to commend him and his conversation with me. I digress...
Now that all of that is out of the way, I'm looking forward to participating within the forums here and getting an opportunity to get to know everyone on here as well. Hopefully some new friendships/acquaintances and fishing buddies can be made here! Thanks for having me here and here's to a fun and successful 2015 bass season!eace:
GET BIT!
-JC :fishing2:
Firstly I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to being a part of this online community! I've browsed around a little and there seems to be some great folks on here who share the same passion for the outdoor sports, more specifically bass fishing, as I do! It's great to know I'm among like-minded and good people!
Ok, so here we go.... Not to bring up sour grapes, but I find it imperative to address something here to wipe the slate clean from my very first post on here so that it can clear the air and allow for some "closure". What I'm referring to here is the post on here from last season in regards to a tournament that I participated in and some controversy arose from... THIS THREAD
All I'd really like to say about it is that it's obviously in the past and I'd formally like to request it to stay there. The only reason I am bringing this topic up is because I intend to be an active member of this community and again, want to add a quick note for insight for everyone along with bringing a much needed "closure" to the discussion. That said...
What happened on the water was an unfortunate event that took place between Mr. Garlock and I. One that I feel did not shed a positive light on our tournament angling community and regardless of who was right or wrong it's more of a matter of "moving on" and it obviously has moved on, but because I'm now a member on here I felt it necessary to address this so that it and I, can get the real closure it/I deserve. There were people that probably formed opinions toward me or Mr. Garlock and while that is unfortunate the bigger picture is that hopefully with what I'm posting here and about to shed some light on, those views can be washed away as I feel what I'm about to relay here to everyone can give everyone some insight on what's most important in our sports and that's camaraderie! If you're reading this you're probably scratching your head lol... but trust me... read on...
You see, we BOTH left that tournament day with bad tastes in our mouths (for our own reasons and that was between him and I and ONLY him and I and also unfortunately our co-anglers) but what everyone doesn't know, and I'm here to relay... is that a few days after the tournament I returned back to the spot where the incident took place. Lo and behold, guess who was there? That's right... the "Legend" himself, Mr. Garlock! Now, I'm not gonna lie, my adrenaline started to pump as I was unsure what was about to unfold...
He was there, fishing by himself and it was a very calm beautiful Lake Ontario morning... so peaceful and serene that it was hard to not allow the tranquility of the morning's dawn that was "casting" itself over the water's surface to quell the "fight or flight" urge that comes with potential conflict within. I put my trolling motor into the water and made my way over to him... and it was on my way that I had a feeling/vibe of wanting to make peace (although there were a million thoughts going through my head at this given moment) and I felt we needed to do what we didn't properly do during the tournament day which was to hash things out between us like adult men and stewards of the sport/community.
It was when I was within his view that he recognized me and waved me on in. When I approached within 3-5 feet from his Port Side gunnel he smiled at me and immediately said "Hey, I'm glad you stopped over here... there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."
Now I won't go into detail about the EXACT conversation that took place, and primarily out of respect for the gentleman, as I would not want to invade his personal private interaction with me as well as what we discussed was a special conversation to me, and I'd like to have it had been between just him and I
That conversation gave me a whole new perspective on a guy I otherwise did not want to ever meet again. I'm here to tell ya and I'm glad to say that he had changed my mind in that regard! As an overview, we smiled, we laughed a bit, told stories, and in the end we shook hands (and come to find out, he took all that time during our conversation/interaction while he was in a tournament as this was going on between us!)... we certainly resolved the issue between us LIKE MEN and I'm proud to have been a part of that with him.
The moral of this story is that I learned A LOT from that tournament, and it had NOTHING to do with the actual tournament itself... it had EVERYTHING to do with life, your outlook on it therein, and understanding what drives us bonkers over these amazing creatures we chase after in the depths below! I have since then destroyed the GoPro footage as it does nobody any good and have buried the hatchet with Mr. Garlock along with it. My hat's off to him for what he said to me that day and I've since then become a much bigger fan of our "forefathers" of the sport that have been doing this much, much longer than I.
In closing, this is not necessarily the "ideal" introductory post that one wants to start out with among a new group of peers per se, but I felt that it needed to be addressed so that what happened behind the scenes between he and I and what the results were thereafter can be an inspiration to us all and something to ponder if ever you're involved in what he and I encountered that day during our tournaments. I also don't lose sleep if anyone has a specific negative "opinion" of me based on what was posted previously but I'd certainly PREFER that any preconceived notion of both I and Mr. Garlock can be one that is held in a much higher standard/regard now that the most important story has been told... and how ironic that the most important story about what took place had nothing to do at all with what actually took place during the tournament, but rather what took place AFTER!
Thank you for those who took the time to read this, if anything I wanted to provide detail moreso to commend him and his conversation with me. I digress...
Now that all of that is out of the way, I'm looking forward to participating within the forums here and getting an opportunity to get to know everyone on here as well. Hopefully some new friendships/acquaintances and fishing buddies can be made here! Thanks for having me here and here's to a fun and successful 2015 bass season!
eace:GET BIT!
-JC :fishing2:
