my worst/best big fish, i was fishing on pre-fishing on sam rayburn for an upcomming tournament, i was fishing with a friend who is also a guide on fork, him and his brother have caught numerous 10#'ers, well were fishing a deep water hump 17'-20' feet droppin off into 35-40' and we were catching great tournamnet size fish 3-5 #'s all of a sudden i hook into what felt like a floater, a sunken log, but then it moved, not quick just moving, i'm thinking carp, drum, cat, but it didn't ever really do the things i expected, then 35-40' out the biggest hole in the water showed up, the fish had never fought up till now, now she decides its time to head to the deep water runs beneath the boat, rod bending drag slipping and "POW", line breaks, 20 lbs test, i look at my buddy and say, well there was my shot at a 10 plus, and he just replied " keith, that fish was 12-14#'s if it was an ounce" that moment has been the source of many dreams both good and bad, i am still on a quest for a doulble digit fish even though i have caught a fewover 9#'s[:@], it will happen though

another small fish that i remember very well, i was fishing a redman (what is known as bfl now) wildcard tournament on boone lake in NE tenn., i had 9 bites in five days, the 1st day of the tournament i got on some fish, but i lost a 4-4 1/2# smallie, second day all i could catch were peanuts, i ended up in 12 or 13th and still got a check, but that fish i lost would have put me in the top six and sent me to the redman all-american to fish against 50-75 people for 100k, several of those guys are fishing flw and BASS events now

all i can do is keep fishin, and not worry about spilled milk

chuck i'm fixin to go look for one of those double digit fish in a few minutes, good luck too all of you