Welcome to part 2 of my "Adventures in La Crosse" series!
In part 1 I covered the fantastic Women's Fishing Federation Kayak Fishing Experience and all of the fun times that came along with the event.
In part 2, I want to chronicle the time between the women's event, and the Hobie Bass Open Series event.
So Sunday, after the event concluded, my good friend, Amanda Brannon, and I went to volunteer to help run the Major League Fishing Kid's Derby!
The turnout was awesome, and getting to watch all of the excitement on so many little faces when they landed their fish, was such a blast!
Here's a handful of their great catches - and as you can see from the pictures, their happiness speaks for itself!
After the derby was over, it was definitely time for a little evening kayak fishing with The Brannons!
And despite having both of pups onboard with her, Amanda still managed to land this big old pike!!
And fortunately, I managed to wrangle a few greenies in the boat as well...
The next morning, Matthew Brannon and I hit the water to do a little prefishing - and right after a front rolled through - man, was the bite on!!
For those of you who haven't been - there are bald eagles EVERYWHERE in La Crosse!!
By the afternoon, we were ready to pack up and head in, when Matthew got a phone call from a good friend of theirs...
When he answered the phone, I heard him say the name of the person on the phone, but it wasn't until I heard the person talking on the other end that my brain registered who was actually on the phone...
Me: "Dude...were you just on the phone with Matt freakin' Allen?!?"
Matthew: *Snicker* "Yep..."
Me: *Brain explosion*
Matthew: "You wanna meet them??"
Me: **Brain malfunction**
Now, don't get me wrong...I've met a whole lot of famous people in my time on this earth...but there's something special about meeting people you look up to in our crazy little fishing world...
And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I've considered Matt Allen to be one of my spirit animals for the last few years.
For those of you who don't know - Matt Allen and Tim Little run an insanely popular YouTube channel called Tactical Bassin.
So off to the cabin we went!!
Not surprisingly, the conversation was a blast - just getting the chance to listen to them "dock talk" one-on-one was awesome.
Regardless of how "fan-girlish" it seems, it was just one of those simple moments that I'm incredibly grateful to have been a part of.
And as ya'll may have guessed, it wouldn't have been complete without a picture!!
Afterwards, Matt and Tim had to head off to a conference, so Amanda and Matthew kindly invited me out to dinner at Outback - where Amanda and I enjoyed a few tasty "Piña Koalas"!
The next two days, storms rolled into the area - so I decided to enjoy some downtime at my cabin before Ryan got into town.
While I was there - I discovered some awesome literature, tucked away in a little reading basket...
There were multiple In-Fisherman magazines from the 80s and 90s - but the real treat was a Field & Stream magazine from 1945!!
It might not seem like a big deal - but finding fishing literature from 76 years ago was very cool to me - like finding a time capsule of knowledge, quietly waiting for someone to come across it.
So for those two days, I soaked up some old-school fishing knowledge, enjoyed the sound of thunderstorms rolling through, and [admittedly] counted down the minutes until Ryan's arrival.
Stay tuned for part 3!!!
Tight lines, all!!
Kat
You may also like...
