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Brothers Tony and Tim DeVolder will be blogging about their adventures as co-anglers on the Elite Series this week from the Tennessee Triumph at Old Hickory Lake.

When we got up this morning we found it a little easier to get up and out of bed, both of us with the hope to make the top-50 cut by the end of our fishing day. After stumbling around for a bit, we donned our war paint (sun screen) and made the drive in our sweet mini-van to the launch. We both met up with our pros, Scott Campbell and Derek Remitz, and our fishing day commenced.

Tim DeVolder

Another day has been written in the Bassmaster Elite Series history books. This day however finds itself with the universe spiraling somewhere into another dimension because yes, it is official: Tony has beaten me.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Today started just like yesterday except that I didn't have to back up a boat and I actually got to be in the boat with my pro, Scott Campbell, when it was launched. Again it was amazing to be sitting out there in the middle of all those boats filled with all of your fishing heroes. The day started on a high note when I had an explosion on my 10th cast with a frog. I boat flipped what Scott and I thought to be an easy 14 incher, yet when I put him on the board he went 13 and 3/4 inches. From this point on my day would be full of them. I caught so many in fact that it actually convinced me that the pros are so good that they caught all the fish out of Old Hickory that were 14 inches or larger.

At the end of the day my total fish count was a goose egg on keepers and Scott had five.

Before my co-angler experience ended I got one more glimpse of how sweet it was to be here. As we pulled up to the dock to weigh in, we pulled in between Mark Menendez and Timmy Horton with Gerald Swindle next to Timmy. As we sat there waiting for bags to weigh fish we all discussed our days on the water and what they all thought about their seasons. We also talked about trying to get to next year's Bassmaster Classic. It was such an awesome experience to talk with them as if we were on the same level and same playing field as they are.

In the end I finished out of the top 50, unfortunately, and I have to concede to my brother because he caught his limit and made it to the heavenly 50-cut (you will hear his whole story next).

I want to thank Steve Bowman for all his help in giving us the chance to fish as co-anglers. We are so grateful to have had this experience and just maybe you will see the DeVolder brothers fishing on the Elite Series sometime in the future.

Tony DeVolder

Despite what you have just read, everything is fine in the universe, as once again I have proved my older brother status and my fishing supremacy. My pro and I, Derek Remitz, both men from the northern states, went to duke it out with these southern bass for one more day.

Our goal was to make the top 50 and fish on the weekend. The day started out with what many of the anglers this week were reporting: a lot of little fish with keepers being a real challenge. I thought that if I could put two good keepers in the boat I would have a shot at the cut, but unless you are Timmy Horton you can only catch one at a time.

By 10 a.m. I had two fish in the box and was really looking forward to the possibility of fishing on Saturday. One more keeper just before 11:00 sealed the deal for me and after a hard day at it I found myself with my limit of 3 keepers that weighed in at 6 pounds even.

Unfortunately Derek could only manage two keepers and missed the cut. I really enjoyed fishing with a young angler close to my age at the beginning of his pro career.

But no, the story does not end there!

During our route around Old Hickory Lake today we managed to hit a few boat wakes. My cell phone managed to fall out of my pocket with all the rocking and rolling around the lake. So, after the final meeting was held, I had to find Derek's hotel. This did have its advantages because I came across an Academy Outdoors and was able to pick up some top secret baits for the final co-angler day.

After two days of fishing I find myself in 25th place with 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Tomorrow I will be fishing with Tommy Biffle and we will see how much ground I can make up on the leaders.

Make sure to check back tomorrow for my final co-angler blog of the Tennessee Triumph on Old Hickory Lake.

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