ESPN

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.

Tony DeVolder

With the conclusion of fishing today the co-angler side of the event is over. But I better not get ahead of myself.

When the alarm went off this morning it was bitter-sweet. I was getting up for another day on the lake with a Bassmaster Elite Series pro while my brother Tim was still in bed because unfortunately, he didn't make the cut.

The day started out like any other tournament day, but this morning I was calm and not worried about how the day would play out. I had already made the top 50 cut and I knew it would take a nearly impossible weight to catch the leaders. So my plan was to just go out and have a great day on the water with Tommy Biffle and try and make up as much ground as I could.

It was very cool for me to be fishing with Tommy because he has always done well or won pro events held on the Mississippi River in my neck of the woods. I can remember being a young bass tournament enthusiast and watching Tommy weigh in.

In the morning before blasted off we talked about those past events on the Mississippi and how we both hoped that the Elite Series would be back on the old muddy Mississippi soon.

When I had meet Tommy the night before he told me how he was fishing and I was really excited because he was fishing the way that I like to fish and I was looking forward to learning how Tommy approached the water. Tommy also told me at last night's pairing, however, that we were making a long run.

During the run this morning I had plenty of time to reflect on the week's events.

It has really been an unbelievable week. Fishing with the Bassmaster Elite Series pros was mind-blowing. I mean, I was in the boat with the guys that you seen on ESPN every weekend.

Just being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the tournament was somewhat surreal. Hanging out with the best fishermen in the world; it really doesn't get much better than that. Getting one-on-one tips from the pros and learning techniques just by watching them fish was so great. After being around these guys for a week, it was cool to see that they are all friends and it was so much fun hearing them giving each other a hard time. It really let me see that they are just like the rest of us, with the exception that they are the greatest bass fishermen on the planet.

Also, while driving to Tommy's first spot, I thought about how, even though the fishing had been somewhat more stingy at Old Hickory than it may have been on the Mississippi River back home, it still turned out to be a great and exciting tournament. This proves that no matter how tough the fishing is, these guys will catch them.

When we got to Tommy's spot, some 45 minutes after the launch, we began fishing a beautiful stretch of water. Within 30 minutes I had my first keeper and by the time 11 a.m. had rolled around both Tommy and I had limits in the boat.

I knew that I didn't have much weight, but on the wet ride back to weigh-in after the skies had opened up, I allowed myself to dream that my three fish would place me higher toward the leaders. When we got back to the dock we began to hear that most had a tougher day on the water today, which gave me even more hope of moving up in the standings.

While waiting in the weigh-in line, Ray Sedguick was right behind us and he had an incredible day on the water with about 15 pounds of bass. When I had finally worked my way up on stage my three fish weighed 5 pounds even and put me into 18th place.

I was happy to have moved up, but even happier about the great week we had sharing boats with such fantastic pros.

My brother and I have had an excellent week and would recommend fishing any Elite Series event as a co-angler. You will learn so much in this on-the-water tutorial format, as well as get to hang out with the heroes of the sport, and witness and be a part of BASS history. My brother and I have had a terrific time writing these blogs and hope that you have enjoyed reading them. Tim and I would like to thank Steve Bowman again for this opportunity.

See you out on the water.

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