I drove up to Ray Roberts and was there at 4:30 for the official practice day. Everything is very organized they fed up breakfast and gave us a nice lunch to eat later. They even supply the anglers with a bag of ice. First Class! I drew Brian New, he had won the first Elite of the year! Awesome! Come to find out he had slipped on the dock the first day of practice and broke a bone in his left hand and had to wear a brace on it. He was fishing with his right hand and had got some left handed reels so he could reel with his injured hand as it was difficult to hold a rod with his left. Wow these guys cover alot of water! He caught one fish just to test his hand then went hookless on all his baits the rest of the day. Of course I cant say what he was doing but i wouldnt bet against him. He told me he won the first Open he fished and the first Elite he fished, this is his first Classic so hes hopeful! We covered a large portion of the lake, alot of places i had fished before as Ive been fishing Roberts since it opened. We ran 60 mph everywhere and ran past alot of guys that were idling. My rear end was puckered to say the least when your blastting through trees and stumps at that speed!!! He never hit anything and he said he figures he saved at least a hour of fishing time by not idling! "If you cant see it then it aint there" he said!!!! It was interesting as he does not have a boat deal he pays for everything out of his pocket, boat, most of his baits etc. He said being a pro is the hardest job hes ever had. Super nice guy, I really enjoyed the day with him. At the end of the day I wished him luck, it would be awesome if he won!

Good report.

That’s such a cool experience!!

Very cool
Thanks for the report

He'll hit something in 3 days if he continues to take that approach.

Awesome

He's Bryan Thrift 2.0.

Great update and have fun!

At current lake level I bet 90 percent of the stuff is ok if you dont see it.

I guess it takes alot of the worry away when you know there is someone waiting at the dock that will have it fixed by morning. Have several friends that have been waiting for over a month for yamaha lower units. I assume that is not an issue for the guys fishing the classic.

Looking thru the photo galleries he's not the only one with that plan

This is true. You can run all over that lake at this water level.

thanks for sharing your experience....

Yep. I blew my Merc on Okeechobee on a practice day and they replaced the powerhead and I was back on the water the next morning. Back then it was no cost to the anglers. Not sure what the policy on that is today.