Fishing Elbow Part 2 Jan. 20, 2011

Here is part 2 of the article about fishing elbow on bassfan.com
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3781

Fishing Elbow Oct. 4, 2010

BassFan is running this article on "Fishing Elbow."
They add a bit more to what I had originally put in the booklet, it's worth a look.
http://www.bassfan.com/tips_article.asp?ID=285

Fitness article on BassFan Sept. 17, 2010

I thought you might find this article from BassFan interesting.

It's difficult to change habits, I know. Look at everything you are disciplined in and you'll see how much extra effort you've had to put towards making good habits. It requires time and energy you might not have planned on. But as with anything you want to be successful at, the more proper effort you put in, the more returns you see. Apparently others in this great industry of fishing are starting to open up to this as well.

Stay healthy and on the water!

Managing pain responsibly March 3, 2010

This past weekend, my team partner Bill Siemantel and I had a 2 day (Sat and Sun) tournament on Diamond Valley Lake in Southern Cal. He fished alone on Saturday as I went to fish another tournament on Castaic in which we are leading the points race. As it turns out, the Castaic tournament got canceled. But in getting my gear packed up into my truck to go meet Bill down at Diamond Valley, I ended up hurting my lower back pretty badly. I knew it wasn't good and immediately lied down for a few minutes on my back with my knees bent and feet flat on the ground to take the pressure off the spine. It worked, but I could feel it tightening up. I took a few Ibuprofen and drove down.

On the drive I'm thinking, here's a bit of irony. I'm the guy telling other anglers how to stay healthy and here I am now, dealing with this. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw it as a good opening. These things can happen to everyone, and you're more vulnerable to an injury if you're moving and active, as I am. It reinforced to me the need for what I am doing. I felt like I am in the middle of things right there with you. I thought how this can be a benefit to show my process to you and encourage others to give their stories like this too. So that's what I'm setting out to do; tell you about my process.

The 2 1/2 hour drive was very uncomfortable. I did make it there. Bill was in the lead after day 1 with just over 25 pounds. I took a few Ibuprofen every 4 hours with some food and plenty of water. That night, I used a heating pad on my lower back twice for 20 minutes while lying on the ground and watching the Winter Olympics. Those athletes were competing through more pain than I have. And A LOT more pressure, and still get through with great performances. When you decide that you want something enough to make it a part of your life, you push on through the speed bumps that can slow you down.

In the morning, I put the heat back on for ten minutes and did some light stretching. Well, Bill took the front and I used the lean seat in the back. I couldn't stand up without the lean seat for more than a minute without a lot of pain. I did what I had to do to get through the day focusing on the fishing as much as I could. At the end of the day we triumphed with over 51 pounds total for the 2 days. It seems to come down to what you decide. Look at anything you love to do. You go longer and push harder for those things. I see a link between fitness and fishing, both of which I love. It kept me going. Without having very strong core muscles prior to hurting my back, there's no way I could have fished and it would be a long recovery. I have a tournament this Saturday. With a combination of heat, ice, stretching, and easy exercises I will be ready to go.

If you get even a little of an exercise routine worked into your fishing routine, you can be ready for anything that would possibly keep you from getting on the water.

Here's to what you decide!