Business Trip Back to the States
It’s been a busy past few weeks. I made a trip back to the states, unfortunately not for fishing but to taking care of some issues with my boat. The woman keeping an eye on my boat let me know that after the relentless wind and rain in California there was now a hole in the cover. I was told by another person that it was raining about every other day during that time frame and she never let me know if that hole was capable of being patched. Fortunately, the other woman, Jessica Costas, was able to go take a look and has some pretty good pull with the Public Works department.
Because the drain plug wasn’t taken out, the boat filled with water and was a mess. The woman with the Public Works connection had her people come out and pump about eight to ten inches of water out of the boat. She also went to Bass Pro Shops and they hooked her up with another boat cover which was very helpful.
Because of the mess with the boat, I decided to make a trip back home to California to see what I was dealing with and get the ball rolling with anything else that needed fixed. The trip was a nightmare. I caught a Space A flight which is a military cargo plane. The good thing was that it didn’t cost anything; the bad thing is there are only certain flights from certain locations and what I expected to be a weeklong trip, ended up being two. I ended up making it out of Travis, CA a week later with a few stops. The first stop was in Alaska, believe me it is still pretty cold and I didn’t really have a warm jacket. After departing Alaska, we made another stop in Japan for about six hours before finally making it back to Korea. It was a long trip.
The positive part of the whole trip was that I got to actually see what I was dealing with regarding the Nitro. The batteries and cables were destroyed from the water damage. The seats and carpet may need to be replaced down the road, but didn’t look too bad. I have some new graphs that I will have Bass Pro Shops install.
Busy with all the running around, I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it out on the water. This trip was strictly business. I ran into a couple of anglers while at a Golden Corral; I saw their boat in the parking lot and started asking them about the Delta. Then one of the guys said, “Hey aren’t you Eddie Kidd? What are you doing back here?” It was pretty cool that they recognized me! Talking to them really did make me miss fishing back home, but thankfully I’m almost there.
Things are moving forward with coming back to the states. I already have all my personal stuff packed up from my office. I could be out very soon and have to be by June 30th at the latest. I more than likely will end up back home in California, but Fort Bragg, Hood and Benning are all options as well. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind any of them, they all have some great fishing around.
After initially packing up my fishing stuff, I took out a couple things in hopes of catching a few more Korean bass before heading out. I was able to get out about a week ago. The biggest fish I caught was about four pounds. The fact that they have largemouth bass over here was a huge plus for me. I don’t think I would’ve been able to last for as long as I have without being able to catch some fish.
My buddy and old KSA fishing partner, James Moore, has been back in the states and hasn’t skipped a beat. He’s been emailing me pictures of his brand new Nitro Z21 and making me jealous. He’s already posted a 2nd and 5th place finish over there in Texas and has me chomping at the bit to get back into the tournament scene. After looking over what will be available to fish when I get home, I’m pretty set on fishing the US Open on Lake Mead if I can make it back. They have always bugged me to fish it and I think this year will be the year. Until then, I’ve got one last car club meeting at the end of the month if I’m still around. I’ve gotten my car repaired and am ready to show it off.
