Just recently the Lady Bass Anglers Association was honored and blessed to have Kristine Fisher join the circuit for the Guntersville tournament in July. There were some behind the scenes negotiating that took place prior to the announcement being made. Seems Kristen had an obligation to meet with a recent giveaway she offered to have a lucky lady be able to fish with her for a day. Kate Perkins was the lucky winner and was anxiously awaiting the day of fishing with Kristine. When Kristine was faced with the offer to fish the Guntersville tournament, her first and foremost obligation was to Kate, so she delivered the news and let Kate make the decision. Much to her surprise, Kate was excited that she would not only get to fish with Kristine for a day, but she would also get to fish with a 2nd female angler with the Lady Bass Anglers Association. The news was out and I’m not sure how everyone else felt but to be honest, I wasn’t intimidated at all. Most would admit that we’re intimidated when Pam Martin Wells signs up and even though Kristine is known, pretty much, worldwide for her awesome angling abilities, I guess I felt less intimidated because I knew that she would be basically handicapped because she would be fishing from a boat and not a kayak for this tournament. That would be a huge adjustment for anyone to make, I couldn’t imagine trying to go from a boat to a kayak, even though I have fished from a kayak a little bit, and much prefer the boat over the kayak. My next concern was, hoping that all the ladies liked her enough that she would want to come back and fish with us again. Let’s face it, this was a tremendous social media opportunity for her, as well as the LBAA. I don’t like going out the day before a tournament starts but Heather had arrived late Tuesday night and really wanted to get out and see the lake some, so I took her out for a few hours to check it out. As we were pulling into the dock to load up, Kristine was putting her boat in, and I went and introduced myself once she had pulled into the dock. They say, first impressions are the best and I’m here to tell you, “WOW, just WOW!!!!”
Kristine was not only super friendly, but she was also sooooooo humble and just super, super sweet. I stood there talking to her and it was like we had known each other for years. I kept thinking to myself, she is going to win EVERYONE over, absolutely no doubt. Her personality is infectious, and I don’t think there was one lady that didn’t get to spend a few minutes talking with her. She had all the women that she spoke with, to sign her LBAA shirt and she even won 3rd place, proving that being at a disadvantage, she was still, very much a great angler.
Now here’s what really impressed me about her, other than her awesome personality and humbleness. She has, no telling how many followers on her social media, but she uploaded all her footage from the tournament on her YouTube channel…..the good, the bad, and the ugly. She made mistakes, just like we all do, but instead of editing those out, she uploaded them as well. She bumped the dock during takeoff the first morning, as did several others, and she fell out of her boat while trying to pull up the trolling motor when it was weighted down with an extra 50 pounds of grass. She showed it all and I say that’s real class in my book. With her 3rd place finish, she could’ve gone a whole different route with her footage, but she was honest, humble, and still laughs at her mistakes.
So, here’s my take on a Pro joining the LBAA Circuit…..what a great representation of a female angler that gave us just as much of a new perspective as we gave her and I hope that we continue to welcome ALL newcomers as much as we did Kristine. Annnnnnnnd, I hope Kristine comes back to join us again in 2025.
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