After two close calls, Kathi Hurst of Ripley found the charm in her third attempt to qualify for the Women’s Bassmaster Tour championship.
She and 19 of the world’s top female anglers will compete in the WBT championship Oct. 23-25 on Lake Hamilton, Ark., near Hot Springs. Hurst fished the lake for the first time Tuesday and like what she saw.
“I was finding some fish in the back of creeks,” said Hurst, who finished 18th to qualify in the top 20 field. “The water was muddy.”
She said she had expected a typical clear Arkansas lake, but a storm front moved through Monday night and dropped bucketfuls on the central Arkansas lake.
“I did catch some,” Hurst said. “They were about 2 pounds each. If you can catch five fish that make 10 pounds, you’ll be doing pretty good.”
With the WBT event still two weeks away, the climate could shift, however.
“It all depends on the weather,” said Hurst, who has fished all three years of the Women’s Bassmaster Tour. “I think they’ll be in the same general place. They may move a little if it gets cooler. But the water temperature is 73 degrees. and I don’t see it changing too much before the tournament.
“If I can just get around them, I think I can catch them,” she said.
A long road
Hurst’s journey to the WBT’s premier event has taken twists and turns the past two years.
Last year, she only missed qualifying by two points. Just two places better in one tournament. About half a thumb on the weigh-in scales.
Ounces.
In 2006 – after waiting so long for the WBT to be formed – she missed half the tour after a tumor was discovered at the base of her brain, on her pituitary gland. Thankfully, it was benign, but it shattered her concentration for that year.
Entering the fourth and final WBT event this year, Hurst thought she was in pretty good shape.
“I was actually in 11th going into the last tournament” on Clarks Hill Lake in Evans, Ga., she said. “And I thought that hopefully this won’t be my drop. But it was.”
After Thursday’s first day of competition, Hurst’s husband, Mike, gave her daunting news.
“I had talked to Mike Thursday evening,” Hurst said. “And he said, ‘Well, you’ve got to come in in the top 20 to make it.’
“And I’m thinking, ‘Why are you telling me this now? You’ve been telling me all year that now I’ve got it made.” I actually got mad after he told me that,” she said.
After Friday’s fishing, the field was trimmed to the top 20, the ones who would get a paycheck. Hurst finished 30th and could only watch her 11th-place status fade.
“So Friday after I weighed in, he said, ‘I refigured today; do you want me to tell you where you are on the list?’” Hurst said. “And I said, ‘No, I’ll just wait.’ But he had me figured at 17th. I felt pretty comfortable about making it, but then there was that drop. You don’t know.”
She could not improve her standing because she didn’t make the final-day cut for Saturday’s competition.
“Actually, I came home Saturday morning,” she said. “I got up early. I kept waking up. I said, ‘Well, heck, I’m going to start packing my stuff up.’”
Then she was more worried about getting gas for the drive from Georgia.
“I left there about 5:15 (a.m.) and I got down there to the interstate and I didn’t think to stop at that station,” Hurst said. “I don’t know if it had gas or not. But I went down the interstate about three miles and got off; every station there, the pumps were covered. And I had less than half a tank of gas, so I knew I couldn’t get to Atlanta.
“I was thinking that I had stopped down there and there was a Walmart; they were just coming in and opening up about 5:30 and they had gas. So I filled up and got out of Georgia anyway.”
Stayed in contention
Because she was in such good shape when she entered the fourth WBT event, she was able to slip into the qualifying ranks after what was arguably the tour’s toughest lake.
“It was kinda a relief going into the last tournament in 11th place,” Hurst said. “Like I said, I was hoping I wouldn’t use that for the drop, and I might move up instead of down. But at least I stayed in the top 20.”
The WBT championship is different from the Bassmasters Classic because the women also have co-anglers competing. The women also keep their Angler of the Year points.
“I’m pretty sure I’m out of that race for the top spot,” Hurst said. “That was my initial goal; that didn’t work out. I’m in the championship, so maybe I can make a good showing there.”
She said she hopes to contend for one of the top two spots, where boats will be awarded.
She also gave a lot of credit to her sponsors for their support in helping her advance to the WBT championship. Her sponsors include Carlock Toyota of Tupelo, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Performance Plus Marine of Tuscumbia, Ala.; Wave Fishing Products, Izorline, The Peoples Bank of Ripley and Kirkwood National Golf Course of Holly Springs, where she plays golf.
Contact outdoors writer Buster Wolfe (buster.wolfe@djournal.com) at 678-1576. His blog is djoutdoors.wordpress.com.
