Chapman Checking in

There is so much going on where should I start?

I happy to report I am continuing to work out hard with they guys from FelixFishing.com. I feel I am already in the better shape than I have been in a long time, and we are really just getting started. I think being in top shape by the Bassmaster Classic will be a huge advantage to me on tour next year.

It's a neat thing to go to your own state fair. The Kansas Wildlife and Parks had a fish tank set up out there. Teaching the community about the fish in Kansas. It was a working vacation. The family - I encourage anybody, no matter what state you are in, to go experience your state fair. It helps you appreciate your state and you get to eat all kinds of goodies. You know, the crazy and unique foods that you only need to eat once a year.

I guess taking over in the Chapman footsteps my son Mason has been fascinated with fly tying. He just finished a four week class on fly tying. When he took the class, he was still seven years old. The flies he's tying already are way more advanced than anything I have tried tying. He did excellent and I am sure that it won't be our last fly tying class.

Something else I am really excited about is a class I am taking called the FBI Citizen's Academy. I have always been fascinated with Law Enforcement. They bring people in that have a presence in the community for this class. The FBI doesn't really do any marketing or even defending of themselves when people bash them. Instead, they have citizen's they have trained through classes like these that can educate the rest of the citizens on what the FBI does and how they do it.

They have already taken us through violent crime with crime scene photos and bits and pieces of evidence they used to solve the case. Other things we have studied is domestic terrorism, drugs and gangs and it has opened my eyes to how amazing our law enforcement in this country is. I will be more vigilant and aware of my surroundings, especially traveling the country.

It's an eight-week course and, near the end, we get to visit the FBI Training facility. We'll get to see how they train including the FBI swat team in live fire drills. We'll also get to shoot their guns, how cool is it to get to play with the FBI's guns and stuff.

For example, recently here in Kansas there was a kidnapping of a10 month old little girl. She was nabbed right out of her bedroom. Just a few days before the kidnapping we had a class about kidnapping. The gentlemen who ran the class happens to be the agent in charge of this case. After that class and hearing the facts of this case through the media, it has made me see it in a different light than I would have prior to that class. As for the case, we are hoping for the best for the little girl and her family, they are in our thoughts and prayers daily.

My son just turned eight and we had an unusual birthday party. He wanted to go down to my parents' farm and have fun. We kind of had a "red neck" birthday party. We went down and road four wheelers, shot guns, built a fire, cooked hot dogs on the fire. It was a great to spend the day with the family outdoors.

Fishing wise, I have had a couple Crappie trips. I love to bass fish, but when it comes to just fun fishing I really love Crappie fishing. A couple nights ago my daughter's-teacher's-husband, my son Mason and I fished for about an hour and a half and we caught 45 Crappie. Which brings to mind, a little something I like to stress to people about fishing. That is, even though you may be a hard core tournament angler, any kind of fishing can teach you something. It could be something as simple as maintaining boat position or reading your electronics. You still need to find out what they want to bite and how they want it presented.

I just got back from the Missouri Federation tournament at Truman Lake. I was happy to welcome the anglers to the event on behalf of Triton and Mercury.

I am at the point now where I am just itching to get hunting with the bow. Maybe I can find a free morning or two to get out there and shoot a few bows. The serious 'rut hunting' is coming up in just a few weeks!

One last cool thing, we have a few bass that live near our dock. One of which we call 'sore mouth' because we've caught him twenty or thirty times over the years. After we finished cleaning the Crappie, my daughter fed 'sore mouth' by hand. Here's the video.