John Skipper, of Taylor, wins pro fishing tournament

Taylor’s John Skipper had every right to be discouraged after the first day of the Co-angler division of the Stren Series Championship on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo.

Skipper caught one bass, and he was well out of first place — 96th to be exact.

“I never even considered looking at (the leaderboard),” Skipper said. “To me, this was one tournament that I was just really calm in. I said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it will happen.’

“I lost a couple of key fish in the tournament. I had the attitude, if it happens, then the Lord blessed me. If it doesn’t happen, then I’ve had a great time. I just had a calm come over me. When I lost a fish, I didn’t throw any temper tantrums.”

Skipper’s patience payed off. He rebounded the second day to move up to sixth place, and he won the Co-Angler division on the final day.

He collected $55,000 in cash and prizes, including a $40,000 new boat.

“Everyone keeps asking me, ‘What are you going to do with the money?’ ” Skipper said. “I’m going to put the money into the bank until I see what the taxes on the boat are going to be.”

Skipper fished the first day with pro Robbie Dodson, with whom he fished a practice round the day before the tournament began.

Things did not go so well. As a co-angler, Skipper was subject to where pro Dodson wanted to fish.

“When we practiced, the only fish we found were in deep waters. I just assumed we would be fishing deep,” Skipper said
“I should have asked the night before.”

When he got out on the water with Dodson, though, he discovered that he had the wrong equipment, because Dodson decided to fish the shallow waters.

On the second day, Skipper fished with pro Jeremy Guidry, and he had a much better day, ascending from 96th to sixth place.

“The guy the second day, we fished in deeper waters,” Skipper said. “I actually had better weight on the second day than on the third day, and it helped get to the top 10.”

Then, on the third day, he was paired up with Dodson again.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Skipper said he told others around him. “I learned from the first day.”

Skipper applied what he learned on that first day, when it could have been frustrating.

“I only caught one fish on the first day with him, but he caught a bunch of fish,” Skipper said. “I didn’t realize he fished shallow water the first day.  Then I was able to adjust, to be able to catch fish.”

“Knew exactly what we were doing the last day,” Skipper added.

Now, Skipper will back off the bass for a little while, and he will get ready for a trip north next summer.

“I’m done till around February,” Skipper said. “With this tournament I won here, I actually qualify to fish one of the great tournaments, the Forrest Wood Cup. Only 77 pros, 77 co-anglers qualify to fish it.”

The 2009 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Pittsburgh at the end of July, beginning of August.