We will start the new year of Tales from the Trail now and try and forget about the headache known as Okeechobee. I’ll tell you a little about it, and can only pray that it is not a sign of things to come. I made flight reservations back in November for this trip. A little over a week before I am scheduled to fly down, I get a call from FLW asking if I can come down 2 days earlier so they can get my photo shoot for the trading cards out of the way. I change my reservations, asking my wife what would be the best time for her to drive me to the airport. I was originally supposed to fly on Saturday and was now flying on Thursday. She didn’t want to have to leave work so I made the reservations for what I thought was 6:55am. My wife and kids and I get up at 4am and drive to Hartford. I say my goodbyes and my wife drives off to take the kids to school. I go to check in and they inform me that my flight is at 6:55 PM. I get into an argument with them about putting me on the next flight at 10:30am and they tell me they can’t do it unless I pay an extra $220; my original round trip ticket was only $160. I don’t have an extra $220, so I call my wife who’s 30 miles away by now and tell her she has to come back and get me. She turns around, picks me up and I get on the phone with Southwest airlines. I talk to them and eventually they’re willing to give me a break and only make me pay an extra $100. So I turn around once again and head back to the airport. All of this is such an issue because I was flying into Tampa and had to drive 3hrs once I got to Florida. I didn’t want to get in at 3 in the morning, especially since I didn’t have a room yet. That was another folly in itself. To make a very long ugly story short, I got there, practiced, the weather was cold and windy and I fished poorly. I’m going to pretend that trip didn’t take place and start fresh at the FLW Series East/West Fish Off out in Texas at Lake Amistad. I can’t wait to get there!