2014 Bassmaster Classic Champion Randy Howell - from Good to Great: $15,000 to $300,000 in 8 Hours of Bass Fishing
Day 2: When 2014 Bassmaster Classic Champion Randy Howell Didn’t Have the Faith to Listen to the Voice
Editor’s Note: When 2014 Bassmaster Classic Champion (www.bassmaster.com) Randy Howell (www.randyhowell.com) of Springville, Alabama, heard the voice say, “GO TO SPRING CREEK NOW. DO YOU WANT TO BE GOOD, OR DOYOU WANT TO BE GREAT?” this wasn’t the first time he’d heard the voice.
 I was fishing a tournament on Lake Oneida in New York the summer of 2012, a BASS Elite Series event, and I had led the tournament for 2 consecutive days. If I won, I would earn $50,000. On the final day of competition, I had a 2-1/2-pound lead over former Bassmaster Classic Champion Boyd Duckett of Guntersville, Alabama. On that last day, the wind was blowing, the fishing conditions had changed, and I only had two bass in my live well at 2:00 pm. I decided to run to the lower end of the lake, get out of the wind and catch some bass in some areas where I thought I could win the tournament. As I started to make the run down the lake, in my mind, I saw a picture of a bay. Then I looked across the lake, and I saw the same bay I’d seen in my mind. I heard a voice say, “Go to that bay now!” I saw the wind blowing into the bay and made a conscious decision not to go into the bay. I told myself, “That bay is too windy, and there’s too much boat traffic.” I continued to come up with reasons to not fish that bay. As a kind of compromise, I decided I wouldn’t fish that bay now, but I’d fish it on the way back from the lower end of the lake.
 During the entire ride down the lake, I began to grieve about not listening to the voice. I knew deep down in my heart it was what I needed to do. I felt like I had so much knowledge about the lake that I knew more than the voice did. After all, I had caught bass every place I’d fished on Lake Oneida, and after 3 days, I was leading the tournament. I felt I had control of the tournament at that point and would win, if I just kept fishing the same lures and the same types of areas I had been fishing. I was trying to win the tournament on my own, instead of listening to the voice of the Lord and His commands. I fished hard at the lower end of the lake and didn’t catch any bass there. So, I decided that I would leave the lower end of the lake earlier than I had planned to and give myself an hour to fish the bay that the voice had told me to go to earlier in the day. There was enough grass to flip with my flipping baits. But to fish it thoroughly, I would’ve needed 2 hours. I quickly caught two largemouth bass. Just as the fishing was getting good, I had to leave to travel to the weigh-in to keep from being penalized.
At the final weigh-in, I lost that tournament by 6 ounces. I needed one more bass for my five-fish limit. If I had gone where I was supposed to fish and stayed there, I knew I would’ve caught at least one more 12-inch bass, enabling me to win the tournament. As I began to think about what had happened, I knew God had been giving me the opportunity to win the tournament. Unfortunately, instead of listening to the Holy Spirit and doing exactly what He told me to do, when He told me to do it, I decided to trust my own judgment and lost the tournament. In 20 years of bass fishing, that was the worst defeat I ever had, and I realized my stubbornness had caused me to lose that tournament. When the tournament was over, I prayed and said, “Lord, if you ever speak to me again, I’ll do what You say, regardless of how unreasonable it seems to be. I will instantly react to Your voice and the instructions You give me.”
 Ten months later, I was in the Bassmaster Open in Virginia. Once again, I led the tournament for 2 days. On the final day, I was making a 60-mile run from the boat ramp to get to the Chickahominy River. When I got to the spot I wanted to fish, I caught two bass and then couldn’t get a bite. Chickahominy was controlled by the tide. I was waiting for the tide to change, believing the bass would move in and start biting on the tide change. While I was waiting for the tide to change, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Run back up the river, and fish where I show you.” At that instant, in my mind’s eye, I saw the place I was commanded to fish. To myself I said, “Okay, Lord. Load up, we’re going to go.” I looked at my fishing partner for the day and said, “We have to run back up the river.” As soon as I pulled up to where the vision showed me to fish, I caught a 4-pound largemouth, then a 3-pounder and another keeper bass. These fish allowed me to throw back one of my smaller fish. Later, I won that tournament by 6 pounds.
 That tournament convinced me to listen to the voice of the Lord, when He tried to lead me. I learned not only to do what He told me to do, but to act the instant I heard His voice. I also learned not to depend on my own knowledge when something phenomenal occurred, because when I heard that voice, like many other people, I would try to reason - what I was hearing wasn’t what I needed to do. I tried to compromise by saying, “Yeah, I’ll do it, but I’ll do it when I decide to do it. I’ll do what You tell me to do. I’ll go where You tell me to go. But I’ll do it on my own time, when I decide it’s the best thing to do.” Finally I realized that I really wasn’t smarter than the God who had created me. During the tournament in Virginia, I reacted to the voice instantly, unquestionably and did exactly what the voice told me to do. During the 2014 Bassmaster Classic, I knew the Lord was speaking to me; I knew I had to follow.
To learn more about bass fishing, get John E. Phillips’ Kindle ebooks, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro,” “How to Win a Bass Tournament” and “Catch the Most and Biggest Bass in Any Lake: 18 Pro Fishermen’s Best Tactics” go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the names of the books, and download them to your Kindle and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
Also, please check back with this website next week to learn about John E. Phillips’ latest Kindle eBook – “Outdoor Life’ Complete Turkey Hunting, 2nd Edition” - and John’s reprint of his very-popular print book, “The Turkey Hunter’s Bible, 2nd Edition,” and where to buy them.
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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