Professional fishing has been a dream come true for me. However, when I first started, I was totally unaware of what I was getting myself into. It quickly became apparent to my wife Anne, and I that there was going to be much more involved than simply catching fish. We needed to make several big decisions before we took off to fish the FLW Tour, the largest most lucrative bass tournament trail in the world. How would we come up with the money, I needed a new boat, truck, how would we eat, and where would we stay?In an effort to both save money, and be comfortable at the same time, we took a serious look into camping. Anne and I have always loved the outdoors and thought that camping, as opposed to staying in motels, would be a much better lifestyle on the road, especially since we also had a five month old baby boy to consider. We didn’t feel right going from motel to motel all across the country. I guess you could say we’d rather live in our own germs and not everyone else’s. And so we decided to buy a camper.

Which Way Do We Go?

With just two weeks before the Tour season would start, we figured we’d easily go out and just buy one, no problem….right? Well, we didn’t realize that there are only fifty thousand different makes, models, styles and floor plans to choose from. We soon found out that if we were going to do this the right way, it was going to require some serious research and in a short amount of time.

We quickly focused our attention toward truck campers. These units slide right into the back of your pick-up truck and are relatively easy to set up once you arrive at your destination. This was beneficial in several ways, we could set up the camper at our site and then hook the boat back up to the truck, thus leaving the “house” stationary. This meant I didn’t have to move the house to the launch ramp and wake the whole family up at 5:00 every morning, which would be the case with a motor home. This was very important to us, just set it up and leave it there for the two or three weeks we would be at each destination. It was a perfect choice for us and we were very excited about the possibilities.

Within in a few days, we found a manufacturer who just happened to be in the process of building one. We were fortunate to be able to actually change some of the dealer options that we didn’t want, add some things, and also pick it up before we had to head to Florida for the first event. It couldn’t have worked out any better for us. Suddenly, we were off into a totally new lifestyle with our new home on the back of our truck. It was the best move we could have ever made.

Clear Advantages

Camping is not for everyone, but once given a try, I think most people would probably be hooked for life. With a growing family, we’ve graduated from our small truck camper to a 35 foot Hitch Hiker fifth-wheel. Anne, Mitchell, Macy and I certainly wouldn’t have it any other way. We have everything we need and more. There’s a stove, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, sink, 2 TVs with cable, Play Station, DVD Player, CD player, king size bed, hot water tank, heater, air-conditioner, lots of storage, closets and all the rest of our personal stuff. We even have an electric fire place and surround sound. We don’t have to worry about packing suitcases or going out to eat. We pack our clothes and all the food we need, and avoid most of the hassles others are faced with. There’s usually a playground too for the little ones.

Aside from being in a nice quiet setting and having everything we need right at our fingertips, it’s quite convenient for many reasons on the fishing side too. I don’t have to

fight the traffic around the motels, the camp grounds are almost always right where the tournament is going out of, plus, I don’t have to try to figure out how I’m going to charge my boat batteries. I can honestly say that camping makes an otherwise extremely stressful profession much more relaxing and enjoyable. It makes it easier to focus on the more important things, like my family and where I’m going to catch that next “lunker.”

We spend 75% of our year away from home, and camping will always be the way we choose to live on the road. It truly creates the atmosphere of a home away from home.