"In it to win it" is Darla Bardelli's slogan. She means fishing in the Women's Bassmaster Tour. She means her battle against the breast cancer she was diagnosed with almost eight months ago.
Last week's WBT season opener on Lewisville Lake in Texas came just eight weeks after she underwent a double radical mastectomy. She finished 24th in the pro division, her best showing in a WBT event.
"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season," said the Phoenix, Ariz., pro. "I feel like I got a great start and I have a shot at that Classic spot."
She was referring to the ultimate prize of the WBT season, winning the season-long points race to become WBT Angler of the Year and the first woman in history to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
"I am really focused and determined," she said. "Breast cancer has taught me a lot. (At Lewisville) my adversary turned into an advantage because I really had to focus on fishing what I could, instead of fishing what I wanted.
Recuperating from surgery on my right side, I do not have the ability to do a lot of heavy, long casting. I had to go to slower fishing with soft plastics, so I didn't have work so hard with my arm."
She had more than a sore arm to overcome. The first day at Lewisville, she motored up to the take-off dock, steering her trolling motor with a bare foot.
"I never fish with shoes on," answered Bardelli. "Anyway, I don't have any feeling in my feet now, so I don't mind the cold."
She explained that one effect of six months of chemotherapy treatments is constantly numb feet.
On her head that morning was a tight cap to keep her head warm, not to disguise her buzz-cut length hair. She isn't shy about being nearly bald.
Every day, she wore her tournament shirt, the same outfit she wore for every chemotherapy treatment.
"When you are diagnosed with cancer, your world kind of spins out, and you have to focus on a goal to make it through the treatments - they?re brutal. My goal was to be able to fish in the WBT again. Whenever I put on my tournament shirt, it's almost ritualistic. I'm focused and ready to go out and compete. So for chemo, I put on my tournament shirt so I could be focused when I went into that room. I was in there for a battle, I was in there to win."
With No. 1 of the WBT season behind her, she's primed for the second event in May on Alabama's Lake Neely Henry and the third in June on Tennessee's Old Hickory Lake.
"After the tournament in June, I will begin seven weeks of daily radiation. I will be ready to come back and fish in September in Georgia," she said, referring to the Clarks Hill Lake event out of Evans, Ga.
THE COST OF SWIMBAITS
Anyone who thinks their most recent swimbait purchase was a wild extravagance needs to ask Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kotaro Kiriyama what he paid for a Swimming Ninja.
The answer is $875.
Kiriyama ran out of the productive bait during last week's practice for the Battle on the Border on Texas? Lake Amistad. He called the maker, Jackall, in Japan and asked for more. Because even the fastest international delivery would have taken days, an emissary from the company flew from Japan to Texas at a cost to Kiriyama of $7,000.
Armed with his confidence bait, the Elite pro made the final-day cut and ended up 12th with a $12,300 check.
GOOD SPORTS
The astonishing leap from 20th to first place executed by Alabama pro Kim Bain last weekend made instant runner-ups of 19 contenders in the Women's Bassmaster Tour.
Tennessean Cindy Hill led Texan Patti Campbell by 3 pounds, 11 ounces, going into the final day of competition on Texas? Lewisville Lake. The tournament looked like a Hill-Campbell toss-up.
Then Bain put 17-1 in her livewell on the last day, eclipsing everyone. She left Campbell 3 ounces back, and Hill 13 ounces behind.
"That was very close," said Hill after it was over. "What's bad is I lost three fish today. The hook got caught in the brush. But that's fishing. I came close and I'm proud to have led it yesterday, and third place is great. It's the start of a good year."
Campbell was just as gracious. "I thought I might have had enough - by ounces, not by pounds," she said. "I lost a fish today. But these things happen. I'm happy with second."
IN THE ARMY NOW
A unique group of Texas anglers have one thing in common: They?re all active-duty soldiers in the U.S. Army.
Formed about two years ago, the nine members of ArmyBassAnglers compete in team tournament events in Texas.
The group runs four Skeeter wraps, one 20i-Class and three ZX225s bass boats supported by Yamaha motors.
ArmyBassAnglers not only gives the soldiers an outlet for their passion to compete in bass tournaments, but also a way to support two programs. One, Returning Heroes Home, provides facilities that help recovering wounded soldiers. The other, Fishing for Freedom, offers fishing trips to soldiers. To date, the organization has raised $150,000 for the two causes.
THANKSGIVING
"These opportunities don't happen much. I realize that. When they do, you need to appreciate them." Pro Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, after he won the tournament Sunday on Lake Amistad.
CHRISTMAS
"I am totally speechless. I caught two fish at 8 o'clock, and then I never caught another fish after that until 30 minutes before I came in." Women's Bassmaster Tour winner Kim Bain of Alabaster, Ala., describing her final day at the Lewisville Lake event Saturday in Texas.