Randy Howell: Give Hope a Chance

This is the time of year which is considered the off season for fishing, but this is the time of year I really get ramped up with my ministry. Ministry is a big passion of mine and I am fortunate to have fishing as a platform for me to speak at churches, tournaments and other men’s functions. I have been doing 1 to 2 speaking engagements per week for the last month or so.

A little more than a week ago I visited the Kings home Golf Tournament. It was a great event once again this year. King’s home has this even every year in order to help raise money for a great cause.

I went and spoke at the Fisher’s of Men Regional tournament in Decatur Alabama. There was 168 teams there, and we were able to get 35 donations, and 35 more people have a chance to win my boat giveaway on December 4th. Somebody is winning a $67,000 Triton and Mercury package for donating to a great cause.

I had the chance to have lunch with Bruce Akin, the new CEO at BASS. I am excited about what he is going to bring to BASS and the future of the organization.

Last night I visited Lake Wheeler to speak at the L&L Marine couples trail classic tournament. L&L Marine is a Triton Dealer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They take great care of my boat and motor year around and it was nice to go out there and speak with the anglers on behalf of Triton, Mercury and L&L Marine.

Today I spent most of the day getting my tackle ready for the next two weeks. I have lots of new baits from Yamamoto and Net Bait as well as boxes of new jigs from Lunker Lure. I can’t wait to put them to the test next week on Guntersville.

I leave tomorrow morning for the FLW Open tournament on Lake Guntersville and from their I head directly to the Toyota Texas Bass Classic on Lake Conrow, Texas. After these two events the season is over until the Bassmaster Classic in Shreveport, LA in February.

This will be the first FLW event I have fished in six or seven years so I am excited about that. I think fishing is going to be a little bit of a struggle, but there will be some good fish caught. Lake Guntersville is about an hour from my house.

The trip to Lake Conrow will be my first trip out there. I am excited to see the lake and get my shot at the TTBC.

A fun thing we did as a family last week was the Maple Leaf run. Aaron, Lesley and Justin Martens came out and ran as well. Robin, Oakley and Laker ran and we had a great time. I kept an eye on the kids while the rest of the adults ran.

The sad thing was Oakley, my five year old, beat Laker, my older son. However, a couple of younger kids finished ahead of both of them. Laker got a medal and Oakley didn’t which confused Oakley because he did finish ahead of Laker. The kids really loved running like they see their mom do all the time. Robin, Lesley (Martens) and a group of the wives from the Elite Series have their running team for the Ragnar Race.

Stay tuned as I will be making some announcements in the November that involve myself and the Universities of Alabama and Auburn fishing teams.

I am going to wrap this up with a plea to support Kings Home. Please visit their website and read about the great things they do for the women and children that need it most. If you can please donate to the cause and get your chance to win my Triton Mercury boat rigged exactly as I fished it all year. The package is valued at over $67,000. http://www.KingsHome.com