I have got a feelin’. That everyone who attended Meet the Pro’s Night 2011 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Arkansas, had a good night. A feeling tonight was a good night where everyone in attendance won. No matter if they went home with a new bass boat or any of the other prize giveaways. No it was a time to live it up with buddies or family while learning fishing techniques and tips from 6 of the top FLW Tour professional anglers and hear Mark Rose give his testimony.

As the crowd of people grew outside the doors of the convention center inside volunteers were quickly running around making some finishing touches for the event. It was simply organized chaos. At 5:30 the doors swung open and the crowd filed in. Expectations among the crowd were running high and they were not disappointed. This year’s Meet the Pro’s Night was well-organized. There was a room for vendor booths, children’s program, 4 break-out sessions, and the main program which included the prize drawings.

Before the break-out sessions a multitude of people moved through the vendors display room checking out everything from local fishing retail stores, fishing guides, resorts, environmentally fish attractors, and other booths. In between the booths free samples and lures were being given away including lures from PRADCO and Strike King Lures. It was amazingly organized and sponsored by First Baptist Church Bentonville Men’s Ministry (www.fbcbentonville.org) along with Sportsmen’s Outreach (www.sportsmensoutreach.org).

 Next the break-out sessions began. Each session had 2 FLW Tour Pros talking about a specific fishing technique and answering questions from the audience. These were smaller groups that allowed for a more one-on-one contact. First up for our room was Clark Wendlandt. Wendlandt went into detail on how to fish a jerkbait and when. The timing of the topic couldn’t have been better since the upcoming FLW Tour tournament on Beaver was probably going to be won on a jerkbait. Following Wendlandt was FLW Pro and Bassmaster Classic Champion Jay Yelas. Yelas topic was swimbaits. Again an appropriate topic since he had a second place finish on Beaver Lake using a hollow belly swimbait. After a short break the next session started with FLW Pro Scott Martin explaining how to catch bass with a football head jig on Beaver Lake and other highland reservoirs. He was followed by FLW Pro Darrel Robertson. Roberts explained how to fish a wacky worm and why this technique works to catch spawning bass. After another short break the last session began. The first FLW Pro to do their presentation was Greg Bohannan from Rogers, Arkansas. The popular local FLW Pro was all smiles as he stood on the raised platform. Bohannan topic was fishing a Wiggle Wart in cold water in highland reservoirs like Beaver Lake. He noted that the real key to catching bass on a Wiggle Wart was fishing it around big rock and reeling it fast. After Bohannan, FLW Pro Clifford Perch explained how to catch bass on a drop shot rig and tackle he uses when fishing that technique.

 
Following the break-out sessions everyone moved over to the main session room for the adult program. The program began with an incredible magic trick by magician Jonathan Dupree. At that point the youth were invited to go into another room where they were treated with more magic tricks by Dupree. The adults were also in for something special too. Founder of Sportsmen’s Outreach, Glenn Chappelear, started it out with explaining all the FLW activities going on this week. Chappelear then introduced the keynote speaker FLW Pro Mark Rose. His quick wit and positive attitude was well received. “Wow, what a great crowd we have tonight; I didn’t know so many good-looking people were here,” said Rose who had his back to the crowd until getting up on the stage. Rose then went on to talk about how his life had changed as he accepted Christ. “I had always went to church, but never was really committed my life to Christ. I know that it was only going to be through the process of being born again that I could be saved. Finally after a Wednesday night service I was ready. From that point forward I have put God first in my life,” explained Rose. As he gave his testimony, Rose talked about how fishing and his faith has shaped his life. It was genuine and from the heart.

    
Next it was time to do the drawings. “Let’s do it…we have door prizes to give away,” said the emcee. And do it they did giving away a 2 man buddy boat, canoe, GPS/fish finder, family tent, and much, much more. The finally drawing for the night was a new Tracker bass boat from Bradford Marine. Screams of draw my name could be heard as the winning card was drawn as the winner was announced.

  
I got a feeling that everyone who attended was touched by the event. Maybe it was the cheering and jumping up and down when winning a door prize or new bass boat. Maybe it was about people listening intently when Rose was giving his testimony. In the end it was a night where everyone who came learned more about fishing techniques from FLW pros and faith. I just got that feelin'.

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