Hi, my name is Mitch Gardner. I have been nominated for the annual “  Hammer Award “. I received my nomination following the 5th tournament of the new fishing year 06-07 ( March  ). The circumstances surrounding my nomination are as follows: While attempting to locate my prey, the “ big  bass “ on beds, I failed to not notice some pilings close behind my boat. I was depending on my rearview mirrors and by backup sensors to keep from hitting any objects while I conducted my visual scan of the river bottom for beds where my hunted quarry might be. I knew I was in contention for the “ money  positions”. What I failed to remember was, # 1 boats don’t have rearview mirrors and # 2 neither do they have backup sensors. You guessed it, I ran into the pilings behind me. I sustained no damage to either my boat or motor, just my pride. I was able to throw my “hat into the ring” for the coveted “ Hammer Award”.

Adding to my resume and trying to keep up with " black cloud Cliffy " ( somewhat anyway ) I managed to equal Cliffy in running into a dock with my trolling motor and breaking the head off my trolling motor. That, however is where the similarity ends. This is the only calamity that befell me this tournament.