If you haven’t noticed, fishing is quite popular in North Idaho, and Lakeland geometry teacher, Dustin Frank takes it to another level.

Mr. Frank attended a fishing tournament the week of Nov. 4 that lasted roughly a week in Louisianna. 

The tournament was judged on who had the largemouth bass and spotted bass fish that weighed the most. The competitors would choose their top 5 fish that fit the length requirement. Whoever’s fish weighed the most won the competition. 

Fishing has been a hobby of Mr. Frank’s since he was a kid. 

“My dad used to take me out on Saturdays and Sundays and we would fish all day. I would have to wake him up early at like 5 or 6. I’m don’t think he even really likes fishing, but he took me anyway because he knew I liked it. The past few years I have started to fish more often and started to get into competitive fishing,” Frank said. 

They fished for a total of three days, however only the top twelve were able to fish on the third day. 

Getting into the tournament is certainly no easy feat. The first step is getting top 10 in a preliminary fishing tournament, then moving on to the state tournament. From that point, the top fisher who wins the three-day state tournament gets to move on to the national tournament, which happened to be Lakeland’s very own Dustin Frank. 

Preparing for the tournament was one of the more stressful things, according to Frank. 

“I spent a lot of money buying all these fancy lures since the water was a lot dirtier than the water around here, and I bought a lot of different bright colored baits, and I definitely overbought. I worried about bringing more than I needed.”

“I did a lot of research and decided to go all out and buy all the things that I could afford for my trip.”  

According to Frank, he learned many lessons and techniques on how he can improve his fishing during his time in Louisiana. 

“They pair you up randomly, and the first guy I fished with was from Tennesse. He did something different than I have ever done, so it was cool to watch him fish and learn from him.”

Frank is naturally a very competitive guy, but even though he didn’t win, he enjoyed his experience in Louisiana. 

“Although I did not win, I feel that I became better at fishing. The learning experience that came from it will definitely help me become a better fisher in the future.”

On his way home, Frank ran into a dilemma regarding his fishing rods, on top of a performance in the tournament that he was not proud of, causing a lot of frustration. 

“On the way back, 6 or 7 of my rods were stolen. My rods were in the car and when we made a coffee stop, someone stole my rods right out of the car. It was pretty frustrating, but I’m glad no one was hurt and everyone made it home safely.” 

Mr. Frank said he likes to look on the bright side of the situation. “It’s not the end of the world, I was upset, but who knows, maybe that person needed the rods more than me.” Overall, Mr. Frank had a very redeeming fishing experience while across the country and represented Lakeland well.