TOMMY JENKINS 1945-2002

I met Tommy Jenkins at a Grandy's Pro Bass Team Tournament event held at Choke Canyon in 1988. The lessons I learned from Tommy proved to be invaluable. Tommy was an incredible fisherman! In my opinion, no one could read water and find fish as well as he did. He shared his knowledge about fishing and life with me unselfishly. He never gave up and taught me the two most important elements that it takes to win are determination and desire. Those elements coupled with his angling skills is what made him one of the greatest fishermen ever. I was able to fish many tournament circuits with Tommy and we placed in several events. In 1993, while fishing on the Bass Anglers of South Texas Team Circuit, we won first place at the Tournament of Champions Fish Off and we were awarded a fully rigged Champion Bass Boat. We were also given the title of "Anglers of the Year". In July of 2002 after losing his battle with cancer, Tommy left our local waters to fish heaven's waters. He was an inspiration to all that knew him. He will always be dearly missed but his spirit and knowledge remain within me and for that I am eternally grateful. For a period in time I was able to fish with the best of the best in our sport, Tommy Jenkins.