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Norman,
OK – Kevin Wirth may not be able to part the Red Sea, but at Old Hickory he relied on something approaching a miracle to claim his first Elite Series victory.
He couldn’t go to church last Sunday so church came to him.
At around 11 am on the fourth day of competition, he decided he needed to make a move and headed 20 miles up the lake to a small pocket with scattered downed wood.
“It was an area I had been saving. I got in there and started fishing with my head down, not really paying much attention. As soon as I got in, I caught a short fish, then a two pounder.”
On the banks of this small area was a clearing of sorts, perhaps a small park, and after he put the keeper fish in the livewell, he noticed that there were approximately two hundred African-Americans congregated there, dressed in their Sunday best.
“All of a sudden the women started to sing,” he said. “It kind of set me back. I eased on over that way to fish, but I kept my head down. It was very pretty.”
Two worshippers were standing at the edge of the water and Wirth overheard one say to the other: “Man, that’s the guy leading the tournament. He can win $100,000. I don’t want to mess that guy up. Get out of the water.”
Wirth continued to focus on the task at hand but couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. “I caught a thirteen and a half inch fish and then I decided to leave. As I eased away, I heard one ask the other ‘Is the water warm?’ I looked back and they were out in the water, waving the women down to watch the baptism.
“They were waiting for me to get out.”
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