Svebek's purpose in the nation's capitol was business - serious business. Top 100 tournament on the Potomac River. That would be reason enough to light a competitive fire in most bass anglers. But for some odd reason, Svebek's heart wasn't with him. He'd lost his mental edge several tournaments back amid a whirlwind of mixed emotions that had seemed to compound as the months went by.
Financial strains have a way of doing that to a man, particularly one with a conscious.
Svebek, then 29, had aspirations of one day being able to look people in the eye and tell them he earned his living as professional bass angler. But the mental anguish of knowing he had left a wife and newborn daughter at home in Jasper, Tx. to chase the life-long dream was at times more than he could stand. Svebek remembers the night he arrived in Washington as vividly as if it happened yesterday. Top 100 appearance. With six tournaments remaining, bills due at home, and hardly any money in his bank account, he cruised down the busy freeway looking for a familiar exit that would lead him to the river so he could begin practice fishing the next morning.