Former Bassmaster Elite Series angler Kurt Dove, now a full-time guide at Lake Amistad in Texas (www.SWTexasBassGuide.com), breathed a sigh of relief Friday night when President Obama and Congressional leaders reached an agreement that avoided a government shutdown.
Amistad, which is operated by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), would have been gated up (at least on the U.S. side) if the government ceased operations. That would've created hardships for guides such as Dove, not to mention clubs that had tournaments scheduled on Amistad and other NPS lakes (Nevada's Mead and Washington's Roosevelt among them) as well as recreational anglers, vacationers and other park-users.
"I'm booked from now through April 18, so every day it was shut down would've cost me $400," he said. "I'd just been watching my iPhone (for news), trying to find out whether I was going to be able to take anybody fishing tomorrow. It was kind of crazy.
"A few weeks ago I wouldn't have thought something like this could trickle all the way down to affect a guy like me."
He said he and other guides had been considering crossing the border and launching onto Amistad from the Mexican side if the U.S. facilities closed down. That would've brought on other logistical concerns, though, such as the risk due to the violence that has plagued that side of the border in recent months and the need for all clients to be in possession of a passport.
