LAKE COUNTY — Shortly after winning her first bass tournament on Clear Lake, Katrina DeHaven, 35, lost her vehicle and boat trailer in an accident on Interstate 5. She will be back in town for the FLW Outdoor National Guard Western professional tournament but said she wasn”t sure if she would fish.
DeHaven was on her way back to her Arizona home October 8 after winning the Triton Boat Owners Team Tournament on Clear Lake as the only female competitor.
DeHaven was driving her Ford Land Rover south on I-5 in the left lane at 55 miles per hour, the speed limit for vehicles towing a trailer, when she lost her power steering as she headed into a right-hand curve.
According to public affairs officer Robert Kays of the California Highway Patrol Williams office, DeHaven overcorrected, drivng across the traffic lane and clipping the back of an 18-wheeler. The Land Rover boat trailer ended up jackknifed in the shoulder.
“That”s why I need 99 lives; I can”t have nine, I”ve already used those up,” DeHaven said. She said she cried as she removed the license plates from her car that bear her affectionate nickname for herself: “BASSKAT.” DeHaven said she is now applying to the Professional Anglers Association for the boat number 99.
DeHaven said her Triton boat took between $5,000 and $10,000 of damage in the accident. She plans to stay at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, where the FLW tournament kicks off Saturday.
“If I wouldn”t”ve had that boat behind me I would”ve rolled and ended up in a ditch or hit a tree,” DeHaven said. “Bass fishing saved my life.”
Hardship isn”t new to DeHaven. Her first tournament win on Clear Lake was three months after her 18th surgery that left her using a cane to walk. She suffered a grand mal seizure and a stroke two days after the surgery, a procedure to remove scar tissue in her abdomen from previous surgeries for numerous health problems.
DeHaven will be in town for the weekend FLW tournament because that was one of the first circuits she fished after leaving her mother”s house five years ago. “I never forget my roots, and I”ll be there to help out,” DeHaven said.
DeHaven said he mother did not want her to fish for a living. Given an ultimatum to either get married or go back to work, DeHaven chose to fish. She found herself homeless and headed for Clear Lake on the recommendations of fellow anglers.
“Everyone wants to catch the big fish, and I believed a world record could come out of Clear Lake,” DeHaven said. She hitched boat rides from the docks and learned from the fishermen who took her out on the lake.
Now in the thick of several personal projects including an autobiography, starting an orphanage in the Philippines and feeding hungry children at home in America, DeHaven said her life is about giving back. DeHaven said a good angler needs patience, discipline, courage “and just being thankful and blessed for every day that you get to do it. It”s not about catching the big fish; it”s about just doing what you want to do.”
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com. To comment on this story or others go to www.record-bee.com.
