Kurt Dove knows all about mid-majors. As a proud graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, he admits that he was somewhat distracted during the 2006 Elite Series season when the Patriots basketball team acted like giant killers and made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four.

 

But life in his native Virginia, just a long cast from the Nation’s Capital, wasn’t exactly right for Kurt. Even though the bountiful Potomac River was in his backyard, even the most hardened Washington insider can quickly grow tired of fighting the breakneck pace, the masses of humanity and the constant traffic.

 

So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that the Fairfax-born Dove and his wife Rhonda recently dug up their deep roots in the Old Dominion and moved down to Del Rio, Texas, hard on the shores of fabled Lake Amistad.

 

“We looked at Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, but Texas had the best climate,” he explained. “In the last three years, we’ve spent a significant amount of time in southwest Texas and we liked it here and we knew that Amistad is a beautiful place.”

 

Like George Mason, Del Rio can be characterized as something of a mid-major. Continental Airlines flies there, so they can hop a quick flight out if necessary, but the pace will be slower than he’s used to, and both Doves are fine with that.

 

But it won’t be an isolated life, that’s for sure. “Just about everyone I’ve talked to has already mentioned coming down for a visit,” Kurt said. “The guest room is going to be filled.”

Just one short-term problem: Dove recently sold his 2008 Triton and is waiting on his 2009 ride to be built, so while he can look out his window and see flooded bushes teeming with double-digit bass, short of fishing from shore he has little access to them. But fortunately for Wired2Fish readers, that gave him a few free minutes to test out of his knowledge of Texas and how well he has acclimated to the Lone Star state with a quick ten questions:

 

Barbecue

 

Amistad, no doubt!

Can I say Tecate? We’re close enough to Mexico.

Braid, all the way.

An Optimum swimbait.

Tacos.

Definitely rattlesnakes.

Cowboys.

Huisache.

I already had a pair before I got here.

And yes, in case you’re curious, he has already figured out how to watch George Mason’s basketball games when he’s not on the road or on the water. 

 

“We’ll be able to get some of them locally, and we’ll watch them at (Byron Velvick’s) Lake Amistad Resort,” he said. “We’ll watch the rest of them on the computer.”

 

In addition to fishing tournaments in 2009, Kurt Dove will be guiding on Lake Amistad. Anglers wishing to book a trip with the tour-level pro can contact him at dovekp@hotmail.com.  Check out his website at www.kurtdove.com.