Karnes first woman to compete in the PAA Tournament series 
Sandi Karnes never has tossed a lure on Lake Tawakoni but all that will change next week in the PAA Bass Pro Shops Tournament Series.
The 10-year pro from Livingston, Texas, will become the first woman to compete in the PAA Tournament Series.
Karnes lives on Lake Livingston north of Houston and has fished tournaments for years, but is excited about her first PAA tournament.
“I joined the PAA at the first of this year and seriously considered fishing the Tournament Series this season,” Karnes said. “When the Bassmaster Women’s Tour shut down I was hoping the women would go with the PAA, but they decided to form another circuit. That wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. I started fishing the Bassmaster Open tournaments and thoroughly loved it. The men have treated me with a ton of respect and encouragement, and it’s been great.”
The tournament begins next Thursday at West Tawakoni City Park, where the daily launches and first two weigh-ins will be held at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in featuring the Top 30 pros will be held at Bass Pro Shops in Garland beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Karnes is a certified Realtor and owner of Hands on Realty in Livingston. She and her husband, Sam, also own a boat dealership. They live on Lake Livingston and fish regularly on it and other area lakes.
“I told him I was considering retiring this year, but as things went on I decided to stick around for another year,” Karnes said. “I’ve been fishing professionally for more than 10 years, but I’ve fished my whole life. It’s the typical story everyone says and I started fishing with my parents and grandparents. Those were our weekend adventures, at the lake, and when we had the opportunity to buy property we wanted to be on the water.”
Karnes enjoys the Texas lakes, but also likes visiting new lakes. During the WBT seasons she fell in love with Guntersville Lake in northeast Alabama, which offers anglers a diversity of tactics and strategies. She finished 10th in the WBT tournament at Guntersville in 2007.
“I told my husband I was ready to pack up and move there because it’s such a beautiful area and great lake,” she said. “But we’d be too far away from our grandchildren.”
Karnes has been spending time studying maps of Tawakoni and Google Earth images of the lake. Although a shallow bite is expected, there are some deep-water possibilities as well. She’s going in with an open mind for the three-day practice period that begins Monday.
“I’ve never been there before so I don’t know what to expect, but I have a few places I’ll take a look at when I get there,” she said. “I take my fishing very seriously but also enjoy it very much. I have so much support from all kinds of people here in our community, our local bank sponsors me, people call and email to ask how tournament fishing is going. It’s just been really great and I’m looking forward to next week.”
