When you list the key qualities of a true champion in the sport of professional bass angling, as in any other sport, mental toughness is bound to be at the top of the list. Almost any seasoned pro will agree that mechanical skill and experience often take a back seat to the strength of a competitor’s grey matter.
If you look at the top pros in the game today – the KVDs, Iaconellis, Ehrlers, Reeses and so on – you scarcely find a story written about them where they're depicted as having anything less than a bullet-proof mental game. My perception of the elite professionals has always been that they were born with a flawless mental game and also the byproduct of that mental strength: confidence.
It's hard to image that they could have ever doubted their abilities and that there was ever a moment when they thought they didn’t have what it takes to be champions of the sport.
I’ll be the first to admit I have endured many sleepless nights during which I wondered if I had what it takes to compete at the top level.
Maybe I’m overly optimistic, or maybe just a little naïve and stubborn, but I just can’t help but keep my nose to the grindstone. I've decided that I'm in this game for the long run, and I will make the best of what I have to work with.
I'm always looking to learn, and when I found out that The Bass University was coming to Kissimmee, Fla., near my home, I knew I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. BU is the brainchild of two pros, Mike Iaconelli and Pete Gluszek, and it is an intense, 2-day educational program for advanced bass techniques. It features some of the top pros in the sport lecturing about the some of their cash-cow techniques.
It's a great program. It was pretty awesome to just sit in a conference room and talk fishing with some of the brightest stars on the pro tour today, and I filled the notebook I brought with me to the brim with information that I know will help my fishing. Some of it was tidbits that I've overlooked in my own fishing, others were new perspectives on some of my favorite techniques, and I also had the occasional mini-epiphany during the course of the weekend. All in all, it was everything I expected.
It was during our short breaks between presentations, however, that I learned the most valuable lessons, which turned out to be far more important than what I wrote down in that notebook.
The students get a chance to rub elbows with their favorite pros during those 15-minute intermissions and get some one-on-one tutoring. Several times I sat down with Iaconelli and Gluszek and picked their brains a bit about all sorts of random questions I had.
I can’t remember exactly how we began talking about the beginning of each of their careers, but the conversation that sprouted ended up renewing a level of confidence in my own abilities.
I really didn’t expect to hear what Ike and Pete had to say about their years as struggling young pros. I just figured that they both knew they were destined to reach the top level from the very beginning.
I told them about the nights when I couldn’t help but succumb to the overwhelming feelings of doubt and that I didn’t know exactly what I was doing wrong, and to my surprise they both chimed in with their own experiences with the same feelings. Both expressed that their success had not come easy, and that it came from hard work instead of luck or natural talent.
Ike told me that in his early- to mid-20’s he experienced some very intense feelings of doubt when he thought about all the time he had invested, and the friendships that he had missed because of his dedication to the sport, and the fact that sometimes he just wasn’t seeing the level of success he expected of himself.
It was refreshing to hear one of my idols say these things because I know exactly what he meant. My move to Florida, away from my friends and family in California, evoked similar emotions. Also, I too expect a lot from myself, and the pressure of not meeting my own expectations sometimes causes me to think about all my sacrifices and question whether or not it was all worth it.
Pete said he had similar feelings early on in his competitive career, but he said that even after years of success, maintaining a high level of confidence and focus is difficult. I cannot tell you how much I needed to hear what they had to say.
I've thought about our conversation quite a bit since, and I have to say that I think this is a very important part of the maturing process for any athlete or professional in any field – realizing that you get out of life what you put into it.
My highest expectation of BU was to walk away with some useful information or different perspectives on some effective techniques. I ended getting much more than I bargained for.
Learning how Ish Monroe throws his signature Phat Frog, or how Brett Hite utilizes a vibrating jig is good to know, but to find out that the professional level is made up of people who reach success through passion, hard work and perseverance, and not just plain natural talent, is something that's invaluable to me and also a great motivator.
So the next time I lie sleepless because the weight of doubt eats away at me, it will be easy to quickly pull through it and get to sleep when I remember a simple quote from Ike: “Talent is achieved through hard work.”
As simple as that statement is, it is nice to know that a champion of the sport believes that success isn’t dependent on chance or natural talent, but can be achieved by the average person through hard work, dedication and passion.
Miles "Sonar" Burghoff is a student at the University of Central Florida and an aspiring professional angler who writes a regular column for BassFan. To visit his website, click here.
