Pro Fishing Resolutions
A new year is here, and it’s time for us to look at ourselves and take stock. Last year wasn’t so bad and, in fact, was good in a lot of ways. But it still could be better in some respects, and we need to work on aspects of our lives that will make 2015 even better.
The pros of the Walmart FLW Tour and Rayovac FLW Series aren’t immune to self-critique. Like any professionals, they get better at what they do by appraising their performances and tweaking their games accordingly. Amid the revelry of the holiday season, we cornered a few and asked what they plan to do differently this year, or had their sights set on.
Dan Morehead: I want to win the Forrest Wood Cup. I’m pretty pleased with my performance of late; I’ve been pretty consistent and had some good finishes. I’ve won some tournaments over my career, but I haven’t won the Cup, and this year I’m really going to focus on that.
Troy Morrow: Getting in better physical shape and never missing the Forrest Wood Cup again are my main goals. It really ticked me off when I failed to qualify for the Cup. I was just out of the running. In the grand scheme of things, it could have been one fish in one tournament. It figured out to be about a pound and a half in the last tournament at Kentucky Lake.
Mark Rose: I want to strengthen my relationship with the One who made all the fish.
Jonathan Newton: I plan to be more versatile in my approach to fishing certain conditions. I grew up fishing the Tennessee River lakes, and you can get some mileage doing a few things, but that’s not necessarily the case on all lakes we fish on the Tour. I need to react to situations faster and more aggressively. As far as the techniques and baits, I think I have that down, but I need to make adjustments quicker than what I’ve been doing.
Spencer Shuffield: I need to be more flexible in tournaments and less hardheaded. I’m bad about depending too much on what happened in practice and not being willing to change up in the tournament when conditions have changed.
Jayme Rampey: I’m switching to a healthier diet. When I’m fishing, I’ll eat whatever I grab in a convenience store on the way to the lake. From now on I’m going to watch what I eat and drink. The hardest thing is going to be cutting back on sodas to one a day. Now, I can put away the soft drinks, but I need to cut back on my sugar intake. It’s starting to get to me a little bit.
Gary Yamamoto: I want to do better in tournaments next season and concentrate on fishing to win. A lot of it for me has been to show up at a tournament, fish and go home. But I’m sincerely going to fish harder and really make an effort to win. I’m going to pre-practice and practice more before tournaments and just fish more in general to stay conditioned.
Cody Meyer: I need to be more organized, especially with my tackle. My garage is a mess, and I need to get rid of some of the things that I never use, or not much. Also, I want to win Angler of the Year, instead of finishing second like I did in 2014 (to Andy Morgan).
Matt Arey: I’m bad at procrastinating, but one thing I’ve made up my mind to do as soon as possible is to get back to running and a regular routine of cardiovascular workouts. Endurance is everything in our sport. A lot of people don’t realize what a grind it is to fish multiple-day events, especially in warm weather. I don’t want a lack of stamina to be a reason why I don’t fish my best in a tournament.
Scott Suggs: I’m going to do everything in my power, and hope that everything works out along the way, to qualify for the Cup at home (on Lake Ouachita) in 2015. Another thing I resolve to do is not get locked in on something, but rather be more versatile. I’ve hurt myself in the past trying to fish my way and staying with something that doesn’t work instead of looking for other things that will work.
Charlie Ingram: I’m losing 70 pounds. I want to get my weight down to about 240, which is where it was when I was in school. I’ve already lost several pounds, and, just as important, I’ve managed to keep them off. I’m dead serious.
Randy Haynes: Mainly, I plan to be more consistent. I need to grind it out and focus on getting five keepers a day, every day of a tournament. I look back at last year and I’m generally happy with the way my career is going, but those gaps in consistency have really hurt me. At the Rayovac championship (on Wheeler Lake in October), I had a good limit the first day, but it just went downhill from there. That cost me an automatic spot in the (2015) Forrest Wood Cup.
Michael Neal: I’m determined to pay more attention to my instincts. At Okeechobee last year, I had 20-plus pounds the first day and caught them on a moving bait in cloudy, windy conditions. The second day it was bright and sunny with no wind, and I tried to catch them on the same bait instead of doing what I knew I should have done, which was to slow down and throw a soft plastic and a jig. By the last hour of the tournament (qualifying round), I had two little keepers that weighed about 3 pounds. I switched over to a Senko-style bait and wound up with about 13 pounds. If I had done that all day, I feel like I would have made the top-20 cut. As it was, I finished 28th. I knew better; I’m going to listen to my gut more this year.