8 Big Mistakes
Even the best pros take a wrong turn in the road once in awhile
The top pro anglers “lose” far more than they win. Even making the top 10, which is considered a good finish, still isn’t winning. After all, who remembers the guy who finished sixth a Beaver Lake nine years ago?
In that regard, professional fishing is like baseball, where it’s possible for a hitter to get a hit on only three of every 10 plate appearances and still make the hall of fame. At least in baseball it’s a team sport, and the wins can pile up in the standings sheet even when you’re in an individual slump. Lose a game, and there’s another the next night. For pro fishermen, though, a missed opportunity to win, or place high on the leaderboard, can’t be quickly recovered.
Some top anglers rue decisions and mechanical errors they made years earlier as foregone opportunities for a career-defining victory. Others are able to move on and get back in the groove. Whichever camp they fall into, however, any pro who tells you that he doesn’t regret some particular tournament – whether two decades ago or two weeks ago – is fibbing. Here are eight who were willing to come clean for the record:
Cody Bird
Granbury, Texas
“At the Forrest Wood Cup on the James River [in 2003] I came in fourth, but I had a chance to win it. I was fishing two little drains up the Appomattox River, just wide enough for one boat, so on the last day my camera guy came in with me and his boat driver stayed outside. The bite was getting better in those arrowheads as the day went on, and pretty early on I had a 3-pounder and a smaller keeper. There were signs on the bank that said ‘No Hunting and Fishing,’ but they meant on the bank. My cameraman asked if I was fishing in an off-limits area, and even though I wasn’t, it messed up my head and I left too early. I should have never left because the bite was only going to get better. If I’d stayed I would’ve won.”
Clark Reehm
Huntington, Texas
“I’ve never had any time snafus. I’ve taken a few gambles that I’d like to have back because they didn’t work out, but they were reasonable decisions. The one that I’d really like to have back is an event at Amistad in my first season on the Tour. On day one I had more than 29 pounds, but I had a dead 2-pounder in my bag. There was no indication that it was going to die. I just looked in the livewell, and it was dead. You can’t cull a dead fish, so I had to throw back 3- and 4-pounders. I came in second by less than a pound. That fish wasn’t necessarily the difference-maker, but not being able to cull it out really hurt me.”
Andrew Upshaw
Tulsa, Okla.
“My biggest mistake was not throwing the right size hooks on my crankbait at the Hartwell tournament [this season]. I was using a [Rapala] Shad Rap with the hooks that came on it. I should’ve switched to something like those No. 6 KVD short-shank trebles. I lost a big fish each day of the tournament, 5- and 6-pounders, and it really cost me.” [He finished 28th. Only the top 20 made the cut.]
Cody Meyer
Auburn, Calif.
“I made a big-time mistake back in 2009 at the Forrest Wood Cup in Pittsburgh on Three Rivers. The last day the bite was tough. I had three keepers when I left my primary area at 12 o’clock and headed downriver. Greg Hackney, who won, was in the same area, and the bite got better in the afternoon. If I’d stayed, there’s a really good chance I would’ve gotten two more bites up there and won a million dollars.”
Robbie Dodson
Harrison, Ark.
“My first year on Tour, James Watson and I were practicing together on Champlain. I was catching fish on a frog, making really long casts. My casts were so long that it got to the point that my backing knot was barely out of the rod. For some reason, instead of changing out my line, I kept it that way. During the tournament I made one of those long casts and made one twitch, and a 4-pounder ate it. I set the hook, and the line parted at that knot. It cost me making the Forrest Wood Cup – I missed by one spot, two points. You know what a 4-pounder will do at Champlain? It’ll move you up 30 spots.”
Stacey King
Reeds Spring, Mo.
“Many years ago I considered myself to be a pretty good deep-water fisherman, and there was one tournament in particular where that cost me. It was on Rayburn, in May or June, and I was dead set on fishing deep. The water came up right before the tournament, but I was stubborn and stayed out deep. I might’ve caught two or three fish the entire time. Everyone else was beating the banks and hammered them. It taught me that any time of year, even in cold water, when the water comes up fast there will be shallow fish.”
Adrian Avena
Vineland, N.J.
“This year at Okeechobee I made a huge mistake in practice. The first day I launched in Harney Pond. I like to get away from other boats, so I’m always looking for off-the-wall stuff, but at Okeechobee in the prespawn and spawn, stuff gets done in that north shore area. In 10 minutes I had a 5-pound bite and caught a small one, and then for some reason I ruled it out. I’m still not sure why. I’m just stubborn. Forty of the top 60 got their checks from up at the north shore.”
Anthony Gagliardi
Prosperity, S.C.
“I’ve finished second at Champlain twice, and both times I should’ve won going away. One of the times [2009] I had four fish on day three. I was fishing a place in the wind. It was super rough, and I was having trouble controlling my drift across the area. I lost a giant smallmouth, maybe 5 or 6 pounds, and I had a couple of others pull off. I was on the fish to win, but I also had a spot near takeoff where I could always catch a couple. The way the wind was blowing, I figured it would be calm there. I left my main area to go there and left plenty of time. When I got there, it wasn’t windy, but the current had stirred up the algae and ruined it, so I had an hour and a half with nowhere to go. If I’d stayed up, I know I would’ve caught a couple of keepers and won.”