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John's Journal...
Entry
115, Day 2
"CREATING A BASS-FISHING CAREER"
Mark Davis' Mental Preparation For A Tournament
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Mark Davis, 38, of Mount Ida, Arkansas, who won the BASS Masters
Classic in 1995 and the Angler-of-the-Year title in 1995, 1998 and 2001,
never has had a career outside the fishing industry. "My dad said
I've never had a real job," says Davis, who is known today as one
of the top bass fishermen in the nation and ranked 3rd in the world for
bass-fishing expertise, according to www.BassFan.com, which rates anglers
according to events won in the past two years with bonus points given
to winning the BASS Masters Classic or comparable events.
Question:
How do you mentally prepare for a major fishing tournament?
Answer: I believe that mental preparation goes hand-in-hand with
physical preparation. When I pre-fish and get the basic knowledge of where
and how I'll fish in a tournament, this helps me become more confident
that I can win. I check all my equipment and make sure every piece is
in tiptop shape. Knowing that equipment will perform the way it should
when I need it to also adds to my confidence level. I make sure all my
tackle is organized and that my boat is running at peak performance. When
I know I've done everything I need to do to prepare for a tournament,
then I can fish that tournament with a tremendous amount of confidence.
Preparing my equipment helps me focus better on the tournament I'm about
to fish. Successful tournament bass fishing involves the ability to make
the right decisions at the right time during a week of fishing. If you
don't have to be concerned about your equipment, you can strictly focus
on your
decision-making process.
Question:
How do you decide when to go or stay while fishing a certain area?
Answer: You always have the ability to come back to a region that
has produced bass but isn't producing fish now. Timing is the real key
to success in tournament bass fishing. If you're fishing a section of
water where you know bass are but those bass aren't biting, then leave
that area. You may want to come back to it three more times during the
day. Generally I'll fish an area about an hour. If I don't catch a bass,
I'll leave that place but may return to it three or four more times to
see if the bass are feeding aggressively. Many times, if you fish a place
three or four times during a day, you'll discover that the bass bite best
perhaps between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. You can go to that spot over the
next few days if weather conditions don't change and catch bass in that
spot during that time period.
TOMORROW:
DAVIS' DEEP-WATER TACTICS
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