Arizona's Gabe Bolivar has fished 2 seasons on the FLW Tour. He finished 7th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race in 2006 and 5th this year.
That kind of early track record would seemingly make him a prime candidate to win an Angler of the Year (AOY) before too long. But he insists there's still a big bend in his learning curve.
"I think every year I learn more and get better," he said. "I can't say that I'm definitely going to win it, but I'd sure like to. To me, it's the most coveted award there is because it's based on pure consistency. And being a pro, that's what you shoot for."
His results don't show it, but there were times during the course of the last two Tour campaigns when he almost felt overwhelmed.
"I didn't realize how much knowledge you had to have to compete out here," he said. "You have to know just what to do when the weather changes, or when the water level rises or falls.
"Guys like Jay Yelas and Larry Nixon, they've been there and done that, and they know how to make the right adjustments. I'm finally starting to get better at that. I'm allowing myself to fish in the moment more often instead of being afraid to make a change."
He's discovered that being apprehensive about switching locations or techniques is usually a losing proposition. If what he was doing originally was working, he wouldn't need to think about adjustments.
"I used to get too locked into what I was doing in practice or on the first day, and I didn't have enough confidence to change because I thought I would tank. But I was going to do bad anyway if I stuck with what I was doing. I've started to believe in myself and let myself make those changes rather than holding back, and I want to continue to expand on that. "
He's competed in 14 FLW Tour events (including two championships) thus far, and his best finish was a 9th this year at Norman. More indicative of his consistency is that he's finished no worse than 107th and in triple digits just twice.
He'd like to win a tournament soon, but he realizes that the right circumstances will have to present themselves.
"I've never thought I had a chance to win yet because I've never been on the right type of fish, and some of that comes from not knowing the lakes. You've got to be so dialed in and you really have to have something going, and I just haven't felt that yet."
