By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

In 2015, more than 150 anglers competed on the FLW Tour over the course of the season. Tennessee native Michael Neal earned more points than 127 of them, finishing 31st in points and clinching a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup. By most measures, it was a successful season.

Still, the 24-year-old Neal was less than enthused with his performance despite nailing down paychecks in four events and notching a Top-10 finish at Lake Chickamauga, his home lake, for the second time in three seasons.

“I call it not fishing to my expectations or potential,” Neal said. “I look back and see all kinds of mistakes I made. I made too many mistakes and didn’t learn from those mistakes.”

Despite having three seasons at the Tour level under his belt and understanding the pitfalls that can easily gobble up a young pro, Neal said he too often fell prey to the ever-present chatter among his competitors. It’s something he’s consciously working to avoid in the future.

“I was listening to too much dock talk,” he said. “I tend to get caught up in what everybody else is doing instead of fishing my strengths and figuring out how to make that work.

“I always feel like there’s something better than what I have going on. When you listen to the dock talk, you feel like you’re starting from scratch all the time.”

Waiting for a Win

Neal has averaged one Top-10 finish per year and has a trio of Top-3 finishes so far on his résumé. While he goes into every tournament with designs on winning, he knows trying to force the issue will only prolong his wait to capture a tour-level event. It’s a product of gaining more experience and following what his instincts tell him about his potential at a given tournament.

“I feel like I’m progressing every year,” he said. “It’s all about building on what’s happened in the past and making it better the next time, whether it’s being able to figure out quirks about lakes and tweaks to baits, whatever it may be. That said, the competition gets better every year.

“I go into every tournament planning to win, but in practice you realize that it’s not your time. Sometimes you have to figure out ways to get by and get a check and get points. Making the championship is always the number one goal.”

One aspect of his tournament strategy that he’d like to adjust is his unwillingness to sit on a spot for more than a half dozen casts. He’s found himself power-fishing in situations that called for a more deliberate and patient approach and it cost him. He pointed to the five tournament days (out of 16) this season where he failed to catch a limit as days where fishing fast was the wrong call.

“Two of those days happened on Chick and I didn’t like it at all getting up in front of the home crowd and having to pull out two little fish on day 4,” he said. “After Kentucky Lake in 2012, I learned that I like to fish these places with five or six casts and then go on to the next spot. That doesn’t always work out. I tried to make that work rather than slowing down and it backfired on me.

“Of course, I’d like to be in position to win one, but I won’t try to force it. The more you get too focused on one thing, it’ll affect you negatively. As long as I can fish clean and fish to my potential and make the right decisions, if you win, great. If you get a check, great. It’s all relative to every tournament.”

In His Wheelhouse

When the 2016 Tour schedule was announced, Neal was among the anglers who started salivating at the possibilities. He’s been to all six venues on the schedule and has posted Top-10 or money finishes at each. Considering if he makes the Cup, three of the seven tournaments will be staged on the Tennessee River, a place he’s very familiar with and very comfortable at.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m not sure I could’ve picked a better schedule besides having all Tennessee River tournaments. I like all of the lakes and I’ve done fairly well at some point in time at all of them. It’s just a matter of going out and keeping everything else out of my mind and just go fishing.”

As a way to temper his optimism, he’ll be quick to remind himself of the 2013 season when he opened the year with a 3rd-place finish at Lake Okechobee and was 3rd in points after three events. He then tumbled way down the point standings with consecutive triple-digit finishes before salvaging the year with a Top-5 at Chickamauga.

“I won’t get caught up and overthink things,” he said. “In 2013, I had some success and I let that get to me. I just have to take them one at a time and fish what’s in front of me.”