By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


(Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a 2-part series examining how much effort pro anglers put into improving upon their weaknesses. Part 2 will be published tomorrow.)

The Angler Profiles section on BassFan.com has been a popular spot on the site for years. Each competitor has a page listing their career earnings, current world ranking and a rundown of their tour-level results dating back to 2001.

There is also an “Angling & Personal Stuff” section where each angler is asked to reveal, among other things, his or her favorite lake, technique and two strengths on the water.

They’re also asked to reveal their biggest weakness.

Some get tripped up when talking about what they think they’re not proficient at. Others want to skip the category altogether, hinting that they believe they’re weakness-free. Still others have a laundry list of areas in which they want to improve.

In other sports, the offseason and preseason as well as in-season practice sessions provide opportunities for those weaknesses to be addressed and improvements measured. There are drills to help improve a jump shot or knock a couple tenths off a 40-yard dash time.

Bass fishing is slightly different. There are no coaches. No training camp. No pre-season tournaments that ultimately don't count.

Pre-tournament practice is limited to three days and the majority of that time is dedicated to locating the high-percentage areas where a competitor can utilize his strengths to catch the most and/or biggest bass on a given body of water. Weaknesses are frequently overlooked in favor of focusing on how to have the most successful tournament that week.

“You can’t work on weaknesses getting ready for a tournament because you’re missing out on what I’m there to do, which is figure out how to catch fish,” said longtime pro Brent Ehrler, a California native who lists deep cranking as his foil.

By the time the offseason rolls around for many bass pros, the last thing they want to do is get back on the water for hours on end to work on pitching with their off hand or tie on a deep-diving crankbait or a dropshot to better understand the technique.

There are some pros, however, who can’t stand having a hole in their game, so they’ll put in the time needed to feel comfortable with something that had previously been a hindrance. Then there are those who say they’re going to put in the effort, but find just enough of an excuse to not fully commit to getting better at it.

“There are things that I say I’m going to work on,” said FLW Tour angler Michael Neal. “Even before this year’s Forrest Wood Cup at (Lake) Murray, I knew a lot of fish were caught on a buzzbait there in 2015. I said I’d go home and take a buzzbait and do this and that, and I never went fishing.

“You can definitely get by without having to do anything. I’m not saying it’s the best option because you’re always better off to be as well-rounded as you can be, but you can do it. You can get by on a lot of stuff until you get to something you do excel at and have a really good finish.”

BassFans are well aware of the strengths of many of the top anglers. Kevin VanDam can presumably do it all – he lists “power fishing” and “On-water adaptability” as his strengths – but even he feels he can improve on something. Oddly enough, the Michigan native has “dropshotting” listed as his biggest weakness.

Skeet Reese, a Bassmaster Classic winner and former Angler of the Year, says “cranking deep structure” is his weak spot. Jason Christie, a three-time winner on both the FLW Tour and Elite series, listed “spinning rods” as his weakness, but he’s admittedly had to up his finesse game to the point now that he’s not wary of having a spinning rod at the ready if the situation calls for it.

BassFan asked several pros, including Christie, to elaborate on their weaknesses and what, if anything, they do to address them.

Michael Neal

> BassFan profile says: “Getting flustered and running around all day.”

> What he says: “Putting a bait under a dock without making it sound like the dock is falling apart. I know I’m going to hit it a few times, but I’m going to make it eventually.

“Sight fishing. I’ve never done it. I don’t know when to go or stay or how guys can make two flips and tell if the fish is going to bite or not. When I’ve tried it, it always bites me because I always find the ones everybody has – there’s someone there already or someone has caught it.

“At Lake Travis this year, I was out of my comfort zone. I flipped all tournament and I wound up getting a check. That was the first time I can remember getting a check flipping.”



BassFan
Photo: BassFan

John Crews says hard work has helped him close the gap on other anglers he says are more naturally gifted when it comes to fishing skills.

Jared Lintner

> BassFan profile says: “Deep crankbaiting.”

> What he says: “I will go out at home with nothing but crankbaits. The reason why guys like (Dean) Rojas are good shallow and with frogs and guys like Mark Rose are basically legends offshore is they put their time in. I’ve made a conscious effort when I’m fun-fishing at home I work on those things that I need to. I’m not as apprehensive to throw big cranks now. I did it at Lake St. Clair (this season).

“Being from California and having fished at Clear Lake, the Delta, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, they’re all different bodies of water. They’re not like the Tennessee River. Growing up and fishing those places, you had to be versatile. You had to know how to dropshot, frog and crank. In a way, that almost hurts you as an angler.

“We go to the Mississippi River and somebody will make a top 12 on a frog or flipping. Somebody will make it cranking wing dams. Somebody will make it throwing a Caroling rig on sand bars. In the past, I’d try to do all of those and have 15 rods tied up with different crap. You get spread too thin. Guys will find their deal if they can. Denny (Brauer) made a career with a jig. If we’re (at the Mississippi River) or at (Lake) Mead, he’d run somewhere he can make a jig work.”

Brent Ehrler

> BassFan profile says: “Deep cranking.”

> What he says: “Heavy-weight punching. I don’t have a lot of confidence doing that and it’s hard to improve on it because I’ll do it five times and decide they’re not biting it.

“Left-handed casting – I’m 100 percent worthless left-handed casting. I tell myself I need to do it, but I will never do it in a tournament because I’ll mess it up. I need to take a day and go to my home lake and not make a right-handed cast.”

Jason Christie

> BassFan profile says: “Spinning rods.”

> What he says: “It’s no secret my weakness is light-line spinning rods. I made the (2010) Forrest Wood Cup at Lanier and I had four to six weeks before the Cup so I went and got some spinning rods and reels. I went to Lake Tenkiller by myself and started learning what a dropshot looked like on the graph and how fast it fell and what bites felt like.

“I taught myself and I’ve overcome that weakness and I’ve had some good finishes. Now, I’m not scared of events when a spinning rod comes into play. At some lakes, a frog or flipping stick don’t come into play and now I’m not scared to pick up a spinning rod anymore.”

John Crews

> BassFan profile says: None listed.

> What he says: “Natural fishing ability. I feel like some anglers are really good naturally. Then there’s another group of guys who have to work really hard at it to be good and I feel like I’m in that group.

"Over the years, I’ve been working at it so hard, I’ve gotten a lot better at the natural ability portion but know I’m not still up to the level of Aaron Martens or Kevin (VanDam) or (Mike) Iaconelli. They’re very sharp guys and very little gets by them.

“I don’t miss too much in the observation department. I feel like I have to try really hard and practice hard and do as much prep as possible to be on the same level as those guys. It’s a constant process. I’ve known that since early on and I know that I have to be on my game to make sure I can compete.”

Cody Meyer

> BassFan profile says: “Deep cranking.”

> What he says: “It’s still one of my weaknesses for sure, but I 100 percent work on it. The other day I was talking with (FLW Tour angler) Jamie Horton and I was out fishing. He was saying, ‘You’re out fishing? No wonder you’re so good.’ I don’t hunt and he does. I’m definitely better at it than I was, but not as confident as someone like KVD. Out here in California in the fall is when that bite is strong, so it’s the perfect time to work on it.

“When I head out on Lake of the Pines, every single time I do it [throw a crankbait] and I get more comfortable and confident with it. You have to be good at everything. If you told Peyton Manning he couldn’t throw the deep ball, he’d keep at it until he mastered it.”

> End Part 1 (of 2)