While pro fishing isn't an "us vs. them" sport, there's certainly several tiers in which pros are grouped.

Near the very top are guys like Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese, Aaron Martens, David Dudley, Jay Yelas and others. The common thread that seems to bind them is mindset. In a sport where skill sets are largely comparable, it's the mindset that creates perpetual winners.

Jeff Kriet knows that. Kriet's been in position to win several times, yet hasn't been able to close the door. Small missteps, or second-guesses, have stood in his way, he said.

And he's tired of it. So this week, he'll visit a sports psychologist in Dallas.

"I just know there's only one thing that separates about 30 guys from being a VanDam or Skeet Reese or Edwin Evers

or Mike McClelland," Kriet said. "To me, those guys are the strongest, mentally, and I think that's the one thing that separates them from me.

"I struggle with self-confidence and things like that. I've been fishing long enough to where my technique's pretty good, and I know how to find fish pretty well. I just feel like I ought to have had some better results than I've had. The mental part is the only thing I really feel like I'm lacking."

Visited Before

According to Kriet, he visited a sports psychologist about 7 years ago. Prior to the visit, he'd won a total of about $80,000 with BASS. After that visit, he made five Bassmaster Classics and felt the visit "helped (him) a lot."

Over his 14-year BASS career, though, he's won only one event – a Bassmaster Invitational back in 1998.

"I fish all the time, so it's not a matter of me getting to spend time on the water," he noted. "I'm ready to get myself to the next level, and I feel like this (a mental tuning) is the best thing for me to do to get to the next level – to be where I really want and feel I need to be. I'm not satisfied with what I've done.

"I think that once I really get my head strong and all that, I feel I can be at that next level," he added. "There's only a handful of guys in that next tier, and I don't think they can find or catch them any better than I can – I think they're stronger mentally. I don't think there's any question why VanDam's as good as he is. He's just mentally that much stronger than anybody else."

Stumbling Blocks

Kriet pointed to several things that he thinks have kept him from "that next level" and they all have a common thread – they could have been overcome.

First is the tendency to downplay his own gameplan. He'll have a rock-solid practice, but at some time during competition, he'll lose some confidence in what he found.

"I think that when you go in you have to trust everything you're doing 100%," he said. "In several tournaments over the past 3 or 4 years, I think somebody who was a little stronger mentally would have won with what I'd found. When you start second-guessing what you're doing in any sport, that's a bad deal. I need to set my gameplan and go with it 100%."

Second is mid-tournament frustration or bad breaks, which great anglers always seem able to overcome.

BassFans might remember the 2006 Toho Classic. Kriet was 7th after day 1, but he fell to 14th after a "nightmare" day 2 and never recovered. Thing was, he was fishing the same area as winner Luke Clausen, and 8th-place finisher Kevin Wirth was there too. On day 2, local shiner boats joined the circus.

Here's what Kriet told BassFan that day after he weighed in: "I went from plenty of water to no water. I fished slow and was through my stuff in a half-hour. Rather than chill out I got frustrated. And the wind was killing me. Mentally I fished a really bad game. I think I'm getting better at the mental game, but today I could feel that downward spiral."

This week, on his way to the visit with the sports psychologist, Kriet commented on that Classic day and said: "I just flipped out. A lot of times I tend to dwell on negative issues. I don't need to be doing that."

Last year's Hartwell Classic was another instance. He finished 6th, but that was a disappointment. "I should have won Hartwell," he said. "My gut told me to do something, and I didn't do it. And at the Harris Chain this year, when McClelland won, I was on the same batch of fish. A lost a couple of fish and it totally crushed me for that day. Then I went into Toho and self-destructed in that one.

"I feel like I'm a better fisherman than what I displayed," he added. "I've had some good years, but like I said, I'm not happy with what my results are. I don't win enough. When I get the opportunity, I want to feel like I can close it out. I'm real close to being where I want to be, and I feel like getting a mental edge will really help."

Notable

> Kriet was once ranked inside the Top 20 in the BassFan World Rankings. He's currently ranked 60th.

> He finished 49th in the BASS Angler of the Year points this year and didn't qualify for the Red River Classic.