(Editor's note: This is the final part of a 3-part article on Tony Christian. BassFan will be taking July 4th off, and we wish all BassFans a happy, relaxing and safe holiday.)

Perhaps the cornerstone of Tony Christian's success, especially with big fish, is his "no fear" mentality. He fishes tournaments to win, and has no interest in catching small fish to get his entry fee back.

"In order to win, you have to have big fish," he said. "It's that simple. All I want to do is catch big fish and all I want to do is win, so the two go hand in hand for me."

He clarified his strategy further. "I don't understand why somebody would ante up an entry fee for a bass tournament, go down the lake and fish small worms for small fish. That makes no sense to me. Practicing for small fish is a waste of time. If I need small fish in a tournament to round out a limit, I'll fish for them during the tournament. But I'm certainly not going to waste valuable time during practice fishing that way.

"The only time I'll fish for small fish is if I'm fishing a cut format tournament and I already have a big fish to make the cut. Then I'll leave my big-fish area and fish for smaller ones. Or, if I think the big-fish bite is later in the day, I might try for a few small ones early. But as soon as I get the third or fourth small one, I'm going hunting for a big one.

"I'm not going to hang around and finish a limit or cull a couple of times by ounces on a small-fish place. In fact, I wish the limit was three bass. Then I'd never have to worry about small fish to round out a limit in cut-format tournaments."

No Fear Next Year

So far Christian has only fished BFL and EverStart events where entry fees are manageable. Next year he'll step up to the FLW Tour where entries will be $1,800 to $2,500 a pop. Maybe then he'll worry more about getting his entry fee back and fish more defensively.

"Nope," he said. "Money isn't an issue for me. Aside from the money I've made fishing, I have a good business (as a contractor) that makes good money. If you have to fish tournaments to get your money back, you're fishing scared. Whether you know it or not, you're fishing scared. That's why people go fishing for small limits. They're fishing scared. They just want their money back.

"If I had to fish to get my money back, I wouldn't fish tournaments. I'm out here for the competition, not the money. If I'm ever in a position where I have to fish to get my money back, I'll quit. To me that's not competitive fishing. That's fishing scared.

"Every now and then tournaments are won that way," he noted. "But most of the time tournaments are won with big bass."

Going for the Throat

Speaking of stepping up to the FLW Tour, Christian isn't shy about stating his plans for 2004. "I'll win one," he said. "Somewhere along the line, I'll win one.

"I'm not saying that I'm going to blow the tour away. A lot of great fisherman are on that tour. But there are also a lot of guys just fishing for their money back. And because of the way I fish, at some point I'll find something others have overlooked and I'll win."

Notable

> Due to his diligent study of big fish over the last few years, Christian said he's developed a sixth sense for when a big one is going to bite. "I don't want this to sound weird or make it out like I can just go down a bank calling my shots with big fish because it's not that way at all," he said. "But at times I do get this overwhelming feeling that I'm getting ready to catch a big fish. The only thing I can compare it to is hunting. Hunters will understand this: when you've been sitting in a stand forever and then you get that weird feeling that a big buck is fixing to step out of the woods – the hair kind of stands up on the back of your neck, kind of like chills – I get that same feeling when I'm fishing. And that's what I live for. I just love it."

> Despite his big-fish success, he's never caught a bass over 10 pounds.

> He recently turned in one of his worst performances yet, a 67th-place finish at the Lake Guntersville EverStart. "Because of my business, I only had one day of practice," he said. "I'm telling you, it takes a lot of time to find big fish. You don't just run out and get on 7-pounders in one afternoon."

- End of part 3 (of 3) -

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