"Dude, what is wrong with you?”

It was a question I repeated in my head about as many times as I had fingered through the laminated aerial photographs of Kentucky Lake I had been studying for several weeks. The drive to Murray, Ky. was long and the only things that kept me occupied were the piercing vocals of Neil Young, the harmonica I had bought in some music shop in Georgia, the aerial photographs and that same gnawing question:

“Dude, what is wrong with you?”

I had been asking myself that question following a series of dismal finishes in BFLs and several other tournaments, due to lost fish and poor execution. It was the last thing that I wanted running through my head as I was trucking it to Kentucky Lake to compete in the FLW National Guard College Fishing National Championship.

A week later, driving back to Florida, the tune would change, and that nagging question would be replaced with optimism, confidence and a renewed sense of excitement for my future in the sport.
I can assure you that wasn’t because of my finish at Kentucky Lake.

Ready or Not

I reached the house that I would call home for the week, early Tuesday morning, which gave me the whole day to get settled in, go grocery shopping and pick up some packages that I had Navionics and Secret Lures send to Bass & Gas, a tackle shop that I was fortunate to encounter on my pre-practice trip to Kentucky Lake.

The following morning I reported to the boat-yard at Murray State University to load my Folgers-wrapped Ranger Z520 with all of my gear and review my Navionics maps on the Lowrance units installed on the boat. Myself and the eventual champions of the event, the University of Florida, were the first to arrive at the boat yard.

After getting comfortable with my new office for the week and waiting through the pre-practice meeting, all 25 teams finally got to get on the water for a 6-hour practice day – a windy practice day.
At the end of the day, which I viewed as somewhat decent, I attended the tournament meeting and banquet and got home to attempt at a full night's sleep.

Ready or not.

I See A Pattern Here

Day 1 went about as well as you would expect when your mental game is being washed down the gutter by a constant flow of negativity.

I ended up getting five big bites and lost four, including one giant that I broke off in a laydown. The one that I did get in the boat weighed 3-10 and aside from the brute I broke off, the other bites were of similar size.

Though it wasn’t my primary pattern going into the day, I found the larger fish I needed were holding onto the scarce laydowns fallen on 45-degree banks halfway back into the creeks. I thoroughly picked each one apart with a Secret Lures HD Flippin Jig and an Ouzo Chunky Monkey trailer. Unfortunately, getting bites was easier than getting the fish out.

If I had gotten those other bites in, I would have easily had the biggest bag of the event. Cry me a river, right?

My observer for the day was very friendly and I really enjoyed his company. He gave me some good compliments about my fishing and seemed surprised I didn’t do much better, but that didn’t make me feel any better about bringing my lonely bass to the stage at Murray State, and I didn’t expect to feel any better at the weigh-in.

Fortunately, I was wrong.



Having Fun

As I stepped up to the final holding tank, before my turn in the spotlight , a funny thing happened- I experienced a level of confidence and excitement that I hadn’t felt since before the Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans.

Instead of shuffling to the scales with the brim of my hat lowered down over my eyes in shame, I galloped to the podium where weighmaster Justin Lucas stood waiting, and I sported a smile powered by genuine pride.

I actually was having fun! With one fish!

I couldn’t figure out why my mood changed so much, but it really didn’t matter. I joked around and approached every question Justin and Jason Harper)threw my way with positive responses and optimism for the day to come.

When my moment in the limelight was over for the day, I trotted off stage to be met by people who gave me sincere compliments on making it to the championship, how I had a great stage presence and how they felt I had a bright future ahead of me in the sport.

I would have expected people to come up to me and say: “Dude, what happened out there?” or “Dude, you need to tighten up.” After all, that’s what I had been asking and telling myself.
Instead, the consensus from my friends and total strangers (soon to be friends) was: “Dude, you did great. We are rooting for you, man!”

It was pretty moving, to say the least.

My mom arrived later that night, and I was excited to show her and her boyfriend Ron around the boat yard. I went into the final day feeling confident and ready to compete, and I was ready to go out there and whack a huge sack of fish and come from behind! Yeah!

Result: one fish for 2 pounds even.

No sob stories this time – I caught plenty of fish, but just didn’t more than one keeper bite all day.
Instead of sliding back into my recent mental funk, I felt pretty good about my day. I went out and fished hard and had fun, and in the end I didn’t achieve the results that I expect of myself ,but I understood what I did wrong and how I could perform better the next time.

Again, I had fun onstage, and again, my friends and family were proud of me. I was, too.

SAT

Though I really wished I had qualified to compete in the Top 5 for the final round, I was excited about the opportunity to fish another tournament on Saturday – the Soldier Appreciation Tournament. I wasn’t only excited about the opportunity to show my gratitude for everything the soldiers do for me and the rest of the country, but I was glad to have the opportunity to figure the fish out.

Redemption was sweet, and for the first time all week I was able to imprison more than one finned adversary in the Ranger’s livewell.

Spc. Elkins, Spc. Pulliam and I had a great time together, and we ended up catching a limit that held for 1st place until the very last team weighed in. Still, I was satisfied that I at least was able to help show the two soldiers a good time.

Back To Basics

After the event was over I was happy for many things.

I was happy for the University of Florida for their dominating performance, and for the way they will challenge future collegiate anglers by setting the bar so high.

I was happy my mom finally got to see what this sport is all about.

I was happy I got to make so many good friends, including some people who I am sort of related to (long story).

Finally, I was happy that I finally started to feel the way I felt in the very beginning – that through the good or the bad, for richer or poorer, I would be having fun nonetheless as long as I was living my dream.

So, as I drove back down to Florida ,Neil Young was replaced by a little Modest Mouse, Jim Croce, Pink Floyd and a couple radio stations. The aerial photographs were replaced with a topo map of Lake Eufaula, site of the next FLW College Qualifier.

Finally, the question “Dude, what’s wrong with you?” was replaced with the following statement:
“Dude, you can’t do wrong.”

Miles "Sonar" Burghoff is a student at the University of Central Florida and an aspiring professional angler who writes a regular column for BassFan. To visit his website, click here.