Article
Date: 03-01-2008
\The Mental Edge by Mike Watson
Let me first take this chance to thank Dan Mathisen for giving me this opportunity to write a few articles for his website. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dan closely now for over 5 years and I jumped at this chance. He is truly one of the nice guys in the industry and I am proud to call him my friend…ok, enough of the butt kissing, lets talk FISHING!
How many of us are looking for ways to improve our fishing? Weather it is increasing the numbers of bass you catch or trying to improve the quality and size of the fish you catch, we are all looking for an advantage. No matter what sport you enjoy or the level you compete at, you have the potential for maximum performance. Look, we can all benefit from fishing with a guide or fishing as a co-angler to learn a new body of water, but I honestly believe that the edge that separates the winners from the losers is in your mind!
Fishing, as a sport, is the ultimate test of mental toughness. We have all been there at some point…those fish have lock jaw and we can’t figure it out. Maybe we loose a 10lber at the boat and you have to fish the rest of the day thinking about it. How do you shake these demons? Being mentally tough is how and I’m going to give you some techniques to help sharpen your mental toughness.
VISUALIZATION
The first step is Visualization. How many of you will take time (if we have any free time available) to visualize your day of fishing the night before. I do it all the time. I can close my eyes and smell the morning air at the marina, then smell of the gas and exhaust when you first fire up your boat and the feel of a fish pulling at your line. I try to think of the best day of fishing I have ever had and try to recall all of the things I did correct that day. Visualization has no place for negative thoughts, so get in a habit right now of trying to only think positive thoughts. Think about how you felt that day…how all of the decisions you made that day were the correct ones. You made all the right decisions with your tackle…feels sweet huh? You can practice this on your breaks at work, every little bit helps.
The “PEP TALK”
“I’m not very good at fishing during the pre-spawn...I choke under pressure…I didn’t do enough pre-fishing.”
If these are the kinds of statements you’re saying to yourself while you’re fishing, what do you think is going to happen? Oh course you are not going to perform at your best. All of us talk to ourselves as we fish (I hope it’s not just me that hears these voices!), reacting to the opportunities in front of us. The info that we gather is filtered through our mind and forms our “Truths”…even if these “Truths” are not based on facts.
Remember guys and girls, when your “Pep Talk” is filled with criticism, and when it reminds us of our limitations, it can and WILL destroy your concentration and confidence and make it harder to perform.
The “Pep Talk” is positive thinking. It is tied to emotions that eventually displace any negative feelings that you’re experiencing. Picture a glass filled with dirty water. If you place that glass under a running faucet with clean water, it won’t take long for the clean water to displace the dirty water. The same is true with your mind. Once you fill your head with positive “Pep Talk”, there won’t be any space for negative thoughts. One easy way to do this is to concentrate on one aspect of your fishing you would like to improve. For me it’s on the water decision-making, we’ll use this as the example.
“I AM a good decision maker on the water and always make the right decisions!”
If you use and repeat this “Pep Talk” every morning and night, and particularly during your day of fishing, you will begin to gain the mental toughness you’ve been looking for.
Honestly, there are several more techniques that I would love to write about, that I know would work for you, but I am not sure Dan has enough room on his site for it! If you’re looking for more resources regarding this topic, I recommend the book, “The Mental Edge” by Kenneth Baum. Kenneth is one of the premier sports performance consultants in the country. He is a former staff member at the Elite Training Institute in Los Angles, a training center for the U.S. Olympic Team,
Please feel free to email me anytime to discuss this topic further or ask how the bite is on the Delta. I am writing this as I prepare for the FLW National Guard Delta event so we’ll see how well I do using these techniques during this next tournament…wish me positive thoughts!
Mike Watson
Pennies
on the dollar for fishing rods, reels, baits, lures, and more?
You be the judge!
