Entry 113-3

George Cochran On How To Overcome A Bummer Tournament

How to Come Down Off the Mountain Top

Editor's Note: Often, a rainbow follows a severe storm. Some people will see the rainbow and appreciate it, but then immediately think about how bad the storm has been. Others never may see the rainbow; they only see the storm and think about how bad it is. The old saying is true: "It's an ill wind that blows no good." The secret to a happy life is seeing and understanding the promise of the rainbow regardless of how bad the storm is, whether you have a bad event in a fishing tournament or in your life. George Cochran, two-time Bassmaster Classic Champion, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, has the ability to look beyond a bad tournament.

Cochran: Without question, the high point of my fishing career this past season was winning BASS's Top 150 Tournament at Lake Guntersville, in Alabama. I'd never had a fishing trip or fished in a tournament where I'd caught more big bass and completely dominated the tournament more than I did at Lake Guntersville. Without question, this tournament was not only the highlight of my career this year, it was one of my all-time highs in bass fishing. I used the momentum, the enthusiasm, and yes, maybe the luck that I gathered from that tournament to do really well in the next three tournaments. I think when you have a great bass-fishing tournament, if you have another tournament right behind it, and all your systems are working, you can ride whatever that zone is into one or two more tournaments. But, then, I bottomed-out and didn't even make a paycheck at some of the tournaments later in the year.

So, I think what you want to do is try to be "in the moment" as long as you can. Basketball players call it "being in the zone." If you have watched professional basketball players, you have noticed that sometimes they will get on a hot streak, and for some reason known but to God, every time they shoot the ball at the basket, the ball seems to go in. And, they may stay in that zone for two or three games. But, they don't control how they got into the zone or when they come out of the zone. The players continue doing the things they've been doing when they're shooting successfully and try to ride that enthusiasm and stay in that zone as long as they can. And, that's what I tried to do after the Guntersville tournament. I had two more really-good tournaments after the Guntersville win, but then the streak was over. I don't know why, it just was.

So, I think that the way you come off a mountaintop experience is to try to retain that feeling and try to capture that moment and hold onto it for as long as you can, and ride it as far as it goes, even if that means continuing to wear the same pair of socks for three weeks, putting a toothpick behind your ear for three weeks or fishing the same five baits that you feel lucky with until the streak runs out. Regardless of what you believe that's gotten you in the zone or is keeping you in the zone, try to do those same things as long as you can until you come out of the zone. Then realize that it was a great ride for as long as it lasted, but you still have to go out there and fish hard to try to find that same magic again. If you are a tournament fisherman or a weekend fisherman, you are going to have good days and bad days, and the real secret is being able to control your emotions and not get too high or too low regardless of how your fishing is going.




 

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