Entry 124-1

Mike Wurm - How to be a Pro Fisherman

How to Make a Comeback

Editor's Note: Do you know who has struck out more times than any other baseball player in history—Babe Ruth. Did you know that Gone With The Wind was turned down by 32 publishers? Did you know that most great athletes, at some time during their career, usually have a streak of bad luck that either puts them out of the game or that they come back from it with a vengeance and reach even greater heights than they’ve achieved before the disaster? We all like the story of the “come-back kid” who overcomes adversity, picks himself up, and dusts himself off not only go back into battle but to charge. But how does the tournament fisherman who has done so well for many years recharge his batteries and come back from a devastating season to compete again against the best of the best? This is what Mike Wurm will teach us this week.

Question: Mike, this year you didn’t make the Bassmasters Classic or the FLW Championship. What happened?

Wurm: I’m still racking my brain trying to figure out what happened. Right now, as I drive from tournament site to tournament site, I have plenty of time to think about each tournament individually. So, I’m analyzing every tournament to try to find the key to what I’ve consistently done wrong so that I can change my performance this coming year. I know that I have to get my head straight and my mind right if I’m going to have a good year next year. And, I know this has to take place before the tournament season.

I know I didn’t execute my fishing technique as well as I should have; I didn’t execute a mental plan as well as I could; I’m not as aggressive today as I was 10- or 20-years ago. So, I have to overcome that attitude, because the young fishermen on the circuit are very aggressive. They are going to get more and more aggressive. That’s what competitive fishing is all about—hunting to find the fish fast, fishing quickly and deliberately to catch the fish and getting back to the weigh-in right on time. I know that I can’t be a casual fisherman and be a competitive fisherman. I have to refocus on attacking my fishing harder than I did last year.

Question: How old are you, Mike?

Wurm: I’m 52.

Question: How can you become as mentally and as physically aggressive as a 32-year-old competitor?

Wurm: The answer is real simple. When your stomach starts growling, you get more aggressive. Tournament fishermen are fishing for more prize money now than ever before in the sport of tournament bass fishing. Those big paydays are the inspiration I need to get fired-up and rekindle my competitive flame. I think Larry Nixon said it best a few years ago when he was having a bad year of tournament fishing. Nixon said, and I quote, “I just got too comfortable.” And I think Nixon hit the nail on the head. Once you become established as a national pro, you have a good sponsor base, you have your life pretty well planned out, and your children have left home, you do get a little bit more comfortable with your life and with your fishing. I think those conditions affect a man’s aggressiveness, whether he is a tournament bass fisherman, an employee at a company, or a private businessman.

My plan for this fall is to set my fishing goals, lay out a plan for attaining those goals, and then charge with every ounce of energy that I have to reach those goals. I believe there is no better way to reach goals than to write those goals down on paper and keep that paper with me at all times. You can set goals in your mind, but until you put them on paper and look at them daily, those goals aren’t real, and you can’t plan each day to reach those goals by the end of the year.

Question: What is the real secret for reaching goals as a competitive fisherman?

Wurm: The secret is in your routine. I fish both the BASS Circuit and the FLW Circuit, so I’m on the road quite a bit. The routine I develop on the road has a direct impact on the way I perform. To learn more and compete better this year, I intend to get up and out on the water earlier than I did last year. I also plan to stay out on the water and practice longer. But your routine has to involve more than your fishing time. You have to set up a good routine you live by when you are on the road. To perform the best you can during competition, you have to have your body trained to a routine that allows it to perform at its peak during competition. I try to eat good, healthy food when I’m on the road, try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. I just need to fine-tune my routine so that when I’m on the water practicing or competing, my body is tuned to its best performance in those days.




 

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