Entry 185-5

How I’ll Fish the Classic with Mike Wurm

Part 5: What a Classic Win Will Mean to Me

Question: Why do you think you have a chance to win this Classic?

Wurm: I feel good going into this Classic. I won’t be nervous fishing this year’s Classic because this is my ninth one. I know what to expect, and I know how to fish it. This doesn’t mean I won’t have butterflies on that first morning just before blastoff. I’ll be thinking, “Oh, my gosh. This is the Bassmaster Classic. This is my chance to complete my career in fishing.”

I like to fish in the wintertime, and I’ve caught a lot of bass in the wintertime. All the lakes we fish have warm weather conditions. I think being able to fish in the winter will be a real advantage for me because I really like to fish in the winter. I’ll be able to locate some fish, and I have confidence that I can find the fish, which is the key to winning. I know I have the right lures and the right mindset to win. I really believe I can get the job done this year.

Question: Mike, you really won’t have that much spectator pressure, like Denny Brauer, Kevin VanDam or Greg Hackney will. Will that give you an advantage?

Wurm: I really believe it will be an advantage on the first day, because all the spectator boats will start off following the big guns. The one who will have the most pressure is Russ Lane, and this may cancel out his home-field advantage. But because he’s local, and the odds-on favorite going into the competition, I feel that he’ll have the most fishing pressure. Because I’m just sort of slipping into the competition, I don’t think I’ll have nearly the pressure everyone else will have. I think Michael Iaconelli, because of all the TV time and press he’s gotten, will have a lot of spectator pressure, at least on that first day.

Everything will change after the first day, because the spectators really start chasing the leaders after the first day. Getting a good boat number will also help. I’d love to have a low boat number so I can go out in that first wave on the first day. Lay Lake isn’t that large, and there’s a good chance after you leave your starting place that you’ll be fishing behind someone. Having a low number and starting the tournament in the first flight will definitely be an advantage.

Question: Mike, what will you do if on that first day you find a good school of fish and catch them, and the second day you go out in the last light, and when you get to your spot, another competitor’s fishing it? How will you handle it?

Wurm: There are a lot of factors that go into how you handle this problem. If I were fishing that spot all day the first day and never saw that competitor in or around that spot, then we’d have a little conversation about how we’ll fish this spot. If I hit that spot the first hour of the tournament and then make a milk run and hit four or five more spots and another guy’s on my first spot the next day, I’ll ask him if he’s fished that place the day before and what he’s caught. Then we’ll discuss who will fish that area again. We’ll develop a game plan that’s beneficial for both of us.

Many times when we have two anglers wanting to fish the same bank, one will say, “I’ll fish down to that certain rock, and you can fish from the rock down to that big tree, and we’ll both just work our areas back and forth.” This is the way these kinds of disputes usually work themselves out. Or, one guy will say, “I’ll fish this bank for about an hour, then you can have it.” Most competitors can work out a way to fish a bank so that both competitors have a fair shot at the fish they find. There’s always a way to get around two or more competitors who find the same bass and want to fish the same spot.

Any time you have a really-hot area, when you get to it and someone else is fishing it, you’ll be thrown off your game plan. But idealistically, you’ll have more than one hot spot to fish. I hate to think that I’ll go into any tournament with only one place to fish, because you really cut down your odds to win, if you only have one spot to fish. Hopefully, I’ll have about six or more places where I think I can catch a good limit of bass.

Even though someone may be sitting on my No. 1 hole, I may go to my second or third spot and find that it’s the best on that day. The biggest problem to deal with is getting your mind right, if another competitor is fishing the spot that you want to fish. Get your confidence back, and work your plan, because all the competitors are there to win. In this kind of tournament, on this size lake, a lot of the fishermen will find the same spots to fish. That’s part of the game. If you don’t learn how to deal with that, you haven’t got a chance to win. The way you deal with that problem is often the way you win.

Things will happen during a tournament that you don’t expect. The weather can change. Another fisherman can be on your No. 1 hole. You can have equipment failure. The place where you were just tearing them up one day can be a clay hole on the second day. There are many factors that go on during the tournament that can and will alter your game plan. The quicker and the better you can adjust to those changing conditions, whether natural or manmade, will determine how you win the tournament.

Remember, if you allow someone to get you upset, or some condition to change your focus, it’s your fault, not that person’s or that condition’s fault. You’re the only one who can control your attitude, your reasoning ability and your decision-making process. Winning or losing the Classic is dependent on the decisions you make each minute of the day while you’re competing, and not on the decisions other people make. I’ve always said that the fisherman who makes the best choices during a tournament always wins.

Question: What weather and water conditions will be best on Lay Lake for Mike Wurm to win?

Wurm: What I’d really like to see happen is for one or two weeks before the Classic, the Birmingham area to get stable weather. I’d like to see highs of 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s, and maybe even highs of 60 degrees. If we have that kind of weather, the bass will start moving up shallow and begin to get ready to spawn. On the first day of the tournament, I’d like to see the sun come up really strong, and the weather get warm, because by that afternoon, there will be a slug fest. The bass will be bending rods, breaking lines and tearing up tackle, and fishermen will be screaming and yelling like they’re at an Alabama-Auburn football game. If we have three days of nice, warm weather with a mild wind, everyone will bring in huge catches of bass. If those conditions exist, I’ll be wearing the banks out.

Question: What will winning the Classic mean to Mike Wurm?

Wurm: Winning the Classic will give me a great deal of satisfaction. A Classic win will be a goal achieved that I made 20-years ago, when I first started fishing tournaments. A Classic will mean my retirement will be set. I can hold my head high and say that I’ve accomplished all the goals I set for myself in tournament bass fishing, with the exception of winning “Angler of the Year.” If I win the Classic, “satisfied” will be the one word I’ll use to sum up the Classic win.

Contents:

• Part 1: Warming Up Before the Classic
• Part 2: My No. 1 Pattern
• Part 3: My Second Pattern
• Part 4: Why I’ll Go Wild at the Classic
• Part 5: What a Classic Win Will Mean to Me