I am sure that everyone out there has paid dues( the monetary kind) to fish a certain tournament trail at one time or another. I know I have. Today I want to tell about another kind of dues we as professional anglers pay. I was told early in my career that I should never dwell on the” could haves and the what ifs ”. I should always look back do the autopsy of the tournament and go on. Learning from what I had done right and wrong.I took that advice to heart and have never focused for long on my near misses or my great misses. I stay determined and focused every tournament. As the 2008 season ended. I looked back and saw only my near misses. It was a hard look. I thought of the dissapointment one feels when you don’t make the cut . I made checks this year but it still didn’t feel right to me. I wanted in the top ten.I am surrounded by guys every tournament who made their way to those top ten spots. I drove those miles from the championship in Missouri to Texas all the time asking myself why I was so down? Why was this year different? It came to me 35 miles from home. It was different this year because I had come closer than the year before. I see now that the closer you get to your goals the harder it is to make mistakes.
Professional anglers pay dues. Our dues are the near misses, the almosts. Not one angler out there hasn’t pay their dues. The motor break downs, the fish that were there yesterday, and the day before, but surprisingly disappeared with the front that came in during the tournament. The time on the water and the many ,many nights from homes. The question I was asking myself was the same I am sure that every angler has asked themselves at one time. I have been on the professional tours for two years. I have seen guys fish a season and leave not to return. They think that it easy, you get lucky like in the lottery and off your career goes. They take their knocks and don’t get up. I believe that is what sets us aside from other fisherman. You get beat up and you stand up again a little stronger than before. You do this job because you love what you do and no other reason. Not for the money. Not for the fame. Today I am a new angler not like the one before because after two years I see the light. I see my accomplishments and not just my failures. I see that I have made the championship both of my two years on the professional side of these tours. I made checks and I finished in the top 40 of my divisions. I know the knowledge I gained and I can tell you the best lessons I have learned are from my failures and mistakes. I sit here now and I can say I am stronger. Stronger mentally as an angler. I will continue to pay my dues until I have accomplished what the other great anglers before me have. I will be better for it. Someday soon I will see some young guy starting out just like those seasoned anglers see me now and say to him “Keep going ; pay your dues“. 2009 season is around the corner I am excited and pumped to get back on the trail. I know that this year I will fish with a new perspective. I will just go fish. That is what I do,fish because I love everything about it. As long as I keep my goals in site and my line wet I know my goals will come but not with out the dues being paid in full.
