Summer 2018
®
WB: Obviously, not recently; but have you ever felt you were in a rut?
SMITH: Oh yah and I know when it’s happening too; because I just start second- guessing every decision I make. When I start second-guessing myself, I start fishing badly. To get out, I just keep fishing and it’s usually just one decision where it all works out. It could be in a tournament or when I am fun fishing; but from that one decision something good will happen – I will catch a big one or start getting bit or whatever. That reinforces my intuition and I can get back to trusting it.
WB: It’s the age old – if you
could only fish one bait the rest
of your life question… what’s
yours?
SMITH: It’s a Strike King
Bryant Smith
Rage Bug. I could do just about
anything with that bait. I could
flip it, put it on a jig, a ChatterBait, a Carolina-rig. It’s really
versatile and something I have a ton of confidence in.
WB: What’s your advice to those that want to make a living bass angling in the West?
SMITH: To the young anglers, or really to anyone starting out… don’t worry so much about the sponsors, right now. You don’t have to look like Kevin VanDam with all the sponsors on the jersey. I know it is easy to get caught up in that. I used to do it; but it is kind of backwards that I used to think like that.
What is important is the
time on the water. You need
to worry about your fishing
game and spend time on
that. The sponsors will come
in time. Spend as much time
on the water as possible.
That is how you get better
at fishing. Go fishing every
chance you get. That is what I do; because every time you go fishing, you learn something and that is how you progress. •
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WWBT