Personal Narrative: Anglers Are Truly Athletes
This season I was confronted on social media questioning if anglers are truly athletes. I remember sitting behind my computer screen, my jaw dropped and steam likely rising from my ears. I gained my composure and decided to ask him if he had ever tournament fished before I jumped up on my soap box and started telling him why he was so wrong, but what he followed up with just knocked me off my box mid step . “Well no I work for a living”. After brushing myself off I knew I had an opportunity to maybe open this mans eyes up or maybe a few other people lurking and watching this conversation with their bowl of popcorn. First I opened up with telling him I do not know many tournament anglers that do not have a job, it is not a cheap sport between
equipment and entry fees there is basically no way to be involved in the sport without financial support. In fact I work three different jobs and have cut out basically all luxuries to afford to pursue tournament fishing.
As this conversation continued I paused and put myself in the shoes of someone who basically has never fished competitively or spent long days on the water from dawn to dusk. It would be hard for them to understand the preparation and hard work it takes to be competitive in the tournament world, whether it consists of fishing a small club tournament series all the way to the Elites. For me to be a tournament angler I define my process as chaotic as I try to weave in practice and study between my adult responsibilities of work and being a single mother. Preparing includes more than just time on the lake, I spend countless hours researching the bodies of water, baits, fish behavior and feeding patterns. When tournament day comes you do not have the luxury of packing it in when the rain is hitting your face like pea gravel, winds is practically hurling you off the side or the boat, the heat is scorching your skin or the cold is numbing your finger tips. So the next time someone questions whether a tournament angler is truly an athlete remember we are the ones waking up at 3 am to in the pursuit of a win among tough competition, 8 hours on our feet , facing many physical and mental obstacles. It is not a sport for everyone, but for those of us that compete it is a way of life.
equipment and entry fees there is basically no way to be involved in the sport without financial support. In fact I work three different jobs and have cut out basically all luxuries to afford to pursue tournament fishing.
As this conversation continued I paused and put myself in the shoes of someone who basically has never fished competitively or spent long days on the water from dawn to dusk. It would be hard for them to understand the preparation and hard work it takes to be competitive in the tournament world, whether it consists of fishing a small club tournament series all the way to the Elites. For me to be a tournament angler I define my process as chaotic as I try to weave in practice and study between my adult responsibilities of work and being a single mother. Preparing includes more than just time on the lake, I spend countless hours researching the bodies of water, baits, fish behavior and feeding patterns. When tournament day comes you do not have the luxury of packing it in when the rain is hitting your face like pea gravel, winds is practically hurling you off the side or the boat, the heat is scorching your skin or the cold is numbing your finger tips. So the next time someone questions whether a tournament angler is truly an athlete remember we are the ones waking up at 3 am to in the pursuit of a win among tough competition, 8 hours on our feet , facing many physical and mental obstacles. It is not a sport for everyone, but for those of us that compete it is a way of life.