Key to success is a good mentor/coach relationship. It works in fishing same as athletics

The biggest reason for any success I’ve had as an athlete or as an angler has been having great mentors/coaches who poured their wisdom and experience into me. Show me someone who’s growing and succeeding and I’ll bet money they have a mentor who’s guiding them.

Most serious fishermen are looking for the magic formula to success – or bigger fish – but I’ve found from having several Olympic coaches guide me that the secret is far beyond just big performances; it’s about changing the whole person to become a champion.

I talk to Greg Myerson, the striped bass world record-holder, on a regular basis and he has had a big impact on my fishing, especially for big fish.

Successful mentors help mentees develop deep confidence in new and successful patterns, learn how to handle pressure, get their priorities straight and handle adversity. What good is success if the person crumbles from the pressure? My mentors spent as much time coaching the mental part of the game as they did on the technical and physical. We know this to be true but we still try to shortcut the process, get lazy, and just focus on the outcome without building our foundation and fundamentals.

Good mentors won’t let you off the hook; they challenge you to push your limits and this is where the mental aspect becomes the key issue. Learning to get stronger and to think more precisely and accurately in your training leads to the same thing in competition. I’ve applied this idea to scouting and guiding.

Are you going beyond your self-imposed mental limits, or just safely staying in your comfort zone? Just having the physical tools is not what a true mentor is looking to strengthen. What you think controls how you practice. How you practice shows up in your results. We all get lazy; a good mentor keeps you on the path even when you don’t want to stay the course.

Along the same lines, I find that many fishermen believe that having the right lure and some kind of temporary pattern makes them a good angler. That may work for a day, but when the dust settles, mental toughness and clear focus carry the day. Great anglers are no accident, they have a mentality they usually picked up from someone who helped them grow.

For some reason we think that fishing is somehow different and operates on some alternate set of principles. Anglers tell me they are going to catch a big fish this year and they plan to fish harder, but doing more of the same is exactly what a good mentor seeks to change. They will challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone. That’s why it’s critical to make a conscious decision to find a willing mentor/coach and then do your best to follow what they suggest. At this point it’s key that you don’t just decide to only do what you understand and feel comfortable doing; there’s no need to even begin if that’s the mindset. Being humble and realizing that we don’t know how to do something correctly is the first step to true success with a good mentor.

Stuck? Find a mentor/coach. Chuck your pride, listen carefully and do what they suggest. Never give up!

This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Key to success is a good mentor/coach relationship. It works in fishing same as athletics."