2-time Classic Champion Hank Parker reveals his proven approach to winning bass tournaments. This is a must watch!
Transcript:
Glenn: Hey folks, Glenn May here with the BassResource.com, and welcome to another episode of Hank Parker's Fishing Tips. This week's question, Hank, comes from Shawn from Columbia, Alabama. And he asked, "What would you say you did during prep practice or tournament day when you were fishing tournaments that set you apart from the other anglers?"
Hank: Well, you know, practice is a very important part of what takes place in that tournament, and making mental notes and remembering what's going on on the water is so important. And I had great recall. Don't have that now, I've had too many birthdays. But I used to have just really incredible recall, and I'd always concentrate, if I fish 25 miles of shoreline or a hundred miles of shoreline, and there was one bay I caught a fish on a stump, I know where that stump is. I could remember that.
So if you can't today, it's so easy just to make a waypoint, and then at night you go home in your hotel room or in your home, wherever you are, and you prioritize those waypoints, that is really important.
I fish with a buddy of mine and, man, he put a waypoint...every time we turned around, he was making a waypoint. I said, "Man, I don't like all that." Every waypoint that I make, I want it to be of value, I want it to be important. So I don't want a thousand waypoints because I can't mentally handle a thousand waypoints in one day.
So if I'm going out and I think I can catch a fish on this particular area, I'll make that a waypoint. And then while that's still fresh on my mind, when I get back to the hotel that night, how much importance did I put on that spot? So I prioritize those waypoints. Well that waypoint number five, I'm sure I can catch a fish there. So number five's the only place I'm sure I can catch a fish, that's going to be prioritized as number one spot, that's a critical place for me to fish.
And then I'll make notes on what time, you know, I think, well, when the sun gets bright, my waypoint number nine's a brush pile, I think I got better odds of catching a fish off of that brush pile when the sun's up than I do early in the morning. So I'll make a note out by waypoint number nine that I need to be there at 10:30 or 11:00 plus in the day, rather than be there at first light.
So those sorts of things are really, really important. And practice is where you win. Practice is where you set the stage, build the foundation, it's like building a house, cannot build a house without a good firm foundation, and that's what practice is all about. I always practice hard, hard. I mean, really hard. And I tried to learn from that.
Every day I tried to learn something new and tried to put it together and just get a feel. And when you work so hard and you take all that information to heart, man, you just ride down the lake and look at a spot and say, "Man, that's going to produce for me."You just kinda become a part of a lake, and that's what practice is to me. So I take practice so much more serious than a lotta guys did. And I think that that is what paid off for me, is just really taking practice serious.
Glenn: Well, sage advice from a two-time classic champion. It certainly did work. For more tips and tricks like that, you gotta visit hankparker.com, there's lots of tips and tricks and articles on there and videos that you need to see. Check 'em out. In the meantime you can subscribe to the channel and you'll be notified the next time we post more of Hank's tips. Until then, immerse yourself on that website and have a great day.
