To Thy Last and Smallest Keeper Be True

There's a mindset that goes something like this: "I'm going to weigh in whatever is in my livewell."

If/when you eliminate the possibility of throwing back fish, you also eliminate the most negative source of reasoning in your brain: pride and ego. That doesn't mean it will be any less painful walking to the tournament scales with your 5 pounds of fish when a lot of your buddies already have weighed 20-pound bags, but you'll be doing the right thing. In essence, you'll be learning to lose like a winner.

Brandon Palaniuk once said in an interview that he's won far more tournaments on the last cast than on the first. His mindset, when it comes to competition, is one dimensional; he believes he's going to win until the weighmaster tells him differently.

Developing a "winning attitude" (e.g., having confidence in yourself and your ability) like Palaniuk demonstrates is something a lot of people have trouble with. Doing so means one has to be able to adjust to changing weather and water conditions. For example, say in practice, you locate a group of fish that you know will win the tournament. You're picking 'em off with topwater baits without even breaking a sweat.

Now fast forward to tournament morning. You get to "your spot," but nothing is happening. The bass won't hit topwater, so you wonder, "What should I do?" This is when many anglers sink their own boat. Instead of trying to find the key to catching the fish they know are there, they let the fear of "zeroing" take over their decision-making.

Having a "winning attitude" doesn't mean you're going to win every tournament you enter. However, it does mean that you'll stay focused and that, at the end of the day, you'll be able to look at yourself in the mirror and know you fished to the very best of your ability.

A "winning attitude" won't automatically make you a champion, but it does make you a winner in one respect. You're setting yourself apart from those anglers who never fish to their true ability because they're afraid to zero.

According to one subject-matter expert, "There is only one thing holding anyone back from having a 'winning attitude,' and that is yourself. If you don't see yourself winning a tournament, you probably never will.

"You can't worry about what someone else might think if you come in with no fish. The minute you start worrying about what someone else thinks, your mind already has lost its focus, and that focus is very difficult to get back."