Chasing the “W”
Looking back, Sprague
says his mental game wasn’t
as strong as it needed to be
when he did take the helm
on the pro side.
“I’ll admit, my first year I
was a bit intimidated and star-
struck,” says Sprague. “I’d give
more than I should to some
guys, out of respect, or I’d see
one of my idols in an area and
would leave, thinking he’d
catch all the fish. I also made a
lot of little errors. I just kept
making mental errors.”
By 2016, his third year
competing on Tour, Sprague
had learned to put the men-
tal errors behind him, and he
had a chance at winning AOY
because of it.
“Even when things were
going wrong, he made deci-
sions that allowed him to still
compete,” adds Reyes.
With the trials of 2016
behind him, Sprague is imag-
ining all of the possibilities,
38
and it makes him extremely
excited about the future. He
had a breakout year last sea-
son, finishing in the top 10 in
the standings. Now, with a bit
of good fortune, he feels the
sky is the limit.
“It’s all coming together,”
Sprague says. “The odds
were really against me all last
year, but things still came
together. I never really got
too stressed out. Now, I’ve
put last year behind me –
and it was a good year – but
now I’m ready to take the
next step. Top 20s are nice,
but it’s time for me to win
one of these tournaments;
put a ‘W’ on the board.
“You never really know
when that’s going to happen,
but I know with how I’m fish-
ing it’s going to happen. I’m
able to do what I want to do,
when I want to do it. I’ve
found my place in this game.
It took a little bit, but I’ve fig-
ured out where I fit in.”
FLWFISHING.COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017