Fishing for Big Checks
Maryland pro Bryan schmitt , who has six multiple-day tournament wins with flW since 2010 , sees Morgan ’ s point , but he loves to roll the dice any chance he gets . schmitt has built his career on the big score .
“ once you win something , you want to win again ,” he says . “ i ’ m always trying to sniff that out in practice .” not unlike Morgan , schmitt ’ s strategy is to avoid information .
“ everyone has their feelings mixed in about a spot or pattern ,” says schmitt , “ and dock talk is never fresh .” instead , in practice he focuses on searching for overlooked patterns and predicting where the fish will be come tournament time . even schmitt ’ s hometown wins on the potomac River have been punctuated by finding something unique .
“ every tournament i ’ ve won on the potomac has always been off a different spot ,” he says . “ i try to see the whole lake and develop a pattern , and then i always look for an off-the-wall , goofy deal .” in addition , schmitt ’ s approach nearly always includes a jig .
“ i don ’ t care where you are , if you find fish eating a jig , they ’ re usually winning fish ,” he says . finally , schmitt concludes that it ’ s difficult for most anglers simply to maintain a high batting average and still carve out a career . he ’ s willing to take the bombs that come from gambling on the obscure if it means once in awhile he photo by chaRLeS waLDoRf finds what he ’ s looking for . the extremes offset , and he ’ s been able to make the cup and other championships and can garner the attention needed to earn money off the water .
“ andy Morgan makes a good living and has made a name for himself by being consistent . a guy like me is only going to be a recognizable name – and make a living – by winning .”
Wins earn fat paychecks and garner media attention , and lure sponsors , which is why Bryan Schmitt prefers to risk bombs in order to swing for the fences .
JULY 2018 I FLWFISHING . COM 27