ROY HAWK
COSTA FLW SERIES STAR CONTEMPLATES ANOTHER RUN AT THE WALMART FLW TOUR
by Colin Moore
PHOTOS BY DANIEL PARK, PIXEOPRO LLC
It’ s been said that everyone is really good at something, yet the circumstances of their lives might never reveal what that something is. Roy Hawk counts himself among the fortunate ones who discovered their true talent, even when the chance of doing so seemed unlikely. Despite there being nothing in his youth to suggest that he had the chops to become a great fisherman, he became one.
Call it kismet or a fortuitous meeting of opportunity with instinctive skill. Whatever the reason, it happened, though Hawk deserves some credit for putting himself in a position to discover that he had a knack for finding bass and making them bite.
Now the Arizona angler is considering whether it’ s time to take the next step forward in a journey that began on Illinois farm ponds when he was a boy. As the 2016 Costa FLW Series Western Division Strike King Angler of the Year, Hawk is preparing to vie for the Costa FLW Series Championship on Table Rock Lake Nov. 3-5. Between then and registration time for the 2017 Walmart FLW Tour, Hawk and his family will decide if he’ s ready to compete as a pro on the Tour.
It wouldn’ t be the first time. Hawk fished the Tour in 2010 and 2011 and cashed a few checks, but the sponsor support he needed to handle all the logistics and expenses associated with living in the West and fishing in the East wasn’ t there. After a couple of seasons in which he scrambled to make the Tour work for him, Hawk decided to stay in the Costa FLW Series.
Steady Progress
Crowding a half-million dollars in FLW tournament earnings and with a solid resume that includes seven FLW Series Championship qualifications since 2004, Hawk is in a better position to pursue his dream of competing at the top level. In the meantime, he’ ll continue to participate in the Costa FLW Series Western Division, where he’ s been a dominant force with 11 top 10s and two wins since 2003.
Besides claiming the Angler of the Year title in 2016, Hawk finished 14th in the standings the previous year and was runner-up in 2014. Along the way, Hawk also won the prestigious WON BASS U. S. OPEN on Lake Mead in 2015. Yet Hawk would be the first to admit that the upward trajectory of his career as a pro isn’ t easy to analyze.
“ Sometimes I scratch my head and wonder,” he says of his success.“ I’ ve said it on the weigh-in stage before: How I finish a tournament is none of my business; how I fish it is. I
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2016 I FLWFISHING. COM can’ t control all the variables. All I can do is focus on the next cast and be the best fisherman I can be.
“ I want to win every tournament I get in, but mainly I worry about the next cast and being consistent in how I fish. I focus on the moment and don’ t think about what if this or that happens in a tournament. Honestly, I’ ve won tournaments where I didn’ t know how I won them: The other guy broke down, he ran out of fish. There are times when I don’ t do so well, but then the other guy does even worse, and it works out for me.”
True, luck has a role in any sport, but Hawk has made the most of his. Considering his background, who would have guessed it? Born in Carbondale, Ill., the 45-year-old pro spent much of his youth in south-central Illinois, where lakes such as Crab Orchard hosted the occasional jackpot tournament sponsored by local civic groups. When he was still in grade school, Hawk entered his first event, a Moose Lodge fundraiser whose main purpose was to collect fish of any kind for a benefit fish fry. Competing from of a canoe, Hawk caught a bass big enough to earn him two silver dollars – keepsakes he still has that remind him of how far he’ s progressed.
“ When I was about 16 and had moved to Salt Lake City, I went back to Illinois visiting relatives and wound up fishing
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