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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