Sprague Has Overcome His Mental Hurdles
The Texas pro is on a tear, with four consecutive top-30 finishes and the AOY within range
An angler’s biggest advantage – or detriment – resides between his ears. Jeff Sprague knows that all too well.
Most would say the Point, Texas, native has used his head when starting his fishing career. He started as a co-angler, while honing his skills locally back home against what he contends is some of the best local competition an angler can find. He then split his time between being a boater in the Costa FLW Series and a co-angler on the Walmart FLW Tour. Finally, he made the jump to the front on Tour in 2014. The process was all very smart and logical, and it allowed him to build his skills and confidence as he moved up the ranks.
Doing so should have made Sprague’s transition to being a full-time pro simple. Instead, his sound mind started playing tricks on him.
“The mental aspect of this sport is far more than most people think,” says the Keystone Light pro-staffer. “We’re all great fishermen. It’s the mental decision-making that is why some anglers excel and others don’t.
“I’ll admit, my first year I was a bit intimidated and starstruck. 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 they’d catch all the fish.”
Sprague didn’t do poorly his rookie year, finishing 47th in the standings, but he also didn’t make a single cut. That changed in his first tournament of 2015, as he finished 12th at Lake Toho. Only, he followed that up with a near-last-place finish at Lewis Smith – a tournament in which he openly admits his decision-making cost him, as he was actually fishing near top 10 finisher Zack Birge.
His mental mistakes cost him again at the next event at Beaver Lake.
“I can close my eyes and still see the two fish that cost me there last year,” says Sprague of Beaver Lake. “I had two fish on beds in a little pocket. I made the mistake of running a couple hundred yards past the pocket to start the morning, and when I turned the boat around I watched another angler pull right in and catch both of them.
“Little errors. I just kept making mental errors.”
If things had continued as they were going, this article probably wouldn’t have been written. But that’s the beauty of the mind; it has the power to change and adapt if willing, and at some point, Sprague started thinking clearly.
He caught a glimmer of hope when he finished 26th at Lake Chickamauga, and then he closed out his season with an 11th-place finish at the Potomac River.
There’s something to be said about ending a season with momentum, and clearly, Sprague has kept the train rolling along this year. He again started his season off strong with a 15th at Okeechobee, but unlike last year, he followed it up with some “redemption” at Lake Hartwell, finishing 13th.
“That Hartwell tournament really felt good because I trusted myself and was doing something hardly anyone else was doing,” says Sprague. “I could have stayed on the main lake and sight-fished like most guys, and in years past I would’ve. Instead, I figured something else out up one of the rivers and stuck with it. There were a couple other guys doing what I was doing, but they weren’t catching fish because I’d figured out you had to fish slower. It’s things like that that continue to build confidence.”
If that event doesn’t inspire confidence, seeing his name sitting in fourth in the Angler of the Year standings through one-third of the season sure does. Yet, what makes him most excited for Beaver Lake – a lake he says he loves but is again looking for some redemption on – is that he feels he has his head right.
“Three top 20s in a row, and four top 30s – I’m feeling good,” says Sprague. “I think last year I finally sat back, thought about everything, and it just clicked. I stopped feeling intimidated. I stopped overthinking. So far it has worked out. I know it’s not always going to be that way, and I’ll still make some mental mistakes. I’m no longer worried about them, though. I trust myself, and we’ll see how long that momentum lasts.
“At this point, though, it’s just a good start. I need to keep my head down, stay focused and just keeping fishing like I’ve been.”
