Morehead’s momentum
Wal-Mart Open champ describes finding the zone on 2003 FLW Tour
Some folks believe that catching a bass has more to do with luck than anything else. Tournament bass anglers and those that follow the sport of professional bass fishing know better. Over the years, bass tournaments have proven that there is more to the sport than luck.
Rolls and streaks in tournament fishing are the strongest indicators that there is far more to bass fishing than just fortune. When an angler scores several top 10s in a row or wins a couple of tournaments in a short period of time, it demonstrates that bass anglers can be in a league of their own.
Throughout FLW Tour history, some anglers have enjoyed such a rare time-space. In 1997, David Fritts won three FLW events. In 2000, Rick Clunn won the Wal-Mart Open and the Forrest Wood Open in the same year.
The 2003 season is shaping up to be Dan Morehead’s year. Morehead is on the biggest roll of his professional fishing career and is in a position to give the FLW Tour the most impressive season on record by a single angler.
The Paducah, Ky., resident started the year with a third-place showing at Lake Okeechobee. Then he slipped up a bit and finished 23rd at Atchafalaya. He got back on the top-10 wagon at Lake Murray with an eighth-place finish. Last week he dominated the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake in Arkansas with an impressive 8-pound margin.
In addition, Morehead now enjoys a 51-point lead in the FLW Angler of the Year race with 769 points.
So what is it like to be on such a roll?
“Streaks are different for everybody,” Morehead said. “For me, the biggest difference this year has been not fighting with myself about on-the-water decisions. You know that little gremlin in your head that is always doubting and second-guessing everything you do on the water? That monster has not been around this year. Every decision I make I know is right – in my heart and in my head; there has been no second-guessing in my fishing.”
“A good friend of mine taught me a little saying that has stuck in my mind. It goes: `Believe it, achieve it; doubt it, do with out it,'” Morehead said. “It may not sound like much, but it’s the second part – `doubt it, do with out it’ – that has helped me the most. When a bit of doubt tries to creep into my day, I do with out it.”
Essentially the credo has allowed Morehead to fish in the moment and to quickly get beyond the small events that can decay a positive frame of mind.
“There are a thousand things a day that can take you away from your game out on the water,” Morehead explained. “It seems like when you are on a roll, those things don’t affect you the way they normally would. It’s like they still happen, but you don’t react to them the same way, and they don’t get to you as bad.”
Morehead points to a scenario that occurred on the last day of the Wal-Mart Open as an example.
“Another top-10 competitor that had not been in my area all week suddenly showed up on the last morning and, to my surprise, would not leave,” he recollected. “Normally, that might get to me. But it never fazed me. I just kept catching fish.”
Morehead is quick to point out that he does not know what makes a streak like his happen. “I can’t really explain what causes it or what starts it,” he said. “I am simply relaying how things have been different this year. All I know is that it is happening, and I want to fish as much as possible while it is going on. I don’t want it to stop.”
Timing is a big part of being on a roll and Morehead’s timing is perfect. The next FLW Tour event will be held on Kentucky Lake, his home lake. He won the last time FLW came to Kentucky Lake. Could he be the first pro to win back-to-back titles on the FLW Tour?
“I like my chances. Don’t forget, there is an EverStart tournament the week before the FLW. While I am in the groove, I might as well win that one too,” laughed Morehead.
“Seriously, what I want out of Kentucky Lake is a huge points lead going into Wheeler,” he said. “Kentucky Lake does not bother me. What I am more concerned about is Wheeler. I don’t want to have to sweat the load at Wheeler. That little gremlin I was talking about earlier could haunt me at Wheeler. I like summertime structure fishing, but Wheeler has a lot of grass. So my mind is going to be torn between deepwater structure fishing and grass fishing.”
If Morehead’s roll continues, he just might win the Angler of the Year race with a record points margin over the runner-up. The largest FLW Tour Angler of the Year points margin is held by Kevin VanDam, when he beat Mickey Bruce by 55 points in 2001.
When asked about the possibility, Morehead just smiled and said, “Believe it, achieve it; doubt it, do with out it.”
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