FLW Tour Rookie and Omega Prostaffer Evan Barnes "Fish to Win"

May 17, 2017

I Fish to Win, Period.

10:45 at night...
10 hours into the drive to La Crosse...
It's uphill, the whole way...

I can compare this trip to my first season on tour. I am nearly 3/4 of the way done with the year. It has flown by for me. Needless to say I am hoping for some big things in this last leg of the season. On the water my season has been nothing short of disappointing.

It's been uphill, the whole way...

Honestly, I expected much different results. In looking at the schedule to start the year I felt like I had a legitimate shot to win Rookie of the Year. Some of my critics will more than likely laugh at that statement and rightfully so based on the finishes I've produced. Some have said, "Well you know there is always a learning curve the first few years" I get that, I really do. Especially ones like forgetting to go through boat check on day one at Lake Cumberland costing myself three hours of fishing during the major feeding window for the smallmouth I had found in practice. Nothing more than a bonehead mistake. I'm glad it happened my rookie year and not five years down the road.

But back to the "learning curve"
Every time I hear that I feel like it's a punch in the face. I realize I am nowhere close to the best fishermen out there but I know how to catch fish. I've done it before and Lord willing I'll do it again. Say what you want but this year hasn't been a "learning curve" for me. Obviously I've learned things but guys always develop certain characteristics of their "game" and nobody is the same. Throughout my entire career I have been the "hero or zero" guy. If you look over my FLW stats you'll see that I either finish really good or realllllly bad...
For instance, take my Costa Series results over the last 3 years on my home lake Dardanelle.
5th, 6th and 129th...

I Fish to Win, Period.

There is no in between. That's my style and probably always will be. I always go with a mindset of finding a pattern that I'm most comfortable with while having a shot to win. That means when I'm on Beaver with two chunks in the box early on Day One I stick with it even when I don't get a bite in the next three hours. Could I have went way down the lake and caught three more spots dragging a floating worm around and kept myself in contention for a check? Maybe.. Maybe not.. A decision like that could have been a $10,000 swing but on the same token it could have very easily been a $100,000 mistake...

As I'm driving I'm thinking about how this relates to my personal life as a Christian. A lot of my life I spent as a "back row baptist" and I never wore my faith on my sleeve for anyone to see, even sometimes being ashamed. I did just enough to get by occasionally attending church and participating in religious discussions during family get togethers on the holidays. For so many years I was simply "cashing checks" by checking the "I am a Christian" box any time I did something halfway decent. Guess how many times I won living like that? ZERO. In fact, I lost a lot and one day I finally lost it all. From that day forward I don't "fish" the same.

I Fish to Win, Period.

By the end of the day one thing all of my Co-Anglers know about me is that I am a Christian. I don't try to hide it anymore and I try my best to remain unashamed of my faith in Jesus. After all, He's the only reason I am here today! Even now I don't always win but I've won before and I'll win again. Sometimes I still fall flat on my face but I know I have somebody to pick me up and that's all that really matters....

So here goes stop #6
Love You Guys,
Fish to Win...

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