Some days they don't. For the 45 contestants in the BASS Masters Classic, it's almost always the former. Yet for most of the amateur fishing population, catching something is often hit or miss. The professionals competing in New Orleans this weekend aren't casting blindly, merely hoping to reel something in. By the same token, they're not snake charmers with some mystic, magnetic attraction.
Experience plays a large role, and professional anglers have more of that than anybody else.
They focus on details and know how to fish in an array of situations that change what, when and where the fish are biting. We home in on the little things, and we adjust to the conditions. Some people are born with a sense of awareness. Local meteorologist Nash Roberts III, who competed in the Classic as an amateur in 1975, said professionals have special understanding of the sport beyond the physical skills of fishing. They're also more driven, said 1991 champ Ken Cook.