Anastasia Patterson learned this season that pressure carries weight.
The kind she puts on herself. The kind that comes from expectations. The kind that can quietly creep into every cast, every decision, every long drive down the highway to the next weigh-in.
“You want yourself to do the best you can, and I put a ton of pressure on myself,” Patterson said. “Towards the end of the season, I was talking to a friend and fellow competitor, and he gave me some great advice. He told me to just be comfortable with myself and that hit me in a meaningful way.”
For an angler still early in her career, comfort is not something that always comes easily. Patterson, a Team Toyota pro competing at some of the highest levels of bass fishing, spent much of the past year learning what it means to slow down, recalibrate and grow. Not just as an angler but as a woman navigating a demanding, male-dominated sport.
“I felt like I was repositioning myself this past season,” she said. “I feel like I was becoming more of the woman I wanted to be.”
That repositioning did not always feel graceful. Patterson calls this year what many athletes quietly dread.
“The ‘sophomore slump’ definitely happened this year,” she said.
The slump was not about effort. If anything, Patterson admits she may have tried too hard. She stayed busy, chased results and at times worried about details that often live outside an angler’s control. Over time, the constant motion left little room for reflection.
“I’ve been running around so busy,” she said. “But one big thing I’ve learned this year is that fishing local derbies has really helped me when it comes to fishing on the road.”
The local tournaments became grounding. They brought her back to basics. Reading water, trusting instincts and competing for the simple love of fishing. In a sport where careers are built on travel and schedules are relentless, staying connected to home waters offered clarity. That clarity is shaping how Patterson views the next chapter of her career.
“So, I’m in my junior year now and I’m trusting that Jesus is taking the wheel in a big way,” she said.
Faith has long been a steady presence in Patterson’s life but this season it became more visible. Not as a crutch, necessarily, but as an anchor. When results didn’t match expectations, faith helped reframe success.
“If I can help one person through fishing and lead them to faith, I’m all for it,” she said.
That mindset carries into nearly every corner of Patterson’s professional life, including her involvement with BassmastHER, a growing community dedicated to supporting and developing women in fishing.
“BassmastHER has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to attach my name to,” Patterson said. “I go to every workshop and the girls are like my sisters. I talk to them all the time, and it’s just the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
The organization offers more than instruction. For Patterson, it provides belonging.
“There is something special about getting to know each other on a deeper level,” she said. “Meeting other outdoorswomen with a like-mindedness is so rewarding to all of us.”
Those relationships mattered during a year when confidence wavered. In conversations behind the scenes far from cameras and weigh-in stages, Patterson found reminders that growth rarely moves in a straight line.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year is that you never stop learning,” she said. “Soaking in knowledge and networking are helping me in ways I don’t even see yet.”
That lesson extends beyond fishing technique. It applies to how she manages expectations, how she communicates with fans and how she presents herself publicly. Looking ahead, Patterson is not talking about minor tweaks. She is talking about a full reset.
“I’m in a whole reset for 2026,” she said. “Everything from my mind and body, to my shop and boat. New boats, trucks, getting my hair done; some stuff I haven’t had the chance to do as a woman.”
It is a statement that reflects the unique balance female anglers often must strike in the form of performing at a high level while carving out space to simply be themselves. For Patterson, that reset is not cosmetic. It is intentional.
“I am going to steer the ship as it sails,” she said. “No matter the conditions. There is no plan B. Just route A.”
That resolve is shaping her competitive goals as well. Patterson has history with nearly every fishery on the 2026 Opens schedule and that experience can be an asset or a burden.
“My goals for 2026 revolve around fishing in the moment,” she said. “I have a lot of history with almost every fishery on the Opens schedule. This past year I was probably too worried about the small details that could go wrong. But this upcoming year, I’d like to focus on the things that could actually go right.”
It’s a subtle shift but an important one. Instead of fishing defensively, Patterson wants to fish freely while trusting preparation without being trapped by it. That same philosophy is guiding how she plans to tell her story moving forward. Social media has become an unavoidable part of professional fishing, often presenting a polished version of reality. Patterson wants something different.
“I also want to start a YouTube channel and positively highlight women in fishing and tell my story better than I have been,” she said. “I want to show my good and bad times. I don’t want my social media accounts to be a highlight reel; I want everyone to see the good, the bad and the ugly.”
It is a vulnerable approach, but one Patterson believes is necessary, especially for young anglers watching from the sidelines. Her journey, marked by setbacks and self-discovery, mirrors what most competitors experience but rarely articulate. The pressure, the doubt and the recalibration are all part of the process.
Comforting herself, as her friend advised, did not mean lowering standards. It meant accepting that growth sometimes comes disguised as struggle. As Patterson prepares for what she calls her junior year, she does so with a clearer sense of purpose. Faith, community and self-awareness now sit alongside technique and preparation.
The water will still be unpredictable. The pressure will still exist. But Patterson is learning how to carry it differently. If along the way her story helps someone else feel seen in fishing, in faith or in life, then the season will have meant something far greater than numbers on a leaderboard.
