Hank Cherry knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a professional bass angler.
On his website, hankcherry.com, he tells the story of how he was introduced to fishing at 3 years old while on a trip to the mountains with his father and grandfather. Spending time with two men who meant the world to him galvanized his passion. Soon, young Cherry was telling anyone who would listen that he was going to catch fish for a living.
A quarter century later, Cherry made right on his prediction when he fished his first professional events in the FLW Bass Fishing League. While competing on the FLW Tour he upped his game again in 2012 when he won the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on Smith Lake. That win earned him a spot in the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013, and he made the most of the opportunity by winning Rookie of the Year honors.
He almost won the first of his four Bassmaster Classic berths that year — he wound up third overall at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.
Cherry, now 45, knows the chances of realizing his angling dreams are reduced if he didn’t go on that fishing trip with dad and grandpa back in the mid 1970s. In fact, it’s quite possible his dream, if he had one at all, would have been something completely different than being a pro bass angler.
That’s why Cherry so greatly values the time he spends with his 9-year-old son, Christian.
Cherry is aware that children need good role models during their formative years, and a loving parent can be the finest example of that. He and he wife Jaclyn have already taught young Christian right from wrong, but the grade school and junior high years are especially important times in development of qualities such as work ethic, dedication and self respect.
And beyond that, Cherry loves his son. He wants to be with him, even when business calls and he’s on the road practicing for or competing at Elite Series events.
Baseball is Christian’s game, and he’s a fine young player for the Triple Threat Lookout – a travel team composed of 9-year-old boys from the Lincolnton, N.C., area. The Lookout is currently among the top-ranked travel teams in all of North Carolina, and Christian is a multi-position player for the squad.
Cherry, who was a multi-sport athlete at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, is one of the team’s four coaches. He brings a good deal of knowledge to the dugout, but perhaps even more valuable, is the wisdom he brings as a professional athlete. Cherry not only understands the rigors of competition, but he offers a keen insight into what it takes to be a winner on the field, and in life.
“The hardest thing to teach any kid growing up is that they have to have a short memory,” he said. “In baseball, football, fishing, it’s all the same. You have to forget your mistakes, especially in baseball. If you make an error, the ball is going to find you. It always does.
“I preach some things all the time. When you get out on the field, it’s fun and people are here supporting you. But this is your business right now. You run on the field and you run off of it. You have to work hard. You have to give 100 percent.”
Those are life lessons as much as anything, and Cherry wants Christian to know that they apply whether he winds up swinging a bat, or a hammer, for a living.
Christian is a straight-A student, and picking up new things has not been difficult.
“He didn’t get that from me,” Cherry joked, saying he was a “B and C student” in his own youth.
“But as long as his grades stay like they are, I don’t care what he plays,” Cherry said. “It doesn’t matter if he plays anything, really … He loves to read. Anything that’s a challenge, he takes exception to it. He wants to be good at it.”
That’s a lot like how Cherry operates on the water. He wanted to be a pro angler badly enough that he gave up a good living as the brand manager for a distilled spirits distributor for a chance to chase his dream.
That said, Cherry can’t help but worry over what he’s missing at home when he’s out living that dream.
“It brings me to tears talking about it on stage quite a bit, but I miss a lot of things in my kids’ lives,” Cherry said, mentioning Christian and his 5-year-old daughter Bella Grace. “Fortunately my wife is a very strong woman and my father and stepmother live close by now … If I’m traveling or if I have a week off, I can watch Christian play on my phone. The technology today, you can watch the game and get scores up to the minute. We can talk on FaceTime.
“But there’s something special about being there when he hits a rocket or steals a base. I know he’s looking over to see if daddy’s there. And daddy’s not (there all the time). That’s hard.”
The Triple Crown Lookout, however, will play in approximately 20 tournaments this year. Now that Christian is healthy (he’s battled a broken wrist, arm and collarbone the past few years), the Cherrys should be able to spend more time together on the field.
And as Cherry knows so well, meaningful time either on or off the field, is the stuff that fuels our dreams.
“I have my truck that I drive when I’m on the road and I have a jeep that I drive when I’m at home,” Cherry said. “When I walk outside, I see that bat bag leaning up against my jeep. I pretty much know he wants to go hit.
“As long as he wants to play, as long as he has that drive, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure he has the opportunity to do it. We’re teaching basic fundamentals (of baseball) here, but it’s also about teaching how to be a good human being and getting them ready to do whatever it is they’re going to do in life.”