The 2013 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year is not exactly a new face to B.A.S.S. fans. Hank Cherry won a Bass Pro Shops Southern Open in 2012 and he’s been the man to beat on waters around his North Carolina home for years. Most recently, he took top honors at the 2013 Toyota All-Star week and Evan Williams Bourbon Championship. Here’s how he stacked up against our 20 Questions.
Charlotte, N.C.
My dad and great grandmother started taking me fishing with them when I was about three years old. That’s when I caught my first fish âa bream. They got me started and I went from bream to trout to bass. I was my dad’s regular fishing partner from the time I was four-and-a-half or five years old.
It would have to be my dad and my great-grandmother âthough she passed away when I was very young. I never missed an episode of the Bill Dance show, and Hank Parker was probably my greatest inspiration since he lived near where I grew up.
I caught an 11-pounder when I was attending St. Andrews College. It came from a private lake near Laurinburg, N.C.
I really enjoy the competition. I played a lot of team sports as I was growing up and loved them, but with bass fishing you’re your own team and get to make all your own decisions. You’re in charge when you’re fishing a bass tournament.
I love Lake St. Clair in Michigan. It’s unbelievable how many fish you can catch there. Seventy or even 100 bass a day is possible.
That would have to be my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He laid a path for me to follow with my life.
It would have to be all the different lives I’ve touched and that have touched mine through fishing. I really enjoy taking the time to talk with fans. Without them, the sport of competitive bass fishing doesn’t exist.
We’re trying to get youth involved through high school and college programs. It’s good for them and good for the sport. Fishing and the outdoors can keep a lot of young people inspired and out of trouble. It can also help you find a strong moral base.
We need to be careful in portraying our sport and to emphasize the good rather than the bad. I hate to hear cursing on fishing programs, and I don’t like to read about the controversies. When you look at the big picture, you realize that we come together as anglers from all different backgrounds and walks of life. For the most part we get along great and have a great time on the water. It’s misleading and unnecessary to focus on the bad things because they represent the tiniest part of what’s really going on.
Overcoming myself. Learning not to second guess my decisions, but to trust my instincts. Earlier in my career, if I had a bad day, it ate me up all week long. Now I’ve learned to move past that and focus on the things I can do to make it better.
On the last day of the 2013 Bassmaster Classic, I’d have gotten to the wall I was fishing about two hours earlier.
Gerald Swindle told me that I think too much, and that sometimes you just have to put the trolling motor down and go fishing. When things aren’t going well on the water, I think of that. Also, my friend Bryan Thrift is always saying, “No matter what, don’t panic!”
I learned it on the Mississippi River earlier this year (June 2013). I was catching a lot of fish around rocks on topwater and a jig, and I completely ignored the idea that there might be better bass around some of the wood cover. It burnt me. Now I know better than to put all my eggs in one basket.
My will to win âmy desire. I’m pretty intense when I’m fishing, but I try to stay loose by talking in the boat. It actually helps me stay focused.
I can get so caught up in what I’m doing âand have so much confidence in it âthat I’ll stick with it too long when I should be doing something entirely different. I’m working on how I can better recognize those situations and switch gears.
They all ask, “How can I get sponsors?” I tell them that it’s not about what a sponsor can do for you, but what you can do for the sponsor. You have to help a sponsor sell product âbaits, boats, rods, reels âor you’re of no use to them. You have to be ready to make appearances and work with the media. It’s also important not to “shop” sponsors. If you go around looking for free baits here and there, you’ll wind up with a bunch of logos on your jersey but no money. Baits don’t feed your family or put gas in the tank.
I have about 10 caps from The Great Outdoors bait shop near my home, and I keep them all in my boat. There’s at least one in every compartment, and I wear them as I’m fishing. They’re getting old and faded and they’re in pretty bad shape. If things aren’t going well on the water, I’ll change caps until they get better.
If I wasn’t fishing, I’d like to be a homicide detective. I studied criminal justice in college, and all my friends tell me they can picture me as a detective.
I’d want people to know that I gave the sport all I had, that I respected and appreciated the opportunities that were given to me and that I tried to give back to the sport and the resource.