Editor’s Note: Very few of us know what we want to be when we finish high school, and some people don’t have a clue of what they want to become even after getting their college educations. And, these two statements are typical about the 2020 Bassmaster Classic (https://www.bassmaster.com/) winner Hank Cherry of Lincolnton, North Carolina, on the shores of Lake Norman. But in his heart of hearts, he knew he wanted to earn a living bass fishing. However, life takes twists and turns, and few men or women reach greatness without traveling through discouragement and failure. Actually in most people’s lives, failure is a prerequisite to success, and such is the backstory of Hank Cherry.

I decided that if I couldn’t pay the expenses of being a tournament angler and contribute to my family’s income, I’d give my fishing dream, stay at home, be a Dad, get a real job and fish on weekends in local tournaments. That first year I finished 40th on the Bassmaster Open circuit. I fished well where I should’ve fished poorly, and I fished poorly where I should’ve fished well. At the end of the first year of tournament fishing, I was offered a job as a distributor of Evan Williams Bourbon, and the company allowed me to competitively fish that second year.

All the tournaments went well for me, and then I won the last tournament and the Bassmaster Open and qualified for the Bassmaster Classic. That was the turning point in my life because I had to make the decision of whether I wanted to give-up my job at Evan Williams Bourbon and make the big leap to fish for a living or give-up my bass-fishing professionally dream forever and be satisfied fishing on the weekends. I realized I no longer could do both with one foot in my real job and the other foot in my dream of becoming a tournament pro.

My wife Jaclyn and I had a long talk about what I should do. I’d worked so hard to try to make my fishing dream come true. We’d saved up enough money that we felt like we could make it through at least two more years of tournament bass fishing, and that I should resign from my job. Then the day after I quit my job, we learned Jaclyn was pregnant. I had won the Bassmaster Southern Open Tournament on Smith Lake in Alabama and $9,000 and a $40,000 boat by one ounce. That win also made me finish second in the points race for Angler of the Year, allowing me to move into the Bassmaster Elite Series. That win really took the pressure off the new baby coming and opened-up the next step in the race to catch my bass-fishing dream.

That time between giving up my job, finding out that Jaclyn was pregnant and fishing in the Southern Open Tournament was a scary time for both of us. Jaclyn and I had agreed that if I didn’t go after my dream to be a tournament fisherman, we both would regret this decision for the rest of our lives. We were very resolute in the decision for me to quit my job.

* Cherry’s Next Steps in Tournament Bassing from 2013:

I qualified for my first Bassmaster Classic in 2013 and from 2013 until 2020, through the good times and the bad times of tournament fishing, my wife Jaclyn kept saying, “It’s coming” (meaning my dream), and she was always there to encourage me and to push me to keep chasing my dream. Recently someone called me and said, “Did you know you’d earned $1.8 million in tournament winning on the Bassmaster Circuit in only eight years?” I didn’t realize I’d won that much money, but I knew we’d made enough to pay our bills and for me to keep on fishing. That figure didn’t include the sponsor support we had, which was more than I was making as a distributor.

To learn more about catching bass, check out John E. Phillips’ book, “How to Win a Bass Tournament: Personal Lessons from 8 Pro Bass Fishermen,” at http://amzn.to/Wkbyxk, and available in Kindle and print versions.

Tomorrow: Hank Cherry the Dream Chaser Captures His Bass Fishing Dream