Paul Marks has a seemingly simple motto when it comes to competitive fishing: “You’ve got to keep an open mind; every day is completely different.”
Across his 11 Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments in 2025, he’s sometimes seen plans go out the window. Improvising is key.
“I mean, you might think you found the best spot on the lake in practice. Then in the tournament, there’s not a bass within a mile of there,” he told Freightro.
That’s why attitude, and perseverance, is so important.
“It’s definitely frustrating, but it’s just part of fishing,” he said. “There’s thousands of variables that go into every different day of fishing. You just get to be able to handle those variables through years of practice.”
To cap off his rookie season in the Bassmaster Elite Series, Marks has qualified for the 2026 Bassmaster Classic, known as the Super Bowl of Fishing. He’ll bring his deep love for the sport, and his experience handling the mental side of fishing, to Knoxville in March 2026.
Disruption and improvisation is the norm
It hasn’t been an easy path. Marks had to get used to competing against seasoned veterans at every stop on the series.
“It was kind of intimidating, the first few tournaments of the year, seeing all the people I’ve watched growing up,” the angler said. “But after a few of them, the nerves settled, and it was just like any other tournament.”
Marks’s top finish at Lake Hartwell didn’t make the next tournaments any easier. This year, he’s been in the money for only about half of his tournaments, finishing among the top competitors in three of them.
This adversity comes with the sport, he said:
“It just happens. Sometimes you just don’t land ‘em or you’re on the wrong part of the lake when all of them are biting in another spot. You just got to keep your head down and keep a positive mental attitude.
“It’s a tough sport. … It doesn’t seem like it, outside looking in, but it’s not easy. If I have a bad tournament, I just look forward to the next one, try to forget about it.
Despite the mental toughness that fishing demands, and the frustration that accompanies a bad day on the lake, the sport of fishing is trending up. The Covid shutdowns, he said, helped the sport: People wanted to be outside more and with the elimination of long commutes to work, folks had more hours to spend getting into fishing. New high school and college fishing programs are also creating a pipeline of anglers toward the top tiers of the sport.
That means even more anglers than ever before are experiencing the highs and lows of competitive fishing.
“It isn’t for everyone, but if you love it, you love it,” he said. “There’s not really any way to explain it.”
Is freight shipping like competitive fishing?
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