Shrink Your Head, Grow Your Catch; Let the Psychologist Lead You to More Fish!

Jay T. McNamara Ph.D., a.k.a Dr. Fish, has quickly become a favorite of mine! Here's a guy who has followed his passions in life, and has taken decades worth of professional psychology experience and recreational bass fishing and twisted them uniquely into another direction in his new book The Psychology of Exceptional Fishing.

Maybe I like him so much because twenty years from now I can see myself writing a book entitled The Bassology of Exceptional Selling! You gotta have dreams. Back to Jay...

When I originally read about Jay's book several things resonated with me- especially with the themes we discuss on this blog. Themes like sharpening ourselves mentally to be at peak performance levels, finding ways to overcome adversity, and staying focused on our goals kept appearing in the articles about the book and his body of work. Since he is now being approached by some tournament anglers to be their mental fishing coach, I knew he would be the perfect person to talk to about improving our sales skills- like a mental sales coach!

Low and behold Jay graciously agreed to chat with me about these themes. What’s even better is that in his professional practice Jay does pre-employment psychological evaluations- oftentimes for salesmen! Who better to talk to about the mental aspect of selling and fishing!

So here's some of what Dr. Fish had to say... (Stay tuned for more blog posts regarding our conversation.)

How often do we become our own worst enemies on the boat or in our careers when we’re faced with adversity?

In response Jay alluded to a recent club victory he had at Lake Minnetonka. “There were three footers rolling all day, and the wind was blowing 40 [mph], so I had to adjust my game plan. I couldn’t fish that sunken island in the middle of the bay.” While Jay accepted the adversity and made adjustments he said that others did not. They were so determined to fish that sunken island that they wasted 3 hours of an 8 hour tournament getting blown around and not catching anything. “People get stuck in a rut,” he said. “We make up our minds ahead of time- like we should be catching fish here.” It’s that rut that kills us. “People don’t read the circumstances and respond.”

What separates the top performers from the rest of us is the “speed and accuracy of which they change.” Jay and I went on to discuss not only the top bass pros, but some of the most notorious top athletes. “LeBron James,” he continued, “is great at this. He doesn’t do what he wants to do, he does what the defense gives him. He has a zillion things he can do, so he can change instantly to achieve his goal.” Go up and down the list of greats- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter- all of these guys face different scenarios (challenges) every day and are able to change and react instantly. Derek Jeter doesn’t insist that he’s going to shift left if a ball is hit to his right. We need to do the same thing. We need to stop saying “we should be catching fish here,” and instead see where we can go next- quickly! The kicker is that not all of us have a zillion moves like LeBron. Some of us only know how to catch fish over that sunken island, so we’re afraid to try something new.

If we want to become a top salesman or bass pro we need to continually improve ourselves, so we will have those go-to moves when we are faced with adversity and be able to react quickly and accurately.

Those of us who get stuck in a rut waste a lot of time when we should be changing and reacting. How often do we, as salespeople, insist on doing something our way- only to get frustrated when it doesn't happen? Sometimes we think that being a salesperson means influencing things around us to change, rather than us changing. I would agree with Jay, that the best salespeople are more like the LeBron James' of the world. They can see the entire floor and react quickly to obstacles- taking what the defense is giving us. Maybe that prospect said no, but can I pass a referral on to another colleague? Maybe they said no, but the company across the street is ready to do business? I also agree with Jay that what distinguishes the top performers is the "speed and accuracy of which they change." I have often been stumped leaving a prospect only to think of an alternative after I get into my car. Eventually, if I continue to be self aware of those scenarios, I will build a repertoire of those go-to moves I need to elevate my sales game, and I'll be faster and more accurate at changing!


Change is good! The quicker you can do it, the more successful you will be on and off the boat.

To order, visit www.bassedge.com or call 888-390-8780.

B.A.S.S. Federation Nation members can get a discount on five or more books by e-mailing jay.drfish@gmail.com