Bass fishing has grown into a highly competitive sport. I am sure we can all agree on that. Just like any other competitive sport, if you want to succeed it requires hours, days, weeks, and years of dedicated hard work and practice. Unlike most other professional sports, a professional bass angler does not have a coach on the sidelines calling in plays, or giving motivated speeches at half-time. It is up to us to be our own coach, motivator, and toughest critic. Being an unbiased critic of yourself is a tough thing to do. It requires you to set your ego and pride aside and really evaluate your weaknesses and mistakes. Doing a self evaluation of your own fishing skills could be the most beneficial thing you do this year towards making you a better bass angler. I will share with you a short evaluation I made of my own fishing career a few years back, and how it has made me a much more complete angler. I hope this insight into my mistakes will help you along in becoming a better bass fisherman.