There are so many levels of awareness that a person can achieve through bass fishing. A weekend angler or even an angler who rarely bass fishes can attain close relationships with bass, nature, and his/her surroundings. A serious bass fisherman or tournament bass fisherman can reach extreme levels of awareness during outings and tournaments. Tournament fishing seems to elevate my awareness to new levels at times to where I come in and out of “the zone”. I am still learning to recognize actually being in “the zone”, when I get into it, when I leave it, and furthermore how to stay in it. Once a person can stay “in the flow” or in “the zone” anything is possible. There are many definitions and perceptions of the term awareness. For the purpose of this article awareness is your ability to get comfortable enough with your surroundings that your mind takes over and have absolutely zero distractions and fish in “the zone”. Now think about this, fishing without any distractions. I am not talking about fishing fast, fishing hard, thinking hard, or trying hard, because these are all distractions. “In the flow” is a somewhat more advanced stage than “the zone”. To me, being “in the flow” is a deeper bond with the flow of nature that is prevalent in every move that you make, being aware of your surroundings, and feeling that you are a part of the environment when on the water. The feeling of being a total outcast in the environment, because of the fact that you are standing on an unnatural twenty thousand dollar bass boat, does not cross your mind. If your mind becomes “in the flow” then you, your body, your boat, and everything in it become one with nature and you connect to the flow of nature. My experiences of being in “the zone” are few and usually only last long enough to catch a fish or two. One day in a tournament earlier this year I felt that I was in “the zone” for about two hours which is the longest that I have ever recognizably been “in the flow”. Veterans of mental mastery like Rick Clunn have experienced days in “the zone”. Rick Clunn also refers to this phenomenon as “touching perfection”. In his continuing education course called Angler’s Quest there are many articles that help understand awareness. Angler’s Quest would be an excellent opportunity for you to study these topics further with articles designed to teach, this article is purely informative. Being in “the zone” is far beyond catching fish or figuring out a pattern. Using your instincts and listening to your inner voices and reacting to them instead of ignoring them is all part of “the zone” that I am speaking of. Intuition plays a role as feeling. An intuition is not an idea it is a feeling. Intuition would be to do something like make a particular cast to an exact spot with the feeling that there is a giant bass there and then to catch it . Ignoring the conscious distractions and letting these subconscious feelings and intuitions flow through your actions is the goal. Having a “gut” feeling, recognizing it and then utilizing the feeling; this is when the impossible becomes possible. Bill Cannan Professional Fishing Guide