Tournament Fishing

[lunker-lander]

O.K. Guys, here is my story. As of last year, 2007, I started to bass fish, and in that year I accumulated three new rods and three new reels, not mentioning the hundreds of dollars of worms, cranks, jigs, hooks, etc. But, for 2008, I would like to further my bass career and start to fish in small tournaments, like on the weekends and stuff. How, first of all, can I enter these tournaments? I have been chating with a local club about joining. How should I begin to "roll" with them? Call 'em up and go to a meeting? How did you guys start club fishing?

Feel free to admit any other information which you think may be useful as well.

-ll

[texasbasser]

Check in your local newspaper... I have found info on alot of local tourneys going on in my area by that. Joining the club would be your best bet, as im sure they run a couple every now and then.

tb

[JB]

its all going to depend on your age, most clubs have a18 or over rule.
To get in, contact the pres. or any member to sponsor you and maybe go fishing with youto see your skill levels. What the club can do for you is expose you to lake fishing, and many places you've never fished before.

[lunker-lander]

Thanks Guys! The club I have been chating with has people from 16-65 years old, and the President said I can can join, even if I am only 14. I am thinking about writing them a letter, by hand, not e-mail, to show I really want to join, and ask them to fish a tournament with them before I join. They said I could fish one tourney with them to feel what it is like. So, I'll give it a try and roll with the punches...

-ll

[pbruessow@msn.com]

I published a nice article on Ezinearticles on Tournament fishing and it's also on my site here: http://www.floridabassfishing.us/Tipoftheweek070107.htm

Hope this helps!

[PowerBass]

I got involved with my club from some friends I met online on an NJ fishing website. Getting involved with a club is the best thing you can do. You learn so much, have alot of fun, and may even win a couple hundred bucks. Contact the club president, tell him/her that your interested in joining. Fish the one tournament your aloud to, and meet the members. If everything feels right to you, join up if they are taking members. I have learned so much from the one year I have been a member. I have also made alot of friends through tournaments. Good luck!

[lunker-lander]

Yeah, I'm thinking about sending the letter tommorrow that says I'm interested in joining and that I would love to fish that one free tournament. But, we'll see how it goes.

-ll

[carolina-rig-01]

clubs are a great way to get into tournament fishing for sure. but there is so much fishing knowledge in clubs it would blow your mind. my club is full of members that make there own baits, it's great to be able to get your hands on these baits as they are all great quality and just different enough from the ones in stores to really make a difference. in my club there are guys who are excellent at certain types of fishing, we have dropshot guys, crankbait guys, spinnerbait guys, jig guys and so on. these guys are very willing to spend a day with members to help them learn different techniques. we also have a few guides which is very helpful. by joining a club not only will you be fishing club tournaments, but you will hear of other tournaments that other members know about. you will problably meet future fishing buddies to spend a day on the water with fishing for fun, or maybe to fish buddy touneys with (i know i did). plus we have little shotgun tournaments once a week where we meet at a certain ramp and thow like 5 or 10 bucks in a pot, winner take all. all that said i do have some advice... don't just join the first club you run across, shop around. there are clubs out there of all kinds, if you are looking for a balls to the walls hard core type tournament club there are a lot of them around. if you are looking for a laid back group that has a lot of knowledge that are just out for a good time, you can find them too. take all things into consideration, from price of dues, rules for meeting attendance, how the point system plays out, number and location of tournaments and so on. i highly reccomend joining a club as it was the best thing i ever did, but if it isn't exactly what your after it is a recipe to be misserable. best of luck to you.

[lunker-lander]

I think I want the more laid back club until I learn my butt off, then I can think about entering the money tourneys. For now anyway, I just want to be to learn and gain the skills needed for the big guns.

-ll

[carolina-rig-01]

no better place to learn than in a club! you can only learn so much from the internet, no offense guys but i think we will all agree that nothing can take the place of being on the water and a club will allow you to learn from guys on the water that know their stuff. great luck to ya!

[lunker-lander]

Well, I sent the letter saying I would love to join, and to fish the one free tournament. So, hopefully he'll get back to me and I'll be part of Maple City Bass in '08!

-ll

[3dkicker]

LL Cool
I've posted what has been done around here for the kids who love to fish and want to compete a couple times now. We've created high school clubs, both FLW and BASS sponsor them, in which the students use a teacher/sponsor who helps organize fun tournaments to fish. This fall we got permission to fish a small pond in a local community. We got one parent, myself, and one student to bring a boat. Six students and two adults fished for 5 hours, caught over 40 bass (only 5 measured), and had lunch on the community dock afterwards. Two main patterns found were senko's in shallow water and craws with heavy sinkers in 8-12'. The kids learned a lot and we all had a good time. The winner still brags about his winning fish, 1lb 4oz!!! We even got some prizes donated by the local tackle stores.

There are students who you go to school with who would love to fish in a small tournament. Find a small body of water, get permission to fish it, get a few jon boats and go fishing. It isn't hard to do.

[Nitro911]

LL

One thing you might want to ask about is the tournament. My guess is that you won't be allowed to fish it for FREE. You will be allowed to fish it as a guest, but if you are in the tournament and can win money, you will have to contribute to the prize pool. If they are just letting you tag along and you can't win anything, then you should be allowed to fish for nothing. The only real savings to you if you are in the prize pool is that you aren't paying club dues.