I am am a very avid fisherman and go to the lake every day, i am pretty good at bass fishing and am planning to start tournaments soon, i feel like there is plenty that i still need to learn about bass fishing, what is a good way to learn all i can to prepare me for the tournament world

Short of going and experiencing it? Not much. Ready some of the threads here. "Learning" about tournament fishing are lessons about etiquette more than anything. As for being "pretty good at bass fishing"........ I guess you'll see. Tournament fishing will help you learn critical thinking skills on the water; like how to quickly recognize when the fish arent biting, how to read the conditions and adjust. Thats tournament fishing at its core. Its a test of yourself, not of everyone else. At least, thats how I look at it.

 

Dont forget to be curtious, respectful, HUMBLE, and maintain a positive attitude. Attitude is everything.

^{I think it is like anything else I have done a view tournaments (2) with my dad but he is nit a bass angler he is a Muskie/Northern guy, so we just did it to be together and have some fun while fishing.  But I plan on doing BFL Co-Angler tournaments this year.  I believe and have herd that the best way to learn tournament fishing is do them.  The best way to start is by doing co-angler.}

 

^{But here is something I do in the summer, like you I fished everyday from 11-9 everyday ( weight lifting took up the early morning)  so here is what I would do.}

^{I tiered to teach myself new tetchiness by putting only these lures on and making myself for one full week to use nothing but.  By the end of the week I was way better and was starting to catch fish.}

^{I also did this for techniques that I already knew and was what I thought "good" at.  By using nothing but these baits for intense Texas-Rig all week, which I had what I thought been good at before, I was able to learn small details and improve my hook-up ratio which had always been below 25%.  I would say now by doing that it is over 55%.}

 

^{I think this we help me with my tournaments that I plan to do.  I know this was long but I hope it help let me know what ya think.}

Megastink hit the nail on the head ...

 

Learn some fundamentals about fishing in tournaments including the rules and etiquette.  After that let your fishing speak for itself.  You will find out soon enough how good you are once you get out there.

 

Keep an open mind!  That will help out a ton!

 When I first got into tournament fishing 6-7 years ago, I though I was "pretty good" too..................wow was I wrong. If you keep a postive attitude, and keep at it, you'll learn.

Im in the same boat as you. (Not literally hehe) For years I have researched, read, scrounged, scraped and memorized EVERY bit and piece of imformation that I could possibly find about fishing. (Not only for bass either) I have learned so much just from other people's generosity in sharing tip and secrets. Just by reading you can prepare for tournaments. That's what Im doing, but the true test is going out and actually fishing and applying the knowledge that you have retained.

Just do it! One word of caution though, tournament fishing is addicting. Just remember to have fun most of all. Be honest & courteous & the other anglers will help you. Tournament anglers are some of the nicest people. When the season is over I miss hanging out with the other anglers almost as much as I miss the fishing.

One thing you will learn is the moment your entry fee hits the table all your honey holes will dry up!

Something that I have done do help me is go out one day and only use a certain bait or technique..... what this did for me was allow me to own in one aspect that was making a difference, I was able to learn and get a lot better at these  techniques.

CDMeyer

 

When you are practicing, are you fishing from a boat or from shore?  I also started using one bait at a time to learn some fundamentals but if you're fishing from shore, it'll be different from a moving, rocking boat.  If you fish from shore, you can try slowly walking and casting at the same time.  Your angle of cast and retrieve will change and it'll mimic boat movement to a degree.

 

The guys you'll be fishing with in the BFL are already good fishermen and cast well, so have a few different rods and be ready for anything.  You are ahead of the gang already so congrats to you.  My first tournaments as a co-angler found me with one spinning setup and under-dressed for early Spring weather conditions.  Oh, the early years, lol.  Good luck

 

FL