I'm new to the fishing world when it comes to boating,never been in a tournament,but want to try it out,what kind of boats can you use?I don't have a bass boat but I do have a pontoon,so question can I use the pontoon or would it just look bad or look down on poorly.

you can probably do it, but most likely people will make fun of you.  Just come in with a winning bag at the end of the day and put their foot in their mouth.  There's a few rules that you will have to follow to make it legal, but the only one you'll really have to add is an aerated livewell.  Most pontoons I've been on don't have them, but can be made pretty easily with a cooler.

 

Another option if you don't have a fishing boat is to look up different clubs.  Some clubs you fish by yourself, otherwise you might fish as a team with someone that has a boat or compete from the back of somebody elses boat against other people in the back of the boat.

Some tournaments have a 50 HP minimum.

 

Others do not.

 

Since each tournament is different you will have to check with each to make sure your pontoon boat qualifies.

 

And you will need a live well system on the pontoon boat so start planning on how to set it up.

 

Good luck.

You will need to have a working livewell. I believe insurance is also a must. All other rules will be based on the club you are fishing.

In my tournaments any boat that floats is allowed, as long as it have a working live-well, current registration, and insurance. I have guys that come and fish in boats ranging from 12' jon boats with only an elec. TM, to guys with 21' rigs with 250's on them. It ain't the boat that catches fish. Like I said, as long as it's a safe vessel, and it has a working live-well. Granted I run my tournaments on small inland lakes, if they were on Erie, Oneida, Ontario, etc...."big water", boat size would be a factor.

Thank you guys,good info.

Depends on the tourny. I've seen hp limits, length limits etc. Also have seen one where you could fish from whatever floated as long as you could safely keep fish alive.