Brett, go for it. You have to start somewhere no matter your level of expertise.

 

You will learn a lot from a pro or a boater who has been fishing for many years.

 

You may also consider joining a bass fishing club in your area and learn from them, too.

 

Enjoy the experience.

Just get out there and have fun. Don’t take the many Ls that you will receive personal, tournament fishing def has a learning curve and getting schooled is inevitable. You will learn  a whole lot. 

As long as you accept you're gonna lose more than win you're ready. There's also a good chance you do awesome your first tournament then struggle a few times. I've heard that from a couple ppl wouldn't personally know lol

I wouldn't worry about wasting someones time.  If you get paired with a good angler who likes to teach, you can learn a lot faster from them than you can just reading articles and fishing by yourself.  If you get paired with a bad angler, you can learn what not to do.  

 

 

If your interested your ready. You can join a local club or possibly fish as a non member to see how that organization runs. If you don’t like it you can move on to the next one and find a group of individuals you fit in with. As far as experience I was skunked through my first 3 tourneys. By the end of the year I was second in our classic as a non boater. Watch learn ask questions. Fish with different anglers if there isn’t a draw. You will begin to build confidence in new techniques during different times of the year and become a better angler. Just go out fish your strengths if possible and be ready to learn. I’m still doing it today!!