I thought about this earlier on how many of you fish tournaments.

 

Me, personally, I've fished a few here and there with my uncle in the USA Bassin' series.  Never really done well, although the locales weren't the greatest and conducive for catching a bag of fish.

So far only 2 tournaments, 0 keepers in the first one (BFL co angler) and I (we) got a 1.86 lb keeper in the second one (fundraiser). Next logical step is beating Jordan lee. I liked the team tourney more than blind draw

My answer isn't listed - I've never fished in one but I want to soon.

Fishing to me is relaxing and peaceful, I don't want it to me stressful. My job can be stressful enough, do not need to add more stress. 

Most bass anglers start out with local club tournaments and that is how I started. Tournament bass is a good learning experience, challenging and should be fun. The next level is local sanctioned events like American Bass etc that travel to local local lakes and have a cash paybacks for team events.

My favorites are charity and night tournaments. Charity tournaments are a family affair with BBQ and door prizes. Night  derbies are team events and a chance for big bass and fishing with son or daughter.

Next to fishing pro events are Opens with Pro- Am. The Opens are more expensive and more rewarding.

Sigh up for a local charity events lots of fun.

Tom

I have no interest in tournament fishing whatsoever since I prefer to fish for relaxation and spending time with my Wife, family, and close friends. 

 

55 minutes ago, schplurg said:

My answer isn't listed - I've never fished in one but I want to soon.

Throw me into that category as well. I never have, but I wish to someday. 

I have only fished in 2 bass tournaments. They were both for smallmouth in a river. A friend and I got third the first year and my Father and I got first place the next year. Then it was discontinued.

 

I annually fish in the Lake Minnetonka crappie contest every May and it is my intention to fish in the Metro Muskie Tournament next June as well.

 

Regularly fishing in tournaments is a big time investment because you need to pre fish. If the tournament is out of town, it requires travel time. My folks fish a walleye circuit every season and they put a ton of time into it.

Closest I've come is challenging a buddy for beer here and there. I would fish a small tournament if the right circumstance presented itself. If it never happens that's ok.

More than I can count, enjoyed every single one, don't plan on doing em anytime soon.

I don't believe in competition fishing, or hunting. 

 

   To me, fishing is a time to recharge and enjoy the outdoors. 

I hate to see all the pictures of tournament fishermen holding up fish, which, a large percentage of, die later. 

 

      And, a host of high powered boats, with thousands of dollars of equipment , hauling butt like bats out of hell, racing to spots and basically removing all the big fish. 

 

     Meanwhile, a working man and family, trying to fish on the weekends; only time they have to fish, are surrounded by all these pros vying for prizes and points. 

 

    Just my opinion. I'm sure this comment will elicit many replies at how wonderful the tournaments are. 

 

       Not for the locals whose fishery that's close enough to fish, but  have to try to avoid the out of town players and their "sport."  

    Rant over. 

I'd like to fish some, but it just isn't worth the effort or cost for me. I fish to relax. Not to try and be the best. I'm not the best at fishing, and I never will be.

I don't know that I would fish if tournaments didn't exist. 

I fish everything I can afford to fish which is not much with my wife just getting out of grad school and being stuck in an unpaid internship.  Nothing like paying for a mortgage in the Seattle area...

 

2nd year fishing as a boater. 

 

• I fish in my local club and usually do well as a boater but no first yet. Second is the closest. 
• I love the big bass events. So much fun. Chance to win money every hour and then overall.  This style gets me super hyped up. Now I just need to stop catching the biggens during practice and I'll do alright.
• I have fished some ABA stuff but it draws just a few boats and is expensive so it's mostly for bragging rights IMO
• We have a bracket style event here that I was supposed to fish in this winter but uh the Ultrex broke again....
• I am thinking about joining another club to fish their stuff and do some BASS Qualifiers. 
• I fish what charity events pop up on Lake Washington. They tend to draw a good crown 30-60 depending on the weather. 
• I fished the WON Bass Open on Havasu  last year. Got it handed to me. Way down in the pack.  I had a plan and I shoulda stuck with it. I spun out and fished what looked familiar. The event was won doing what I had originally planned to do. Practice was ruined by 6-8'ers so if ya didn't know the lake that well ( I had only fished it as a co in FLW and WWBT events) then you were not going to do well. 
• This year keeping it local fishing as many PNW fisheries as possible before I move back to California and hopefully next year back to fishing some WON, WWBT, and FLW stuff if I can afford it. It's a lot of driving being up in the PNW it takes like 24 hours to get to Havasu. That's a lot of gas money. 
• My first ever tournament was a Red Man on the Mississippi River in LaCrosse. I loved that. Got my limit on a 3/8 BPS sapphire blue jig with a sapphire blue chunk. Can't wait to some day go back and fish an BASS Open or something on the Mississippi. 

51 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Closest I've come is challenging a buddy for beer here and there. I would fish a small tournament if the right circumstance presented itself. If it never happens that's ok.

 

And that's all it takes to add another dimension to the day.

 

One of my most fun days fishing was actually surf fishing for perch with a good friend. After a couple of catches he said, "Two to nothin'!" and it was ON! We were running all over the beach, trash-talkin, laughing, and the score ended up 13 to 12 in his favor.

 

I recorded every catch on video and I laugh every time I watch it. Great day.

35 minutes ago, Silas said:

I don't believe in competition fishing, or hunting. 

 

   To me, fishing is a time to recharge and enjoy the outdoors. 

I hate to see all the pictures of tournament fishermen holding up fish, which, a large percentage of, die later. 

 

      And, a host of high powered boats, with thousands of dollars of equipment , hauling butt like bats out of hell, racing to spots and basically removing all the big fish. 

 

     Meanwhile, a working man and family, trying to fish on the weekends; only time they have to fish, are surrounded by all these pros vying for prizes and points. 

 

    Just my opinion. I'm sure this comment will elicit many replies at how wonderful the tournaments are. 

 

       Not for the locals whose fishery that's close enough to fish, but  have to try to avoid the out of town players and their "sport."  

    Rant over. 

 

To address the mortality rate, at least for smaller tournaments, I wonder if simply measuring instead of weighing the fish would be fine, like in kayak tournaments. This might have the side effect of removing the temptation to catch spawning fish since weight would not be a factor.

 

This would be for tourneys who don't have officials in every boat to weigh the fish, which I also like. Just a thought.

 

I just want to do local tourneys, maybe on my Dad's lake and on the Delta. I'm not that great or even that competitive, but I think it would be fun.

Nope, not my thing. I'm not a social angler. I fish to avoid people, so tournaments defeat the purpose.

I never have before but am considering trying my hand at it this coming year.  

I use to fish them frequently, both clubs and also some BASS tournaments. Won several club tournaments, qualified for a regional tournament through BASS and missed the national cut by 2.5lbs at 17 years old (pre high school and college team days).

Started my career and had to stop due to scheduling. Started a weeknight jackpot series and had a lot of fun doing that until the group kind of fell apart and new faces brought in a lot of drama that nobody wanted any part of so everyone stopped showing up and we stopped doing them.

This year I'm planning on doing kayak tournaments. I like the catch, measure, release format a lot. So many fish are killed by catch and weigh tournaments during the summer months (I get to see them being a weekday angler when I show up to the ramp on Monday or Tuesday and see the decomposing bass all over the place). That really soured my view of 5 fish weigh in tournament series and not real interested in fishing them again. Maybe a single event here or there, but the series that care more about their bragging rights instead of using common sense to not hold a tournament when it's triple digit air temps and high 80 degree water temps, are not something I'm interested in.

I fished one of the largest team trails in Canada about 20 years ago when I was fresh out of high school. Bought a brand new Triton and my cousin and I were on the road every weekend all summer, either in a tournament or pre-fishing for one. We did alright, a few top fives and qualified for their classic every year, but after a few years I started getting burned out from all the travel ( and it’s not cheap either). We quit tournaments, and I started guiding on my more local lakes for a few years, but that got stale after a while too so I “retired” from guiding and now just do my own thing, mainly with myself or my son and occasionally a friend or two.

One type of tournament that we fished a lot and did well in here were pike tournaments. They’re usually held in the spring, before bass season opens, and when the larger pike are still shallower due to the cool water. Most are just like a bass tournament, best five fish, only they were most times total length instead of weight, as it’s much easier to measure the pike than weigh them ( easier on the fish as well). We did very well in them, and even won a big one with over 100 boats one year. They often have some pretty big payouts for usually one day events, and a bunch of big gators smashing jerkbaits all day  doesn’t hurt either. 

My cousin and I fished a team circuit for two years along with  other tournaments . Belonged to a club for a few years .The first year on the circuit we qualified for the championship at Table Rock . Neither one of us had fished it before and only had a few hours of practice . We found some fish but they didnt cooperate the day of the tourney and got skunked . We won the largest tourney ever held at Mark Twain Lake , just shy of 500 teams ,  by   fishing deep points . After that we never had a place to ourselves and it was no longer fun  , so I  quit . I miss it a little . If the right situation arose I would fish another .

I've been fishing tournaments regularly since 2007.  ABA (both co and boater), B.A.S.S Opens (co), BFL (co), and 2 team trails.  I've had quite a bit of success and had aspirations of fishing the triple A level in hopes to qualify for the big leagues.  With all the drama in the world of Pro bass fishing over the last few years (and the more inside knowledge I've gained), that dream has withered.  I haven't lost passion for competing though.  I was able to fish a bunch of team events with my dad last summer.  Those are always the most fun and most special.  

Before I had my 2nd back surgery last March, I fished in 10 BFL tournaments

(1 Championship, and qualified for 5 Regional’s)

 

8 B.A.S.S Nation tournaments

( qualified for 6 Florida State Championships) 

All as a co angler. 

When the doc says so, I plan on starting up again but only will fish in one circuit. 
Haven’t decided which yet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

 

 

 

 

18 hours ago, schplurg said:

My answer isn't listed - I've never fished in one but I want to soon.

 

18 hours ago, Finessegenics said:

 

Throw me into that category as well. I never have, but I wish to someday. 

I added that option

I’d like to try a small local weeknight deal sometime in the next couple years, but I have a lot of learning to do first.

 

Watching Brandon Paulinuik and Scott Martin on YouTube this year has sparked my competitive side once again. I haven’t had that in over 10 years. 

Heres a photo from the late 70's from one of our club events . There were no bass boats just john boats with elec motors . Thats me , the skinny dude second from the left and my little brother third from the left . Good times .

I fish a bi-weekly series on a local lake for fun during the summer.  I mostly focus on kayak tourneys though.  Some of them are local club tourneys and the rest are larger, national tourneys.