I am willing to give up what ever i have to  and poor my heart and soul into doing what i need to compete. I  am willing to learn what ever anyone out there is willing to teach me.

Thats all it takes, your willingness, desire, and commitment. Your only going to get out of it what you put in.

Spend the next year fishing the club tourneys (affiliated or not) and then start moving up to other semi-pro events as a non-boater. You will be amazed and not only how quick it will go by, but by how much you will learn.

well thats what i am planning to do . i start my first tournament on saterday. dont know how big it will be , but i am gonna give it my all. i will be in my own boat , not a bass boat buts its mine. and if anyone has any advise for me that would be great.

thanks

abe

Thats easy don't buy new baits,new fishing rods, have new line, but put it on tonight and take it out for a few cast anywhere just make sure that the lines not on backwards or over fill little things become major.

Read all the rules and make any adjusrments to follow the rules.

Now the easy part on any other day you fished hard for a couple hrs. and then called your wife that might be against the rules but sit down eat some fruit look around. The piont is theres nothing specail on tourney day you payed some money and waited until buddy said go. The fish don't care it's not specail to them. If you usally just fish 1 spot all day them do that on Sat. If you get bored anyother Sat. and move here and there then fish the same way.

Except don't leave any area until you have fished every spot your way even if 5 boats fished it.

If you are cputer great use 1 of these fishing logs. If not 3 ring binder and 2 different color pens write were you fished and if it's partner draw were buddy fished and then write your results and what won and if everybody wacked fish and you didn't. Hopfully you wacked fish and everybody else struggled.

Do this for every tourney and fun/practise days if you are the type but tourney for sure by mid Feb 3-4 tourneys you should see some glaring mistakes.

Have Fun

Garnet

Exactly! You just need a gameplan. For some reason the clock becomes your enemy when your struggling. Dotn forget the clock, but push it out of your head. Treat it like any other day; fish your pace, cover your waters as normal. I see a lot of people start getting frantic and then scurry all over the place hoping to get a couple quick fish. They have no rhyme or reason to their madness...just wishing for luck I guess.

Try to pre-fish the waters the days prior and get a pattern developed so you know your plan of attack before your boat even hits the water Sat morning. Do you know the lake pretty well?

well thanks for the advise ill take it to heart.

by the way nice website hale.

We will hear from you next week right............it doesn't matter if my stuff worked or not my bait my spot ect. allways touch base with any help after it's just good practice the next time  hale or I feel like talking, he might give you that 1 thing and it all comes together.

Garnet

My little advice for you would be to show up early on tournament day. Probably around 1 to 1.5 hours early. Get your boat launched and start preparing everything or tying baits on, like crankbaits and that. Make sure you have a lifejacket, because you will need it at all times when your big motor is on, don't forget this in the middle of the day when moving to another spot, put that lifevest on and zip it, otherwise you will be DQed.

Also, come tournament hours, you need to be relaxed and not rush every cast. You will feel yourself rushing and you won't do well. If your getting skunked and you have only a couple hours left in the tournament, I suggest you bare down and focus hard on what you've already thrown at them and do a complete 180 and try something else. If there not biting shallow, go deep or find a ledge to fish, if your deep and they aren't biting, go shallow. Use your head, I'm sure you read on fish movements and should have a general idea of where they should be located.

Don't bring lures that you know you won't use during a normal days fishing. The more lures you have, the more doubt you give yourself, because you will have way to many options in your boat to throw at the bass. Keep it simple, especially for your first tournament, bring only your confidence baits.

Make sure your trolling motor battery is charged and ready to go, make sure you have a full tank of gas in the boat and tow vehicle, check tires on both vehicle and trailer to prevent a blowout. Check oil in the tow vehicle and boat to make sure they are both full. Most these things can be done the night before a tournament.

Lastly, try to get some sleep, it will be tough to fall asleep.

Best of luck to you.

thanks guys  ill keep all that in mind and try not to forget. ill let you all know whats going on .

abe

Let's try to stay "ON TOPIC."

Would most of you agree that before targeting the Big Leagues, you will need to enter small tournaments and grow? Regardless of one's level of skill, the requirements for tournament fishing are different than "a day on the lake."

Yep.

Fishing in a tournament is quite different than just heading out on the lake for a day on the water.

Start small and work your way up.