I am currently 20 years old and go to college at penn state university. I have been in love with fishing all my life. In the past 2 years it sort of struck me that I want to fish competitively. I fished my first competitive local tournament this summer on a local lake as a coangler (didn't perform). I am looking for advice from you tournament anglers out there that are doing it successfully and cashing pay checks. What do you reccomend I start doing? Should I take time and familiarize myself with the basic presentations such as cranks, worms, spinners, topwaters, jigs? Should I study maps, read, watch videos, get everything I can get my hands on about bass fishing? I don't want to worry about sponsers right now because at this point of time i'm not near good enough to worry about sponsers. Also I dont have my boat at college I have been fishing from shore at local spots. Small local spots 72 acres 150 acres etc. I know anytime you go fishing you learn something, but will fishing from shore really start making things click? I feel when i'm on my boat I have more freedom to find the fish and really try to figure them out. I'm not limited to the shoreline, I can fish the riprap, midlake flats, humps etc. Any advice is appreciated Thanks!

I don't cash alot of checks, some.

I look at guys like KVD, What makes him so competitive every week?

Obviously, KVD doesn't fish like every one else. He use his strenghts. Do you ever see him fishing a jig?

What KVD does do. KVD knows baitfish, KVD knows electronics. KVD's knows that bass position themselves according to the seasonal patterns of bait fish and forage fish.

If you can use your electronics and track bait fish year around, you have most of the game figured out. Mechanics are mechanics, whether you flip, pitch, or cast, you still got be profficient at putting the bait on target the first time.

Knowing the food chain is the simpliest way I know to teach bassing. What positions the baitfish? What do shad, alewyes, herring eat?

Knowing that shad feed on Planktons, and wind blows planktons across the water, its safe to assume that wind positons the shad part of the year. Like wind blown points and such.

Also, some of the best knowledge on this forum is gonna come from non-tournament fishermen. Just cause they don't seek a check, don't mean they can't teach you about crawdad hatches, swimbaits, and my favorite, the food chain.

KVD doesn't appear to fish a 100 types of baits throughout the year.   He fishes baits that simulate bait.    Jerkbaits, cranks,  and spinner baits have won him lots of tournaments and money.    With the handfull of baits he does use, he's always close to the top, he's consistent with a limited amount of baits that he does use.  

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Matt

Good stuff Matt.

Learning the basics should be the very first thing on your list. Jigs, worms, cranks, topwaters all have their best time and place. Since you have access to some smaller ponds and small lakes, learning the basics should be very easy for you to do. Get familiar with each bait and learn to distinguish the bite.

If you want to get 'real' tournament type experience you'll want to be in a boat on a pressured lake, where most tournaments are held. Start the day like you are fishing an actual tournament. Blast from the ramp promptly at 7am, return at 3 or 4 and weigh your fish. Fish like you are on the clock and see what happens. You'll be able to sit back and think of what you did right, what you should have done or what you could have done. Make mental notes and apply what you learned next time you are out. As your time on the water increases, patterns will expand and your bait choices will get smaller. You'll eliminate 85% of all your tackle once you have gained confidence in a few choice baits.

There are several factors that come into play when fishing a tournament and planning your day. Time of year, water temps, water levels, available forage, sun, wind, water color, the list goes on and on. You need to simplify things as much as possible......too much 'thinking' can ruin a tournament real fast. Figure out which things will be most important to the fish during any given time of year. In my mind, the most telling factor is water temp. Water temps, as well as length of daylight dictates the seasons to the bass as well as the baitfish. Knowing where the bait is and what the bait is doing, is always a good thing to know.

Another way to learn about tournaments is to fish co-angler in a few BFL's or BASS Weekenders. Most of the people you'll fish with will have a decent knowledge of how to fish a tournament, they'll most likely already have a plan for the tournament and have some decent spots to fish.

Just soak up all you can about bass fishing whether it be videos, magazines, internet, local tackle shop, just whatever you can find.....but always remember to try to keep it simple.

I tried reading up on BFL's. I dont quite know if my general understanding is right. I would have to go as a non boater. As a non boater you get drawn as if it was a lottery. Also if I could somehow sign with a boater I would have a 100% chance of  getting in the bfl tournaments. How to the fees work for the BFL? Does the BFL have a monthly charge? Is the fee for a non boater $100 at the events? What about the weekend angler what is the general outline how that works? Thanks -Robby

If you can find a boater to link up with that has paid for his season, and do the same, it guarantees you that you will not be in the lottery.   Your Partner will be by draw of course, but you will not be waiting to see if their is an open spot at each tournament, you will be in already due to having made the commitment for the whole season.

The guys who wait to be drawn are commonly locals trying to jackpot on home lake on one tourney only.  Another words, there are guys who only fish the tour as co-boater when its on his home lake.

If it is FLW tourney, it is wise to try to find a Boater who owns a Ranger.   Ranger sponsers the FLW, and guys who owns a Ranger will have better chance in getting a spot than Triton owner will.

SAme goes for BASS, find someone if you can that owns a Triton, cause Triton isn't gonna want a bunch of Rangers gettting all the coverage.

For example, I think the BASS Central Opens are on 3 lakes, if you link to a boater in the off season and pay for all events up front, you and the boater, ya'll will be on the top of the list.

Good luck

matt

         The three important things I have learned...

Ok I'am only eighteen but I have been fishing competitively for 4 years but in the B.A.S.S. and TBF/FLW Junior events I have been extremely successful. This was my first year doing all adult stuff and I really only had one bad tourney so, cant complain.

1. Plain and simple dont over-analyze and remember to JUST GO FISHING!-I used to think way too much and it will just drain you mentaly and you will loose your concentration.

2. Listen to you instincts and they will take you far. Soooo many times I thoughtg I should do something else and I said no because "I knew the fish where there... or I knew they would turn on eventually". Then the who wins the tourney's pattern involves that though you had and it is soo frustrating and will haunt you.

3. You can read up and learn all the things you want from Bassresource, your magazines, and TV shows but its all about time on the water and applying those lessons you learned somewhere else and going back to them when you are fishing. Even if you go out to fun fish at a good lake, use the lake to gain confidence in different baits or fish different. Low Budget got me out fishing in deep water this year and I acctually enjoyed it. Now when I fish deeper, clear, lakes in Rhode Island I feel comfortable and usually do pretty well.

It is all about time on the water, learning from each person you fish with, learning from your mistakes. Keep a log and remember you will always learn more on the tough days. You will need to spend time prefishing the water. Stay away from the dock talk. Very little you hear will help you. Develope a game plan from your prefishing, but do not be afraid to deviate if you feel you need to make a change. One of the hardest things for new fisherman to learn is if they are really on the fish or a real pattern. If you catch a couple in one area try to find another area or two like it to see if they hold fish. When you catch a fish or two do not leave. Change your casting angle and lures to see if there are more. Fish a spot and try to learn as much as you can about the area. There is usually a sweet spot on a point or hump that will hold a concetration of larger fish.

     

1. Plain and simple dont over-analyze and remember to JUST GO FISHING!-

Good advice.

rec. bass fishin and tx. fishin have very little in common.local club tx are highly competetive .it is a given that you have have to have profecient skills,you dont have to know how to fish every type of lure but you have to be proficient in the lures you use.fish your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses.

start out as a non-boater.the best place is the bfl.more times than not you'll get paired up w/ a decent tx. fisherman.even if you dont catch fish you'll learn more than you ever can on your own.it may take 2or 3 yrs. but after awhile you'll be able to use what you have learned.

if you have ever heard in sports that when an athelete moves up to the next level that the biggest difference is the speed of the game,bass tx. fishin is the same way.in every tx. there are guys who can find em and catch em and if you want to be more than an entrant you'll have to do the same.8 hrs fishin seems like a long time but it goes by real quik if your not catchin em.

i think the biggest thing ive ever lerned in tx. fishin is to not make the money the object,nor the to compete against the other angler.compete against the bass,they are dumb, predictable ,animals that have to be subjective to you.

Step 1: learn how to read structure, on a map, & with electrons; if you can't find em you can't catch em!

Step 2: learn how to find bass on said structure; how is this done? Find the forage fish, learn how to track the forage fish year round and you will be able to track the bass.

Step 3: be versatile; learn one top water technique, one med depth technique, & one bottom technique.

Step 4: recognize patterns; this doesn't mean seasonal patterns. Say you in an area with buck brush, button brush, and willow brush; your fish are being caught around button brush so don't waste time fishing the other two.

Step 5: set yourself a budget to cover expenses; if you cash a check replace what you spent out of that budget first. Just because you win big in one tournament doesn't mean you're win big in the next. Limiting your budget will kill your confidence!

Step 6: set realistic goals; you aint KVD accept it and set your goals to at least finish high enough in the money to cover expenses. Once you finish consistently in the top 25 set your goal on the top 15, this doesn't mean accept defeat, it means set goals you can accomplish.

Step 7: buy quality equipment, not just tackle but clothing and every thing in your boat; you don't have the time on the water to be fixing things even though this will happen.

Step 8: learn how to operate your boat in rough conditions; anyone can run a boat in calm conditions.

Set 9: prepare yourself mentally, do your home work on maps, check out NOAA weather.com, talk to guys here with experience on the lake you'll fish.

Set 10: remember once you sign that entry form 75% of your holes, baits, & techniques will quit working for you.  

One of the biggest things that makes tournament fishing so stressful is pressure.  You have your expectations and no one fishing tournaments that don't think they will win.  If you lack the composure and confidence, well...luck will only get you so far.  Start making it a goal to build stringers.  Set your goal at 5 fish minimum per trip in a given time limit.  Start practicing culling.  If it takes 20 minutes to find out which fish is smallest, then you just lost 20 minutes to catch bigger fish.

One of the most important things in tournaments is to start off by landing 5 keeper fish.  Once you get those 5 in the boat, really start putting in the effort to upgrade the quality of each of those fish.  If you're catching them on a small spinnerbait, try switching to a crankbait that has a little bit more aggressive action.  if you're nailing them on a dropshot, switch to a carolina rig.  Try to put together a bigger pattern than you already have.

Research, research, research!!!  Without a good map and reliable electronics, you're starting off with a huge disadvantage.  When you get a boat, learn how to find structure on a map then find it.  To practice, dedicate entire days to using heavy bottem baits, like jigs, just to define the structure that you've found.  What I mean by defining is learn what kind of grass is down there.  is the bottem muddy, rocky, or sandy?  Find any timber or big rocks or anything that will hold fish.  Comb the area with more intent of learning it rather than fishing it.  This is where a good GPS and marker bouyies come into play.  Find your cover and structure, drop a bouy, then plot it on the GPS.  Finding sweet spots on the structure quickly will save you a tremendous amount of time.  TIME IS EVERYTHING!

My last bit of advice is WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!!!  Plot your point on GPS, write down what you found there.  What type of grass, how deep, current direction/speed, clarity of the water, if there is timber or not, what the bottem is made out of...every detail that you think is important.  Keep the notes of your areas in a waterproof binder.  Organize your data by location, then sub-organize it by date or weather conditions.  Keep the data coming in...even on tournaments.  Carry a recorder so you can talk your notes then write them later.  The more you compile, the better your research and decision making will become.  Compiling data will allow you to identify possible or likely patterns before you leave the house.  If you're right, then you're on the fish faster than most of the rest of the field, giving you the advantage.  (Also, keep data from different lakes in a seperate binder)  

I think one important thing here that everyone is missing is Believe In Yourself.

Believe you can and you will.

But if you believe you can't, you most certainly won't. Its a self fullfilling prophecy.

Watch the Pros that are winning big and you will see that they all believe they can win. They are all very confident in what they are doing and the funny thing is most of them come on to the scene winning cause they have that winning attitude.

If you think you are a loser, you'll be a loser. If you think you are a winner, you WILL be a winner.

Its really that simple.

ISN'T LIFE GRAND. ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

Join a local bass club that fishes a draw tourny format as a non boater.  This will get you out on lakes fishing in real tournaments with boaters that will be a wealth of info to you.  Ask your boater questions like how did you decide on fishing this location, what do you make of all those marks on the graph, what technique will you be trying and why, etc.  As a young man, be especially respectful of your boater and never ever crowd him.  After a while you'll develop a good reputation within the club and may rate some prefishing invites as well.  IMO, this will be the best bang for your buck and will allow you to pick up skills that would otherwise take years to figure out.  

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

Right now you must recognize you're not overly skilled and it appears you realize that. I commend you for that. This sport will humble everyone even KVD.

Speaking of KVD, he had a great quote once, "The difference between pros and amateurs is we use everything in our tacklebox." In other words, he may prefer spinnerbaits, cranks, etc., but he can and does use everything. Eventually, you'll want to be comfortable with 40-50 techniques.

Thus my suggestion is as follows: learn the seasonal migrations of fish and master the use of 2-3 popular techniques for each season. Don't over-do it; you'll confuse yourself. Take pride in gaining confidence in a single bait, then a second, and third, so-on. The last thing you want to do is try to master 35 techniques next year. I would suggest jerkbaits & rat-l-traps during the pre-spawn, jigs during the spawn, jerkbaits during the post-spawn again, pop-r, senkos, & jigs during the summer, and jerkbaits & spinnerbaits during the fall months.

But ultimately, keep it simple: master the technique now and absolutely pay attention to every detail when you catch a fish. I truly think becoming comfortable with a couple of techniques while paying attention to the seasonal migrations will lead to the ability to discover more complicated patterns in the future.

Lastly, check to see if you can join a local club. That will be the best thing you can do for yourself. Start off as a non-boater and as you grow in confidence start going boat.

As far as fishing shore. I would always prefer fishing from the boat especially since you're new to this. But if forced on shore you can still practice such as casting accuracy and you can throw baits you're not too comfortable with and just focus on learning that bait. A jerkbait would be great at this. You can also throw jigs and focus on the feel of it. Eventually you'll learn the difference between weeds, rock, wood, sand, marl, et.

One last thing: Have Fun!