Letme throw this in...Just because someone can afford to own a boat doesn't mean they can fish...

That would be the primary reason I'd never want to enter as a non boater. I've seen these guys fish and read the tourny results in the paper often enough to know it would be a crap shoot.

oh no doubt its a crap shoot . the trick is to always be confident in your own skills and even though your not competing agains't the boater you need to try and figure stuff out that he or she hasn't .

I don't fish tournaments, because the entry money would be better spent on gas and bait. I would like to see the marine police at more of the tournaments in my area. The folks fishing tournaments around here are rude *** hats and need to be heavily fined.