12-10-2009, 10:01 AM
A livewell is VERY important. Most of the tournaments that I fish are local tournaments and we measure, verify with the non-boater and release. The weigh-in tournaments that I fish all five fish must be alive or you will be deducted points.
I suggest that you start out as a non-boater and learn the ropes. Etiquette, rules and so forth. Plus you will learn more from other anglers than you can imagine.
Find a local club in your area and attend one of their meetings and they will be able to help you with regulations as well as info. on the tournaments and how to join.
As far as the competition goes...two years running I've had angler of the year and big fish of the year in my club, they are all happy for me but nothing would make them happier than to take me down lol. It's fun and fishing but in the end the point of a competition is to win and to do that as a boater you need to be tournament ready. Layout of the lake, patterns, sonar and most important the right tackle. I'm not trying to squash your dreams, don't get me wrong, but you can gain alot of experience by competing as a non-boater. I learned alot myself as a non-boater, in fact, I owe alot to the boaters I fished with. They had the fancy boat that could travel from one end to the other 60+mph, livewells, graphs, the right gear etc. and then I finally got a bass boat of my own. With all the money I've spent in the last ten years maybe I should have taken up golf...[
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I suggest that you start out as a non-boater and learn the ropes. Etiquette, rules and so forth. Plus you will learn more from other anglers than you can imagine.
Find a local club in your area and attend one of their meetings and they will be able to help you with regulations as well as info. on the tournaments and how to join.
As far as the competition goes...two years running I've had angler of the year and big fish of the year in my club, they are all happy for me but nothing would make them happier than to take me down lol. It's fun and fishing but in the end the point of a competition is to win and to do that as a boater you need to be tournament ready. Layout of the lake, patterns, sonar and most important the right tackle. I'm not trying to squash your dreams, don't get me wrong, but you can gain alot of experience by competing as a non-boater. I learned alot myself as a non-boater, in fact, I owe alot to the boaters I fished with. They had the fancy boat that could travel from one end to the other 60+mph, livewells, graphs, the right gear etc. and then I finally got a bass boat of my own. With all the money I've spent in the last ten years maybe I should have taken up golf...[
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