New to tournaments and the club experience

[sabby]

So I'm new to tournaments. I've fished a few friendly events, and some pro-ams as an am. Now I have joined a club and am fishing some club events.

Obviously I'm not at the level to contend yet, but that doesn't bother me. I catch my limit, finish somewhere in the middle of the pack regularly. Why do so many people think you should win every time? I personally think it takes years to get to that level, especially if you are an amatuer with a job and family that doesn't have the time to pre fish. It seems my friends think they should always be winning or in contention (they are not), to the point where they won't even weigh in a lot of the time. They take it to seriously and forget to relax. At club events they some take it to far and figure that how they fish is top secret.

What is your view on the subject of not weighing in, and just the general view towards success in tournament fishing? Personally I get not weighing in when the field is big and you don't want to add unnecessary delay, but if it's small people want to see fish and talk fishing. When it comes to club fishing I like to share fishing knowledge and experience. I'm not out there looking for someone to look up to me and trying to make out like fishing is a big secret.

[FishinSkinny]

All said reasons I don't fish tournaments.

[06 SB]

There are differences between clubs. There are several in my area and I joined the "fun" club as opposed to an ultra-competitive club. I enjoy getting out fishing lakes that I would probably not go to anyway. I freely give away EXACTLY what I am using. I want people to catch fish. I always weigh in, unless I zero.

Find another club or just fish the one you are in now with a good attitude.

[TableRock55]

I didn't weigh in last time cause dam boat broke down.
I'm competitive by nature and enjoy that. I've only cashed 2 checks so I get to watch a lot of guys do that. We just try to relax and do the best we can. Still, I get pi$$ed if I don't catch em. I have come to appreciate those who do it for a living because at the end of the day, I am flat-a$$ed exhausted. Don't worry about the other guys. There is a lot of testosterone out there, though, I will tell you that.

[NW.Ind.Basser]

People join clubs for different reasons. Some are there to have fun. Some are there to learn. Some guys join because they don't have a bass boat and love to fish. But there are some guys that are there to win. These guys are just made that way. It would be the same if it was a dart league at the local Moose Club, they wanna win. Nothing wrong with them they're just wired different from you. As long as they're good guys and don't cause a fuss I don't see an issue.

I always weigh in. But it's not a big deal when guys that know what they have in the box isn't BB or worthy of a check and they dump 'em. If there's no points involved they figure why bother. Hard to argue with that. It just gets everyone out of there even sooner.

Clubs will be what you make of them. You can get involved with the dock talk, Facebook smack talk and teenage drama crap. Or you can go and fish, make a few friends and stay out of the drama. Up to you.

[bigkahunaranch]

I joined clubs because I am one of those that does not have a boat yet.
And as 06sb said, I want a to fish a lot of lakes that I probably would not go
to.
I used to bowl professionally, and it was a grind, now with fishing, if I get
a check,good,add it to the boat fund, if not, I just enjoy the experience.