I have been fishing my whole life, but haven't had the opportunity to do much bass fishing. I recently moved to the south and plan to concentrate on bass fishing. My question is...should I join a local club and fish small tournaments as a "non-boater" to gain experience or will I just be hindering others during a tournament? My other option is to just hit the water and fish trial and error as I do have my own boat. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
2021 Vexus AVX 181, Mercury 60CT 4S, MK Ultrex, HB Helix 7 MSI and MDI
Just fish for a few years before you jump into the tournament scene. Work on finding and catching fish on every lake you can get your boat in. If you still want to fish tournaments after while, then you'll have experience to boot.
'02 Gambler Outlaw
'02 Mercury 200 EFI 2.5L
Join a SMALL club, it will cut your learning curve down enormously.
Join a club.
I know others have already said similar to this but I cannot give you a better suggestion than find a local bass club, one that does draw tournaments preferably and this will expose you to diversity of techniques from different anglers.
Make a couple of good friends in the club, fish with the ones you like often and don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. Learn how to throw plastics, cranks, spinnerbaits, jigs, and topwater. And, learn how to flip/pitch.
Go to your local ponds when you have slack time and practice your techniques.
One of the best things I can tell you that will help you get better is simple, learn how to set the hook, you will find that speed, not strength is what gets the job done! When I started bass fishing this and paying attention to where my line was at any given moment was something that took time to get better at. Learn to do these two things right from the start and you will do well and land more fish!
Learn your tackle, types of rods, uses, reels, and how to properly set the drag on both spinning and baitcast reels. Learn what retrieves work for best certain types of baits.
Go buy some videos from Bass Pro, Cabelas, etc. Larry Nixon the old Bass pro has three videos for a novices and seasoned fisherman alike called Tournament Tactics for Spring, Summer and Fall season bass, they are available from Bass Pro Shops and Amazon. Although he is older, he is very good at teaching techniques and teaching you how to find fish in the different seasons. There are many other people who have videos as well like Kevin Van Dam, Denny Brauer, etc.
Then, Go Fish every chance you get!!
Ps: Here is a link to Amazon's page for Larry Nixon's videos: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb...&y=27
Modified by RangerRick54 at 1:27 PM 4/8/2011
Just join, fish, and learn. There is so much information for new bass anglers these days that the technical side of fishing is pretty simple. Getting the experience needed to become a force on the water takes time, but that's work I don't mind doing.
I agree with everyone else joining a club is really the best way to learn. Enter as a non-boater, ask the boater before hand what style of fishing he will be doing mostly. Lets say it's jig fishing. Bring 1 pole and a handful of jigs, nothing else. Watch the boater for were he is casting and how, flip, pitch, swim and ask questions.
Then next tournament lets say you get a guy thats a spinnerbait guy. Now just bring spinnerbaits.
I think you get were I'm going.
The biggest advice I can give, enjoy fishing, have as much fun as humanly possible.
Why do people fish, some say people fish to get fish, this is obviously false
FWIW I would suggest joining a local club too... I looked at a few in my area.. sent an email to one of the presidents (member here too) and he really helped me out when I was looking for a boat. I kept in contact with him and eventually we hit a lake together in our own boats. Very friendly and helpful so I decided to join that particular club. My fishing partner is my 12 year old son so I was looking for the right club. At the first club tournament everyone was very friendly and happy to show us what all their fish were caught on [after it was over] lol. Even the meetings are fun and this particular club does a lot for the community... We are learning a lot and having fun doing it.. and then there is the fun of fishing of course.
1995 202DCX ELITE CHAMPION
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