Guys, I live in North Atlanta area known as Sandy Springs. I do all of my fishing out my kayak, but would also like to get out and fish out of a boat from time to time while meeting new people and building my fishing skills. That said, I'm thinking a good option is to find a bass club that would allow a non-boater to get his feet wet. However, I have tons of questions, I will try to keep it to the more important ones.
1. Do you have to fish every tournament on the schedule? If not, is it frowned upon if you do not?
2. Is there some expectation from a boater for me to at least be at a certain skill level?
3. What is the best format that I should look for? (I assume one where boaters vs boaters and co-angler vs co-angler)
4. What type of gear would I potentially need for this type of fishing that I may not already have (exclude lures, reels, rods, I have enough of those)
5. Are these typically highly-competitive-not-so-friendly type atmospheres or is it possible to find a truly friendly club? My concern is that frankly I'm not highly competitive I'm just looking to get out more, I don't really care about a ton of rules either (i mean i can and will follow rules, just not a ton of useless ones)
Perhaps I may be too picky, this may not be the right avenue, not sure I'm just looking for some input regarding bass clubs and tournaments for an absolute newb to the idea.
Thanks!