Start In A Bass Club?

[amishnightmare88]

Like every anglers dream, we dream to one day be in our boat holding that big Bassmaster trophy over our heads with confetti falling over us celebrating our victory winning the Bassmaster Classic. But where do you start? Just like anyone, every pro had to start somewhere. I have the opportunity to live about a mile from a guy that fished professionally for 4 years and placed 14th in the 1984 Bassmaster Classic. I called him and told him my goals and told him i wanted to be where he was then, now, or in a few years anyway. When we started he asked me if i liked fishing mornings or later afternoons? I said both. Of course i knew that was the best times of the day to catch bass. He responded and said, " Then meet me at my house at 8 in the morning". I asked why so late. The old pro brought a great point. He said, I already knew it was good fishing in the mornings and late afternoons. But if you can't catch fish in the heat of the day, or middle of the day, then your are probably going to get beat a lot." We find the worst possible conditions to fish and load up and go. I have learned A LOT! But i am 24 years old and still never fished a tournament. I want to start. He told me the best way is to start in a local bass club. He said, you will learn a lot of forms and different tactics that work. So then, just to reassure myself, I didn't come from a wealthy family where i can get anything i want, and do not have a sponsor where my lures are unlimited. Right now i have to work for everything i get. I do not have a boat, but what i do have is a tackle box with a varitey of lures, a 7 ft Falcon carra with a abu garcia Revo SX, and a 6'9 Falcon lowrider with a Revo S. I plan on getting a good spinning rod and reel in the next few weeks also. Any help or advise is appreciated. Thank you and God Bless.  

[BASSHUNTING]

This is great.  I would have to say that i'm right where you are now.  I have some hopes and dreams and what appears to be a growing addiction to fishing for BASS.  This weekend i was able to go out on the lake with a local club president and fish for about 8 hours.  While only 1 fish was put in the boat we spent alot of time talking about tactics, lure presentation, time of day, time of year, docks, points, brush piles etc...  I was able to see some really good spots on our local lake that i think should help me in the upcoming months.  I have participated in a few week night tournaments and have found that for me (personally) they seem to be a waste of my time at this moment.  Unfortunately, since the one particular weekly tournament i participated in was a team tournament, I did not have a team mate and was alone on my boat.  I wasn't able to really glean any information about conditions , lures or locations from the other teams and thus i just ended up fishing by myself for 4 hours and donating $30 to the winner that particular evening.  While i think every moment my line is wet is experience, i could have gained that experience without spending the $30.  I have since changed my tactics a bit.  I have joined a local bass club, but next meeting isn't till October.  Until then, i have been "pretending" like I'm in some of the tournaments that are spent here on my local lake.  I put my boat in the water and idle around outside of the marina where the tournament is launching from.  I stand by and listen to the rules as they are delivered to the other anglers and then i ask some of the meandering anglers what their tactics for the day are etc.. and so on.  Most of them give me funny looks until i tell them , "oh i'm not in the tournament.  I'm just pretending to be." Once most of them see that i'm just practicing and learning , and that i'm not threatening their possible pot of money at the end of the day, they're usually willing to give up a little bit of info.  Most of the time however I hear the same generalistic phrases:  "points, deep structure, docks, texas rig, carolina rig..."  I usually have developed my plan the night before and I try to stick to it each time regardless of getting bites or not.  I'm trying to figure out if Texas rigging around deep water docks and major points is going to work, when will it work, where will it work and how will it work.  I know that it must be a good tactic, even though after about 7 times out in the past 3 weeks i've been skunked each time.  I just go back to my log each evening, make notes of where i saw fish on my electronics how i tried to fish for them and what i learned for the day.  I know eventually they will start biting what i have to offer.  Anyways, I say all of that to say this.  If you would like , we can compare notes and share with eachother what we've learned throughout the days, weeks, months that go by. The way i figure , the faster one can obtain "accurate" information, the quicker the learning curve can be conquered.  Knowledge is powerful, but understanding and applying the knowledge you obtain is the most powerful of all.  If you or anyone else here is in a similar learning phase and would like to compare notes and help each other learn, please let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

Justin

[Swampstud]

Ive been fishin since I was 4, hooked into my first keeper bass at age 7 too shortly after I got hooked into tournament fishing. Not too much longer did I discover the bassmaster trail on tv. I knew then too that I wanted to compete. Im 28 now and am still rippin lips. Much like your buddy said its fairly easy to catch them under prime conditions, to me though you really do need to go catch em consistently under bad conditions. Such as a high bright skied day, post frontal days, basically when the bass would rather hide out than feed. Reactionary bites is the key I think. IMO you goin out with those guys in the tourney may be a bit much. If you have a few techniques your comfortable fishing stay with those, figure out when they work and when they just dont at all. You basically have to find your style and perfect it, when you do that only fish that technique in favorable conditions, and figure out a different one for when thats not workin. For instance all summer long ive had a heck of a time catchin any on a spinnerbait (my fav technique) I got 2 all spring and summer, after a few trips out I FORCED my too learn to finesse fish (my biggest weakness or it was!!) I bought ikes dvd, infishermans finess dvd and learned the drop shot rig ( I love it ). Started catchin fish on that when conditions prevailed. When that didnt work I started making my own jigs and learned how to pitch/flip (highly recommended) now ive hardly rarely ever fished jigs in years past but im tellin you ive cought 80-90 bass this year alone. I also recommend you watch or buy the seasons of the bass pros, as ive gotten alot of new info there aswell. They teach so many different techniques that its an educational investment for me, there a lil cheaper on ebay also. Figure out what lakes are being fished in that trail, go out and fish just them. Under all conditions, good and bad. I havent competed in 10 yrs but life took me down the wrong road until this year. Ive fished a chain of lakes thats farrrrr different than any lake ive fished before, and learning a few new techniques has put ALOT of bass in my new jon boat. It wasnt until literally 4 trips ago that ive started to nail'em on a spinnerbait, even then ive had to learn jerbait fishin to combine with my spinnerbait fishin. But all summer long ive just been flippin/pitchin or drop shottin to catch em.

Weather has alot to do with lure choice for me also. I hope this helps some.

[Swampstud]

Also color choice has become critical to me too depending on water clarity, and bottom composition. Confidence is key too but is something that will come with experience on the water. For instance I take my gf out from time to time, well I started nailn'em on SB and JB, I bought her some smaller one for her spinning rod, same colors,lures line size. Whatever I could do to get her a few fish. Well we go out and under windy conditions I fish main lake points or where one lake dumps into another. I cought 4 she cought 0, we move on and im pointin out where she could possibly hook up, but never did. We are goin along and I catch a small one, she gets upset and says shes done, my very next cast I hook into a nice pig, it shoots at us, jumps and tosses the hook. As shes amazed she also gets upset and grabs the rod and casts out a few more times and nothin, puts her rod down and wham I set the hook just bout fell outta the boat lol. this happened 3 or 4 times that trip. its more than just tossin a lure out and reelin it in is what im sayin.

[LApanic]

A lot of people have been in your shoes including myself.

 

My background in bass fishing was spotty hear and there till I was 17 or 18.  I fished small creeks and farm ponds for pan fish and catfish 90% of the time and gradually started getting into the CHALLENGE of bass fishing still fishing ponds and the occasional small boat lake trip till I was 26.

 

Then I got married.  Just so happened my father in law had been a member of a 30-40 person bass club he help start in the mid 70s.  After we got married I fished more often with him, tournament style but still fun fishing.  I gathered a couple plueger bait casters with rods for 75-100 bucks for the combo.  I met a few guys from the club of elders, to be honest.  The couple guys ranging from 40-65 yo, made me feel comforable and just fish.  I didn't have to live up to the feeling that I needed 12-15 rods, bundles of tackle and honey holes. I still dont have a boat and been fishing non boater for 4 years in the club. I acquired a total of 6 rods and reels and enough tackle to catch fish, nothing tremendous by any means.  What I acquired the most that helped was knowledge from fishing on the back of the boat with guys that have been fishing competively for 20-30 years.  Become a human sponge and just learn and don't overdue anything.

 

I think my lack of a boat has helped in a way that I can fish a tournament day fully focused on fishing and not boat issues, gas and all the things that come along with owning a boat.  Its my 4th year in the club and feel like I can compete and climbed to the top 10 this year to fish our classic, which was my goal for the year.

 

Don't get me wrong, the long 8-9 hour days of hard fishing can beat you down the first 3-4 tournaments, especially if your not catching a lot if any fish.  Before you know if you will be enjoying fishing because your putting what you've learned into it and catch a paycheck or a decent weigh in.  Next thing you know, you will be waking up at 2-3am on Saturday...freaking amped to fish...then you're hooked.

 

Whether I fished on a larger scale later in life, I will always fish in a club and will enjoy a day on the water, good or bad.

 

Hope my experience helps