Getting ready to join a bass club

[jmcarriere]

I am getting ready to join a bass club as a non boater so that i can learn the issue i have is that right now i only have a med heavy fast 7' rod wit a 2500 series spinning reel i can not afford to buy 3 more rods at one time should i wait til i have more rods before i join or can i get by in a club with just the spinning setup

[Oregon Native]

More tackle and rods and reels come with time.  Just by joining a club you are going to have an outlay of funds just to fish their tourneys.  I assume your joining to learn so take what you have and enjoy the experience and gain knowledge from the others you get to fish with.  Enjoy and Tight Lines

[Hez]

Be careful OP...knowledge is expensive!!

 

Once you learn about all of the different techniques and equipment, you will want to own them all!!

 

[NHBull]

@Hez is right, but the the lessens learned can be invaluable.

 

I have a younger friend that was in a similar situation and he learned techniques that didn't interest him or wasn't applicable in his home lake.  So in this case he saved some money.

 

Side note........The boat owner doesn't expect much and has low expectations....relax, have fun, and learn the ropes.  That is what local clubs are about if they are looking for members 

[scaleface]

  My first bass club tournament I had a spinning reel mounted on an old Shakespeare Wonder rod and a Zebco mounted on a  piece of junk. Second tourney I had an Ambassadeur 5000 and a glass Speed stick , got lucky and won that event . So yeah , go ahead and join .

[WIGuide]

I'd say go ahead and join anyway. Just be aware of the financial obligation tied to the tournaments. If you can't meet that on your end, wait before you join. 

[jmcarriere]

12 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

I'd say go ahead and join anyway. Just be aware of the financial obligation tied to the tournaments. If you can't meet that on your end, wait before you join. 

 

1 hour ago, Oregon Native said:

More tackle and rods and reels come with time.  Just by joining a club you are going to have an outlay of funds just to fish their tourneys.  I assume your joining to learn so take what you have and enjoy the experience and gain knowledge from the others you get to fish with.  Enjoy and Tight Lines

I know what the financial end for the club is and i can afford that. I will also be able to afford a baitcasting setup before my first event. I had hand surgery a little over a month ago so right now i am one handed til beginning of august and will only get to do the last 4 events of the season

[Hot Rod Johnson]

Go for it now... Just buy some FootBall Jigs 1/4 Oz, and 3/8 Oz. In Black /Blue colors and some Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw 3" in colors of Black Blue Fleck and Pumpkin Green Flake... Then try drop shoting with Roboworm FX Sculpins 4", in Aarons Magic Rd & Blk Flk, and Morning Dawn Red Flake... You will need to pick up some dropshot weights 3/16 Oz, Drop/Split Shot Hooks size 1, and size 2... Spend your time learning how to fish on the bottom of the lakes and rivers. Start with the Dropshot set up first untill you have a two rod and reel set up... This way you don't have to keep switching your baits all the time...

[jmcarriere]

11 minutes ago, Hot Rod Johnson said:

Go for it now... Just buy some FootBall Jigs 1/4 Oz, and 3/8 Oz. In Black /Blue colors and some Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw 3" in colors of Black Blue Fleck and Pumpkin Green Flake... Then try drop shoting with Roboworm FX Sculpins 4", in Aarons Magic Rd & Blk Flk, and Morning Dawn Red Flake... You will need to pick up some dropshot weights 3/16 Oz, Drop/Split Shot Hooks size 1, and size 2... Spend your time learning how to fish on the bottom of the lakes and rivers. Start with the Dropshot set up first untill you have a two rod and reel set up... This way you don't have to keep switching your baits all the time...

You dont suggest getting senkos

[NorthwestBasser]

I was a non boater in my club for a while, and although I have a boat now, I still fish as a non boater in some tournaments. There is a lot to learn from the seasoned sticks you get paired up with in draw tournaments! Watch and learn, and if your boater doesn't mind, ASK QUESTIONS! the only drawback to fishing tournaments with only one set up, especially as a non boater, is not being able to throw different baits and techniques at a moment's notice. I'll be working a crankbait down a rocky bank and we roll up on a group of docks or some nice heavy cover and I'll drop the crank and have my pitchin stick ready to roll. Then look at the graph and see something interesting on the side scan and throw my dropshot in that direction. So, if your boater is clipping along at a power fish pace and all you have is crank bait tied on, when you got those weedy grassy areas you're s.o.l.... and by the time you tie on your t rigged senko, you've passed the grassy flat and are back to rip rap banks... the upside is sometimes committing to a technique is the best practice, certainly when it's your confidence bait. Check your club's by-laws, in my club the nonboater gets his choice of water for half the time, so if all you wanna do is drop shot, you can choose to fish where that is appropriate. Having said that, as a non, I've never dictated where my boater captains HIS boat. But I could if I wanted, and would if he was being a jerk all day. I'll take us out to 60foot depths and drop a bare hook for 5 hrs!!.  Haha... ( I would never do that)

 

Join the club, it's a lot of fun and a great learning opportunity 

[NHBull]

Great point!  If paired with a gunner, set up a Texas rigged senko and hang on.

You can use that in most applications 

[Hot Rod Johnson]

On Wednesday, July 05, 2017 at 9:33 PM, jmcarriere said:

You dont suggest getting senkos

 

Yes pick up some 4" Yamamoto Senko in Classic Watermelon, Green Pumpkin Lg Red flake and Green Pumpkin Purple Flake... Senko's  can be "Wacky Rigged", you can even "Nail Weight" the "Nose" to give it a different action... Forget the O-Rings and find yourself a Clear Milkshake Straw. Cut about a 1/4" off it. Slit it open then wrap it around the center of the worm for wacky rigging. Now hook through the straw and the worm.

[Sam]

Join the club and keep eyes and ears open.

 

Keep a notebook of what you heard and saw.

 

Ask questions and learn from every tournament.

 

Have fun and make each outing an adventure.

[BassGirl71]

I agree with what others have said.  Definitely join a club! They are great places to learn and, honestly, as a nonboater, you don't always have a lot of room for tackle and multiple rods anyway.  Just be prepared to retie often when you want to change baits. Keep your eyes and ears open and learn everything you can.  The best part, I found, about being a nonboater was the  opportunity to learn from so many different people who all had different styles.  It's the best way to start out, I think.  

[jmcarriere]

1 hour ago, BassGirl71 said:

I agree with what others have said.  Definitely join a club! They are great places to learn and, honestly, as a nonboater, you don't always have a lot of room for tackle and multiple rods anyway.  Just be prepared to retie often when you want to change baits. Keep your eyes and ears open and learn everything you can.  The best part, I found, about being a nonboater was the  opportunity to learn from so many different people who all had different styles.  It's the best way to start out, I think.  

 I have joined the club i will only be able to do 4 eventz this year as i am 1 handed for the next month now i need to decide if i want to get another set up before my girst event or a few more pieces of tackle

[BassGirl71]

Go with more tackle. 

[Fishes in trees]

Many boaters have "spare" or "borrowers" rigs, to lend out if the co-angler is short on gear.  I know I do.  I haven't fished tournaments for a while, but I take out rookies enough times per year to have spare gear.  When you get paired up with a boater you might inquire, or inquire at the pre-tournament if anyone has any gear they'd be ok with lending.

 

My only rule was/ is that I DO NOT lend any rig that is in the starting line up.  Basically if a first string rod gets torn up I want to be the guy to do it.  I don't mind lending rigs that have been rotated out of the starting line up.  When I was fishing BFL as a co-angler I'd show up with 15 or 18 rods and wouldn't make the decision on which 5 or 6 rods I was taking until after the tournament meeting and I had an idea of the plan for tomorrow.

 

Club tournaments are ok to learn, there comes a time when you've got to decide are you there to learn or are you there for the camaraderie.   In my case, after 2 years, (and I knew it after the 1st year) I realized that all I was going to learn in the club was how to ride around and throw baits at the bank.   I already knew how to throw baits at the bank.  I started doing BFL because for roughly the same amount of money, I was interacting with a more knowledgable group of fishermen, who didn't mind sharing information (This differed from the club, where every location was "secret").  Club fishing go old when every tournament you got "don't tell so and so where we fished". . ..

Good luck

[jmcarriere]

1 hour ago, Fishes in trees said:

Many boaters have "spare" or "borrowers" rigs, to lend out if the co-angler is short on gear.  I know I do.  I haven't fished tournaments for a while, but I take out rookies enough times per year to have spare gear.  When you get paired up with a boater you might inquire, or inquire at the pre-tournament if anyone has any gear they'd be ok with lending.

 

My only rule was/ is that I DO NOT lend any rig that is in the starting line up.  Basically if a first string rod gets torn up I want to be the guy to do it.  I don't mind lending rigs that have been rotated out of the starting line up.  When I was fishing BFL as a co-angler I'd show up with 15 or 18 rods and wouldn't make the decision on which 5 or 6 rods I was taking until after the tournament meeting and I had an idea of the plan for tomorrow.

 

Club tournaments are ok to learn, there comes a time when you've got to decide are you there to learn or are you there for the camaraderie.   In my case, after 2 years, (and I knew it after the 1st year) I realized that all I was going to learn in the club was how to ride around and throw baits at the bank.   I already knew how to throw baits at the bank.  I started doing BFL because for roughly the same amount of money, I was interacting with a more knowledgable group of fishermen, who didn't mind sharing information (This differed from the club, where every location was "secret").  Club fishing go old when every tournament you got "don't tell so and so where we fished". . ..

Good luck

I am doing it to learn. I will probably always be a co angler as i may never be able to afford a boat but you never know