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[Greenfrog]

Good afternoon, I am getting back into fishing again after a long career working. I'm retired now and want to start fishing in tournaments. Wow the price of equipment and a boat these days is different from when I fished before. Can anyone give me some advice on what divisions to fish. I'm moving to Tennessee in October so ill be ready for the upcoming season. 

Thank you. 

[Mike L]

I wanted to do the same as you when I retired in ‘14. 
The first thing I did was to fish in a few local club and charity tournaments. 
I don’t own a boat so I entered as a co angler. 
 

From there I wanted to travel more so we bought a motor home which allowed me enter a few State and Regional Trails. 
I started fishing the TBF, then entered a few B.A.S.S. Nations and the BFL which I’m still doing. 
After some success at the State and Regional level at both, I wanted more. 
From there a few Opens and finally got invited to fish the Toyota Series.
 

One thing, it can get very expensive and the competition level as you “move up” gets tougher and tougher. 
I’ve been fortunate to have a few local and Nationally known sponsors that cover some of the costs but it took a few years 
 

I’m not saying the route I’m taking is ideal, 

the point is to start locally and if you get the itch, move on up from there. 
 

One thing…

The greatest learning experience I ever got was as a Marshall for the Elites. 
After 2 back surgeries I slowed down a bit but still Marshall when I can. 
 
Best of luck to you 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[RDB]

5 hours ago, Mike L said:

The first thing I did was to fish in a few local club

Great advice and an excellent way to get started.  I would assume there are tons of clubs in Tenn. and most are eager for new members.  It’s easy-peasy if you have a boat but if you fish co-angler, it may be difficult to find a consistent back of the boat.  Most decent clubs have pretty established boat parings…at least in our area.  Most clubs will let you try them out a time or two before joining (you will still pay entry fees).  I would test the waters before joining as there are some that are run poorly.

 

Edit:  Congrats on your retirement…I’m jealous.

[WRB]

California the only river lakes we have are the Colorado River lakes. TVA lakes are used for power generation and current is a major factor along with Smallmouth bass.

My advice is invest in a few guide trips to the lakes you plan to tournament fish. If you are a finesse angler that will pay dividends.

Enjoy your retirement and time on the water.

Tom

[Greenfrog]

On 6/28/2022 at 5:37 AM, Mike L said:

I wanted to do the same as you when I retired in ‘14. 
The first thing I did was to fish in a few local club and charity tournaments. 
I don’t own a boat so I entered as a co angler. 
 

From there I wanted to travel more so we bought a motor home which allowed me enter a few State and Regional Trails. 
I started fishing the TBF, then entered a few B.A.S.S. Nations and the BFL which I’m still doing. 
After some success at the State and Regional level at both, I wanted more. 
From there a few Opens and finally got invited to fish the Toyota Series.
 

One thing, it can get very expensive and the competition level as you “move up” gets tougher and tougher. 
I’ve been fortunate to have a few local and Nationally known sponsors that cover some of the costs but it took a few years 
 

I’m not saying the route I’m taking is ideal, 

the point is to start locally and if you get the itch, move on up from there. 
 

One thing…

The greatest learning experience I ever got was as a Marshall for the Elites. 
After 2 back surgeries I slowed down a bit but still Marshall when I can. 
 
Best of luck to you 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Mike thank you for the advice. I do believe that heading in the direction you went is ideal. Im looking now for a boat and will start everything up next season. 

 

On 6/28/2022 at 11:34 AM, RDB said:

Great advice and an excellent way to get started.  I would assume there are tons of clubs in Tenn. and most are eager for new members.  It’s easy-peasy if you have a boat but if you fish co-angler, it may be difficult to find a consistent back of the boat.  Most decent clubs have pretty established boat parings…at least in our area.  Most clubs will let you try them out a time or two before joining (you will still pay entry fees).  I would test the waters before joining as there are some that are run poorly.

 

Edit:  Congrats on your retirement…I’m jealous.

Thank you. I decided 40 years working is enough. I was looks at local clubs and starting there sounds like a good idea. Thank you again. 

On 6/28/2022 at 4:23 PM, WRB said:

California the only river lakes we have are the Colorado River lakes. TVA lakes are used for power generation and current is a major factor along with Smallmouth bass.

My advice is invest in a few guide trips to the lakes you plan to tournament fish. If you are a finesse angler that will pay dividends.

Enjoy your retirement and time on the water.

Tom

Thank you Tom. The advice is priceless. Thine to get my name in the tournament mix.

[SWVABass]

Look into the volunteer BFL division. I just started fishing it this year. Seems to pull in about 200 boaters every tournament . All three times o fished they were short on co anglers. I chip in about 40 for their fuel cost. I’ve had two good draws and one bad. But even he wasn’t horrible just hadn’t kept up with what this fish were doing and wanted to run a dead pattern. Hit me up if you have specific questions. Btw I live on the TN/VA line and I’m about 4 hr drive to all lakes they fish. Where in TN are you moving?

[Greenfrog]

SWVABASS,  thank you for comments. I am moving to the Johnson City area, maybe into Kentucky depending on my wife's job. I hope to do a little co-angling but my goal is to fish Major League Fishing Toyota series. Just need to pick out the boat. My wife's and I will be there in October. 

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, Robnkey said:

SWVABASS,  thank you for comments. I am moving to the Johnson City area, maybe into Kentucky depending on my wife's job. I hope to do a little co-angling but my goal is to fish Major League Fishing Toyota series. Just need to pick out the boat. My wife's and I will be there in October. 

That’s close to @SWVABass’s area.  Where ya coming from? The tri cities is a cool area, the weather can be pretty wild. Watauga lake is fun fishing if you can ride the waves 

[SWVABass]

@Robnkey to be a boater on the Toyota series is a huge investment. If it were me I would fish a couple of different BFL circuits to learn the lakes and such. Once your comfortable with that take the next step. Johnson city is a close drive to Douglas and Cherokee lakes, both usually have good fishing. Douglas I believe is where true TN river ledge fishing gets started and Cherokee is smallmouth heavy. I had fun fishing both in May. 
 

I have not been on watagua or Boone which are a good and a skip from JC. Also right up the river is south Holston which I’ve fished a hand full of times and can’t complain about the fishing there. Heavy smallmouths and plenty of large mouth to go around. Love the weather here deff get all four seasons. Johnson city seems to have more going on than the it’s sister cities but yea no income tax but hell TN loves their sales tax. 

[Greenfrog]

I know. I live in Washington State now and no state tax but the sales tax is off the hook. I definitely agree to fish the smaller venues. I'm a little older to keep up with those kids. I do know that I can fish so I have that going on. 

[BassNJake]

I'd also vote for the Volunteer BFL's.

It's a good mix of the lakes in this area.

Quite a few guides and Toyota series competitors fish the Volunteer BFL's

if you can hang at that level, you're pretty far up the food chain IMO