My first tournament

[Susky River Rat]

I did my first fishing tournament yesterday. 4 fish per boat 15” min to put in the livewell. It was a local buddy tournament. It was on a hard to fish and very pressured lake.

 

There were 30 boats on a 1,200 acre lake.  I drew boat 7. I was very underpowered compared to most running a 115/80 jet. I thought I’d be getting a decent advantage in the race to the no wake area. I sucked some leafs onto my grate upon take off. Which is basically like hitting neutral. Dealing with this issues I felt like a deer trying to cross a highway with boats flying at me as I’m dead in the water.
 

We get to our first area. My buddies one reel

broke.  I hook up with a decent bass and it wraps me up underneath a log in the water. I eventually lose the fish but, get my jig back. I watched how everyone was fishing. Nobody else was killing it. I made the choice to use my shallow drafting boat to sit in inches of water and cast out the opposite of everyone else. My thought was these fish are extremely  pressured so doing this might be the different look we need. We did end up catching a none score-able bass, a decent walleye and a catfish. Which, I have never been so let down to catch a walleye before.

 

I would do another one. I learned a lot. Time management is key and I think for my first one I did well with that. I did enjoy that fact I had to think more and keep my head in to fishing. I would have felt much more confident doing it on the river than that lake. It’s not something I would want to do all the time but, once or twice a year would be alright.

[TnRiver46]

Thanks for the write up. There are two thing I don’t like about tourneys. 1) I cant catch enough to win 2) you have to pay 😂 

[Susky River Rat]

@TnRiver46 I just wanted the experience of it.  I figured I had no chance haha 

[TnRiver46]

It’s a wild ride! 

[Susky River Rat]

@TnRiver46 you aren’t kidding.

[J Francho]

I treat tournaments the same as rec fishing.  Just have fun, and stay focused on what is happening with the fish around you.  Don't worry about the rest of the pack - do what you do best and enjoy.  It works out more often that not.  Definitely don't count on winning or cashing a check.  Have fun, enjoy the fellowship, and accept the results of competition.

[Captain Phil]

I enjoyed reading about your first tournament experience.  Brought back some great memories for me.  Fishing tournaments aren't for everyone.  Everyone likes to win.  Losing is not something just anyone can handle well.  Take your time, have fun and don't let your ego influence your fishing.  Even the greatest anglers in the world lose from time to time.  Tournaments give you a chance to see how your results stack up with other anglers.  Some people would rather not know.  You will see things and learn things that you will never learn or see on your own.  On any given day, you can be a winner or a loser.  The most valuable lessons I learned from tournaments were from other anglers.  You can often learn more sitting in the back of someone's boat than fishing in the front. 

[Susky River Rat]

@Captain Phil I mean yeah I wanted to win but, it was not my sole purpose of doing it. I wanted to understand how the whole competitive side works. It was good trading stories,tricks,tips with people who are passionate about fishing. Most of them were guys who compete regularly. It was a completely different crowd than I am used to being around at a boat ramp. They were much more serious. Not unapproachable just more serious about everything to do with fishing than the normal people I run into.

[WRB]

Half the boats in a local team event are doing what you did, just enjoying the competition and not serious tournament anglers. Half are experienced club bass anglers out to win and skilled on the water you are fishing.

If I am paying to play my goal is enjoy the outing but stay focused on catching bass using presentations I have confidence using.

1. Clean and tune your tackle and use fresh line.

2. Be prepared with back up tackle and lures.

3. Study the lake by researching past event winning catches.

4. Make sure your tackle is organized and boat is ready. Time is limited so wasting it only creates frustration and losing focus.

5. Have fun, don’t get wired over things out of your control.

Catch bass.

Tom

[Susky River Rat]

@WRB great advice! I would say 75% of those guys fish that lake every Tuesday in a club tournament. So they have that lake dialed. I am hoping to try my luck in a river tournament where I feel much more at home. 
 

I did get the chance to do some prefishing the Friday before. I did get on some fish but nothing that would have been score-able

 

. I am willing to bet the ones who did well had a great open water game. Which I was lacking on by not having an operational bow sonar.  Kind of a long story but, I only found out about it the Monday evening before when I picked up my new boat.

[J Francho]

Man, you gotta ignore all the ramp stuff.  It's a bunch of junk that should be completely ignored.  Perfectly nice people turn into turds at the ramp before and after a tournament.  Be your best self, and take all of it with a grain of salt.  There's a ton of subterfuge coming from some competitors that seems baffling to me, considering the energy they put into it.  Dumb things like hiding what they have tied on or putting "dummy baits" out for everyone to see to outright lying about where they were or what they threw.  It's silly.  There's no secrets in bass fishing, so you aren't going to learn anything new.  Don't get me wrong, there are some genuinely good dudes out there.  Until you know who they are, just stick to your guns and what you do best.

[Catt]

Eye opener huh 😉

 

Ya wanna see all you spots dry up instantly?

 

Throw your entry fee on the table!

 

Like @J Francho said it's you against the lake so ignore the other anglers.

 

I've read enough of your post, you know what you're doing. I know it sounds like a "cliché" but fish to your strengths. 

[FryDog62]

I’m not a tournament veteran, but I’ve told others a good way to ease into the tournament scene (at least it was for me) is to enter a well-run charity tournament. It’s competitive, but it’s not. Everyone is usually pretty friendly and you raise money for a good cause.
 

You may not win any money, but there can be some really good prizes. You also get the whole tournament prep process down as well as on the water experience with the clock running. 
 

 

[gim]

I'd get my butt whipped in an organized tournament amongst 25 other boats.  I know I would.

 

I do however fish in a couple local derbies with friends/co-workers each August and September against a couple other boats.  We always do it on a small lake for 4 hours and then go out for beers and lunch after our weigh in.  I have won a few times, and I have lost a few times.  That's good enough for this guy.

 

I won both in 2023.  Beer goes down smoother when its free.

[Susky River Rat]

@J Francho it was just good banter between these guys nothing serious. More like “can you beleive my wife scratched the side of my boat and blamed it on the wake it was an electric only lake though how much wake was there?”.  I learned through musky fishing most fishermen don’t do anything different than the other. It’s just are the fish there active when you are. 
 

@Catt I do try to fish my strengths all the time not that I won’t venture out but, I do not try to reinvent the wheel. They are going to eat what I’m giving them or not. 

[WRB]

^^^^last sentence is a death sentence^^^^

Try different presentations and lures during a decent bite fun fishing,it’s how we learn.

Tom

[Zcoker]

It just competition, just like any other form of competition. They'll be talk jocks, wanna bees, banter, all kinds of things going on. Just have to stay focused, streamlined, be cool and collective. Smile hard, fish hard, and next time do what you gotta do to win, that's all. 

[WVU-SCPA]

You have to be located semi close to me.  Our south central PA lakes are tough when it comes to tournaments as they are small bodies of water with only so many options and usually several guys are dialed in on a bite.

 

I fished my first derby 7 years ago.  Outside catching fish, the people have been the best part of all it. 
There's a decent group of guys running a few of the trails, find your niche you like.  I enjoy the spectrum of people that show up, from guy in a $1,000 boat to the guy that has no clue what he is doing with a 70k rig.

 

I would love to fish a tournament at Goldsboro sometime, the river is not my expertise. 

 

I've been debating about fishing the final one of the year Saturday, but rain, wind, and a low of 32 will most likely keep me home.

[Susky River Rat]

@WVU-SCPA I am sure I am fairly close. I’m about half way between Harrisburg and blue marsh. 
 

this was a FSC tournament but, a lot do the berks county bass masters were there. Most guys had the 60-100k boats. A handful of dudes with cheaper boats than mine. 
 

I have never fished Goldsboro or the airport stretch. It’s on my list to do I have just never done it. I will fish Falmouth, from dock street up to fort hunter. I am still trying to dial in that stretch. I’ve had decent days but, nothing wow like I know can be done. I’ve also played around on the north branch a little bit as well.

 

From what I have been told Goldsboro fishes more like a lake till you get up towards the top of TMI. With the river being kind of low it may be tricky with a prop to get out of there into the main river.
 

it is suppose to be nasty so far. I am working Saturday morning and if it’s not raining/ the wind forecast changes I will probably head out later in the day.

[WVU-SCPA]

2 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

I will fish Falmouth, from dock street up to fort hunter.

Spent time on the trout streams just north of there, but haven't hit the river north of Goldsboro.  I don't have the confidence/knowledge/or gear to run the river like some guys do.  Goldsboro can fish more like a lake, there is a solid population of green bass that can be located. 

 

I'm south of Harrisburg in the land of electric only and restricted hp lakes.  

[Susky River Rat]

@WVU-SCPA knowledge helps but, the gear is key. I don’t know what rig you have but, it can get super dicey even in a jet. Around 5’ you can slowly bop around with a prop with little to no issues.

 

When I still had a prop on my old boat I fished Marburg a lot for musky. Once I got my jet I rarely ever visit an electric only lake. I am certainly not going to drive 1.5 hours anymore to use electric like I used to.

[WVU-SCPA]

4 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

Marburg a lot for musky

Marburg is down about 13' and several launches are unusable including the main launch.  Haven't heard alot on the musky front.

 

I used to wade below the 30 bridge on a regular basis, not sure I'll ever take a propped boat anywhere but the more "lakey" areas like Goldsboro or Conowingo as some of those rocks come out of nowhere. 

[Susky River Rat]

@WVU-SCPA 13’ yikes! A guy made a joke out of that place with FFS a couple years ago for musky.

 

i had my old boat around the 462 and 30 bridge before. Was pretty low. Seems like great wading area.  I can be to that Columbia launch in about an hour. I have never fished the conwingo reservoir  but I have gone below it at lapidum ramp.