Your worst Tourney?

[Prisoner 13]

Hey guy's & gals!

Just wondering what are some of your worst tx?

Just fished saturday as a non boater and man it couldav been better!

I think we just fished too fast, I really hate going home, thinkin that we couldav done better.

[CODbasser]

everyone has bad tournaments...no big deal..it really sucks not getting in the money

[Sam]

I am not proud of what i did after the tournament as it caused one of our bass club members to leave the club.

I know how to fish the Chickahominy River in Virginia plus I went prefishing with a friend who is outstanding on the Chick River before the tournament so I had places to go and lures to throw.

We started out at Rock-A-Hoc and I took the boater, since I was a nonboater for the tournament, across from the ramp to fish the pads along the western river bank.

He caught one keeper on a frog and I missed one on a Rage Tail.

Now here is the problem:  He knew where he wanted to fish.  He did not want to go anyplace I wanted to go.

So we spent over four (4) hours in Shipwreck Creek fishing the same spot.  We never moved.  Same spot for four (4) hours.

He did not have polarized sunglasses so he did not believe me when I saw a bass by the tree we were fishing.  I told him where it was but he did not do anything until the bass went after a minnow. He then went ballistic and caught his second keeper.

He would not position the boat so I could fish the best places in the area nor cast to the tree's area and the crabs were eating my plastics.  I never got a bite.

One of the other bass club members came into the creek; passed by us and fished up creek; left the creek; and then returned in about two and a half hours and was surprised to see us still in the same place.

After leaving Shipwreck Creek we headed to the dam and I caught my first fish of the day.

A total disaster for me.

I went ballistic at the weigh-in and made a scene with other club members.  I was sorry I had done this after I cooled down but the damage was done.

The boater's brother-in-law scolded the guy because the guy had no idea of how to fish the Chick River and he should have gone as a nonboater.

The boater and I are still friends but I must admit, it was the worst tournament of my life.  >

[Derek Chance]

"I really hate going home, thinkin that we couldav done better."

Sounds about right.  Looks like you are on the right track.  Maybe we should partner up.  

[Prisoner 13]

Thank's!  I am shur it couldav been worse. For me it seems hard to make the change from boater to nonboater?

[etommy28]

this weekend, I had a partner sat. who fished so fast, and one sunday fishing very slow, it was a federation qualifier and did not catch a keeper either day. I have had other bad tournies, but this is the most recent.

[Fish Chris]

My worst tourney ?!?! Ha ! Let's see if anybody can top this one !

First off, I've never been the slightest bit competitive, and never had any desire whatsoever, to fish a tournament.

But about 20 years ago, I let a buddy talk me into fishing one. They were having a boater / non-boater tourney, and were short on non-boaters. So, here we are picking names from a hat, to see who fishes with who. Now in this arrangement, the boater and non-boater were fishing against each other (supposedly to keep each other honest). I pick this guy (I still remember his name, but won't repeat it here) a big, buffed, black guy, that most guys probably wouldn't want to start any garbage with. He seemed like a nice enough guy though.

So, we get out on the water, and he noses up to each of the best spots, getting all of the "first shots"..... but he was not catching $#!+ ! So, he'd turn around, I'd fire out a cast behind him (I was throwing spinnerbaits.... So was he... don't know why he wasn't catching any) and Pow ! I'd stick one !

To make a long story short, I backseated the crap out of this guy in his own boat ! He caught 1 small keeper. I caught 7, culled two, and my big fish was over 5 lbs.

So, at about 3pm I ask him, "Don't we have to be back to the ramp by 4pm" ? He says, "we have plenty of time". Okay. So I ask him again at about 3:30pm.... He says, "Oh, the weigh in is not until 5pm". Hmmmm. I sure thought they said 4pm :-/

So, at about 4:15pm, we run back to the ramp. My buddy is standing on the ramp asking, "Where were you guys" ? We were about to go looking for you ! The weigh-in was at 4pm ! So your already disqualified !

My heart just sank :-( So I tell my buddy, "Well wait until you see the 5 fish I have in the live well" !

So the boater tells me, "Ah man, I'm really sorry... I thought they said 5pm" {my buddy tells me later that this guy had fished with this club for at least two years, and every tourney they ever had, ended at 4pm, besides a couple half day Sunday things, which ended at noon, for a B-B-Q}

Then he asks me if I could bring his truck down to the ramp, so we could pull the boat out (I felt like purposely crashing it !) but I went and got it anyway.

When I got back down to the ramp, I was like, "Where the heck did he go" ? So I'm looking all over and finally I see him 400 yards away, coming back to the ramp at full speed !?!? Huh ?

So, we pull the boat out, and I start digging in the livewell, to show my buddies my fish....... and that wretched had dumped my two biggest fish !

It was bad enough that the scum-bag piece of crap got us purposely disqualified, but then he didn't even want to let anyone see what I had caught ! Or should I say.... Didn't want everyone in his club to see how bad this non-boater had backseated him ! Urgggggggg !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So anyway, I know this guy was just an exceptional @$hole, but the whole thing is, I never really wanted to fish tourneys anyway..... Then I let a buddy talk me into one, and this is what I get !

BTW, it was a tough tourney for most. I would have ended up with at least a 2nd place + big fish :-(

Never again.

Peace,

Fish

[Catt]

March 24th, 1979 Hemphill Bass Club Lowe's Creek Park Toledo Bend Reservoir

Shotgun start at 6:28 am

Weather: Artic cold front blew in with winds NE 20-25 mph with gust to 30 at takeoff by the time our boat and another made the 10 mile run north to Palo Gaucho Creek the winds had risen to 30-35 with gust to 40.

While in a protected cove in Palo Gaucho we could here the winds hollowing but were totally unaware of just how bad it was. With 45 minutes remaining until weight in the 4 of us discussed making the run back to Lowe's Creek Park; the boats were a 1979 Champion Special Edition Super V and a 1979 Skeeter Boats HP-150 Wrangler both powered by Mercury 150s which at the time were state of the art. I told everyone if there is going to be a problem it will be when we reach Rebel Ridge. For those who don't know Toledo Bend, Rebel Ridge is straight up bluffs that are about 30-35'high and when the wind is at the precise angle the waves bound back off the bluff.

Well we leave the protected cove headed into Palo Gaucho and every thing is fine with waves 3-4' but that is soon to change as we hit the main lake. Now the waves are 5-6' but swells not chop so it's an easy up one side down the other until we reach Rebel Ridge. As we motor up one wave and down the other side I notice a back wash of the ridge that is at least 8' in height. The only reaction time we had was to bend down putting out head between our knees; needless to say we spear the back wash dead at the bottom filling the Champion to the gunnels. The instant we clear the wave I'm standing in the bow yelling at Tommy not to standup because that would pull the kill switch, I told him to aim the boat for the bluff.

With wave now crashing the boat against the bluff we get out of the boat standing in waist deep of water on a ledge about 4' wide and then it's 40' deep. By now the waves are lifting the boat above our heads and slamming it down on the ledge as we try keeping it away from us. In between waves we push the boat 15 yards around the end of the bluff and into smooth water. We crawl back into the boat and wait for the bilge pump to empty the boat, by now Tommy is completely freaked and tells me to drive. So I sit behind the wheel trim the motor all the way down and try to jump up on plan but the Champion sit up on its tail but will not fall over. Again I try to her up but no go so I trim the motor all the way up and walk back to have a look and one blade of the Stainless Steel prop is bend at about 45 degrees. After trimming back down I find we can idle the last couple miles back to my camp in the mouth of Lowe's Creek.

[Prisoner 13]

this weekend, I had a partner sat. who fished so fast, and one sunday fishing very slow, it was a federation qualifier and did not catch a keeper either day. I have had other bad tournies, but this is the most recent.

Neither of ya caught fish?

Fish Chris, I have had to take the rod out of a guy's hand because it was "Time to go!" he was cathing dink and didn't wanna stop.

Catt , amazing story!

[jiggerpole]

Fish Cris, I think I might have had to accidently break all the tips off his rods.

[CODbasser]

catt your story reminded me of a federation tournament my brother and i fished on buggs island/ kerr reservoir on the va nc border...it was horrible...we were dealing with 6 to 8 foot swells...the first on we speared just got us wet....the second one ripped the front locater and the locator/ gps out of the brackets and pulled all of the wires out of them...the rod strap that was holding the rods down on the drivers side ended up in my brothers lap and he got hooked in neck...we had to bail water with a small cooler and it was freezing..i think it was march seventh last year....we nearly sunk his custom norris craft...i think thats the closest ive ever been to having hypothermia...we were able to make it back to launch ramp though....we hit the swells coming around the mouth of grassy creek...alot of other guys had similar problems that day....scarey!!! i cant imagine being pinned up against a cliff like you were!!

[fishfordollars]

1984 on Rayburn. No fish, spent a night in the woods(Boat had been pushed up on the bank due to wave height), took a boat to drag it back into the water when they located me at 9:00am the next morning(No cell phone back then).  Cold, wet, but glad to have made it.

[Banor]

Douglas Lake, Tennessee - April 2007

I had a great practice, executing perfectly during the tournament.  I'm in the top 5 going into the last day.  As it turns out I would have only needed 11 pounds to win the tournament.

I blast off first boat in the second flight and get 5 miles down the river when my powerhead blows.  I'm nowhere near my area and the wind/current are pushing me 10 times harder toward open water than my trolling motor on 100% can keep up with.  I manage to momentarily get into a cut sort of protected from the wind and catch 2 good fish for about 5 pounds.  

About this time I'm blown out of the cut and into open water.  The waves are 3 foot and the wind is brutal.  So I call for a tow and within a half hour it arrives.  The launch is right up by the dam so I figure if I can get towed near the launch I may be able to fish the dam for the rest of the day and maybe luck into 3 more fish.

So an hour later I'm on the trolling motor fishing just out from the dam.  There are 3 other boats in the area so I figure I might actually be around some fish.  About 5 casts later my trolling motor shaft drops straight down and the shaft and motor are dangling from the head by 3 wires.  Meanwhile, I have no control and I'm quickly moving toward the dam!!

I start screaming at the top of my lungs for help and this idiot about 100 yards from me just waves at me.  Fortunately I fish the Great Lakes alot and have an emergency flag and flares stowed in the boat as required by law if you are fishing a body of water where it's possible to be so far out that you cant see land.

This idiot finally gets the idea that I may be in trouble.... might have been the emergency flag and flare I've got waving in my hand.  So he tows me to the ramp and my day is officially done with 2 fish in the livewell.

As I said at the beginning of the post, I would have only needed 11 pounds to win.  I ended up 1 spot out of the money and actually $6000.00 in the negative with the new powerhead and trolling motor.

I hope for my sake that this will be my worst tournament ever.

B

[Tuckman]

My worst tourny was last summer on a Cayuga Lake Avon Anglers Tournament...I had a really good bag, and the big fish for the tournament...

But...

...The reason my bag was so heavy was because I lost count of the fish in our livewell and weighed in a 6 fish bag in a 5 fish tourny...The rules said I had to put one fish back starting with my biggest fish, so I had to let a 5.88 worth 350$ swim away. You can bet I will never let that happen again...I joke about it now, but it wasn't funny at the time, especially to my partner, haha, good thing I own the boat.

The sad thing is that I have been doing 10-20 tournies a year for over 5 years now, you would think I would know to always do a head count before weigh in.

Tommy Biffle did the same thing in a BASS tournament years ago so at least I'm in good company. lol

[SDoolittle]

I entered a Federation Nation tournament as a nonboater. As soon as I meet my boater he starts talking about how he knows a lot of the people here and doesn't like any of them. He then goes on to explain that he doesn't like B.A.S.S. and how much better FLW is. I'm wondering, if he dislikes B.A.S.S. and all these people so much, why doesn't he go find an FLW tournament? So it's raining like heck and very cold March temperatures and of course we make an hour long run from end of the lake to the other. When we  stop he tells me that he dislikes draw tournaments because he hates bringing strangers to his spots. I told him not to worry about me because I had been buried so deep in my parka on the ride in that I have no idea where we were. Finally, we start fishing and of course he's one of these guys who wants to spend all day telling me what I'm doing wrong. All day I listened to him gripe and complain about everything imaginable. Then he absolutely threw a fit when he lost a fish at the boat. He blamed me for losing his fish, but he was trying to horse it in and never got it close to the net. At the end of the day I was cold, wet, and annoyed with this guy to the point that I was about to swear off tournament fishing forever. But then we weighed in and I took first place and big bass in the nonboaters division. It was my first tournament check and someone told me that it was customary to give the boater a cut. I started to walk across tha parking lot toward him, but he jumped in his truck, slammed the door, and sped away!

[SDoolittle]

Fish Chris, I had experience similar to yours, only my boater decided to go in several hours early when I was spanking him five fish to one.

[Prisoner 13]

Great reads! Sounds like i have been lucky after all.

[Dalton Tam]

My worst tournament was last year at Saline/Larto complex in Deville, LA. It was a highschool tournament and I was looking for a partner to fish with. I asked around and finally this guy walks up and says I'll fish with you. Without asking him how much he knew about bass fishing I took him as he was.

First off I later found out that he had only caught one bass in his life and that was on a jig pole crappie fishing. Everyone called him Bubba Parham and he was a nightmare of a fisherman.

He shows up to my house the night before with an ultralight bream fishing rod with about 5lb tes. I knew right then it was going to be a long day. When we got out on the water he didn't seem to know how to tie his knot because his bait came off his line and kept flying into the trees. I had found fish the day before and knew I was on good count.

But after babysitting this fool all day long I was frustrated and every bassfisherman knows that you can't catch fish when you're angry.

I ended up catching 3 of our five fish limit and went to the weigh in thinking we were atleast in 3rd place. The tournament only pays three places and I thought we had third for sure.

That was until the last guys weighed in 10 onehundreths of an ounce more than my weight.

It's bad enough not making it into the money but when your that close it really gets under your skin.

That has to be the worst tournament of my life. >