Weekend Fisherman
To a
Tournament Fisherman
 Prior
to March of 2001, I was content with going to a local pond from time to time
to try to catch a few fish. I didn’t really care what I caught. I just
wanted to relax and have a little fun, and if I was lucky enough to catch a
couple of nice crappie for supper, that was even better. I’ve fished from
boats, shore lines, and docks, and just about any other means you can
imagine. I even owned a bass boat back in the early 80’s. and prior to that,
fished from a tube for a while. When I had my boat, I spent many hours
fishing under lights, after dark for sand bass and crappie, and we would
catch them by the boatloads.
One evening, I was minding my own business, watching TV with the wife, and
the phone rang. It was my long time, but long lost friend from high
school. We were inseparable for a lot of years, but we gradually started
going our own ways. He called a couple of years ago and we went fishing a
time or two, and then for different reasons, we had a hard time getting back
together again. That is, until the phone rang that evening.
“Hey”, he said. “I’ve got a proposition for you”. We’ve always got along
well together, and we make good fishing partners, and our competitiveness
always reached it’s peak when we were fishing. “How would you like to join a
small bass club and be my partner and fish bass tournaments?” he said. I
should have never picked up the phone that night! At least that is what my
wife thinks. As for me, that was the start of an adventure. My idea of
fishing was about to change forever!
At the time, I had only two reels I felt were fit for serious bass fishing,
and they were Garcia 5000C’s bought back in the early 70’s, and the rods were
around the same vintage. I had some spinning stuff, and an ultra-light
outfit I really liked to use when messing with the perch and crappie, but
definitely not designed for large bass.
Well, it just so happened the next tournament was scheduled for a Saturday 1
½ weeks away, and that was the weekend my family and I were headed for
Branson, Missouri for a mini vacation. I missed that first tournament, but
that gave me a reason to go up to Springfield while we were that close and go
through the Bass Pro Shop. That was just the beginning. Since that time I
have spent a small fortune on reels, rods, spinnerbaits, soft plastics,
crankbaits, etc. Now, I usually take 8 – 10 rods, none of which are the two
I started with, and, I can hardly lift my tackle bag into the boat. Is all
of that necessary? Probably not, but you never know what the preferred diet
will be on any given day/lake, so it’s nice to have just a large variety to
choose from, and I prefer to have as many different choices tied on ready to
go on the different rods. Time is critical, and you don’t want to waste time
re-tying all day long.
 That
first tournament I went to was scheduled for Lake Hugo. I had never fished
it, nor had I heard much about it. Of course the same thing was true of most
of the lakes we were about to fish. Since I had sold my boat back around
1983, I mostly fished farm ponds. Never the less, I was ready. At the time,
I was still only sporting the two old Garcia 5000’s, I loaded up my new, but
only half full tackle bag stocked with new artificials, hard plastics, soft
plastics, spinnerbaits, and more. I was ready for anything,,,,,, I
thought!
We pre-fished on Friday, and aside from a little bit of a wind problem, we
did pretty well. We found some fish, but had to go up the river to do so.
Later, when we got to our hotel, we prepared our gear for the next day, and
hit the sack, only to be awakened an hour earlier than our alarm was set,
(which was already way too early in my opinion). Yep, you got it! One major
thunderstorm was rumbling through southeastern Oklahoma. I was so wet before
the day was out, there was not a stitch of dry clothes on me. The bad part
about it; I had a rain suit on, and my soaking did not come from the rain.
When we left to go back up the river, the wind was up even more, and as we
snaked our way through the standing timber, wave after wave of water came
across the bow of the boat. Boy am I having fun now! Soaked to the bone!
So cold, I could hardly move! And to top it all off, no fish to weigh! Yep,
I’m definitely having fun now! Or at least, I tried to convince myself I
was!
And to think, all of this started when I was warm, dry and cozy, sitting next
to my wife watching TV. What was I thinking! Actually, believe it or not,
even with all of the mishaps on that first trip, I WAS having fun, and it
hasn’t stopped yet.
Every tournament we have had new opportunities to overcome. There is one
phrase I have burned into my memory, and I robbed it from the Boy Scouts of
America; Be Prepared! If the weatherman says it will be 85 degrees and no
chance of rain, you’re and idiot if you do not bring long johns and rain
gear. Our wives make fun of all the gear we bring each time we leave, “All
that just for two days? Ha, ha, ha!”, they would shout…
Oh, I almost forgot to mention our mode of transportation. Neither of us
are anywhere near rich. The bass boat I had in the early 80’s is long gone,
and my partner’s boat, even though there is nothing wrong with it, gets
plenty of laughs. It is a 17.5 foot aluminum bass boat with a 75 hp engine,
but we were the slowest boat in the club and everyone would pass us before we
were out of sight from the ramp. We were extremely lucky that first year on
our draws for take off positions. We rarely were lower than the top five
places, but because of our speed and even though my partner had been in the
club a while, as a team, we were the rookies, and as such, we found ourselves
the center of a lot of practical jokes. I remember one tournament where some
guys went to a restaurant to have seafood. The next morning we were waiting
our turn to launch, and the tournament directors were checking live wells, as
usual,, (just to keep everyone honest). As a joke, they told us we were
disqualified from the tournament – we already had fish in the live well.
Needles to say, we didn’t know what was going on, but we weren’t going to
just stand there and take it either! Then they disclosed the evidence;
leftover crab legs from the seafood restaurant. Everyone laughed! Everyone
but us, that is….But we did get to fish that day. On our next trip, we had
learned our lesson with the crab legs, and we had started checking our live
well every morning before we left for the ramp. My partner went to check the
well one morning only to find about a 25 pound spoon bill laying in the floor
of the boat. We suspect they tried to get it in the live well, but it was
just too big to get it in the small well on the boat.
Tournament fishing is not for everyone. It’s hard work! I know. You’re
sitting there saying to yourself, “fishing is hard work? How stupid does he
think I am?” Well it may not be the most physically demanding sport in the
word, but it does have it’s demands. I don’t know how many times I had to
set the alarm for 2 AM just to get dressed, get loaded and get to the lake
in time to pre-fish to check out the early bite. Or by the end of the day,
when my arm is so weary from casting, I’m wondered just how many casts I had
made that day; 2,000, 3,000, maybe more? Or how many times I was chilled to
the bone, and I couldn’t feel my fingers any longer. Or maybe every stitch
of clothing I had on was soaked from the rain. Or the times I was burnt to a
crisp by the sun after fishing two days in 100 degree plus weather. Or maybe
the times I was so sleepy I couldn’t keep my eyes open to drive home, so I’m
trading off with my teammate every 30 minutes for 200 miles.
No, tournament fishing is not for everyone, but if it is right for you. You
will know it immediately. It won’t matter if the live well has a 5 fish
limit and they’re all over the slot, it won’t matter if you’ve got a 8 lb.
black just waiting to bring out at the last minute to grab big bass, it
doesn’t matter if you only have one little barely a keeper bass
to weigh. You will be having fun. You may be like me and rekindle a
friendship that had been dormant for several years, or maybe strengthen an
existing one, or perhaps start a brand new friendship. Plus the new friends
you make from all the other teams in the club. The camaraderie and
fellowship, and the competition, all make up what can be one of the most
satisfying things a guy can do in his life.
I
no sooner get back from one tournament before I start preparing for the
next. I may be so tired I can’t keep my eyes open, but I’m already thinking
about what baits to tie on, or where would be the best place to start, or I
need to get a map to start studying the layout of the lake, etc. Every
tournament presents new memories, that will last a lifetime, and as I’ve
grown older, I’ve discovered those memories are treasures. Time lost is time
gone, and when you start to roll down the other side of that hill,
you want those memories to ring loudly in your mind. There are very few
things in life more enjoyable than taking off for your honey hole, fishing as
hard as you can all day, weighing you fish, and hearing your name called when
they announce the teams that placed. That is what it is all about. Not
beating the other teams! Beating the lake! The satisfaction of knowing you
had a successful day, and you beat the lake. You don’t compete against the
other fishermen, and they don’t compete against you. We all just try to get
lady lake to give up more for us than she does for the other teams out
there.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to become a tournament fisherman, get
out there and find an organization you think you will fit in with, and get
ready for some of the most fulfilling times of your life. God Bless, Good
luck, and good fishing!
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