pro/am tourneys

This question is about the pro/am tournament formats. MY problem is that I want to fish in a pro am but am worried about how the experience is for the money it costs. I have a bass boat to fish tournaments with and enough knowlage to boat at least a 2.5 to 3 average on average to good days but at the same time i want to learn, I’m only nineteen and and I really like to observe and obsorb new information on fishing. So the REAL question would be……. has anyone here fished pro/ams as an amature and if so was it a good or bad experience? I’m just worried about getting in with some bone head with alot of money who won’t listen to me when his fish aren’t biting and I suggest going to my fish, becuase of my age? Thoughts, suggestions?

Kevin

The few that I have fished have been a great experience. When I fished with B.A.S.S. as an amatuer they took great care of same with FLW events. They are pretty much just like us with alot backing and experience. I fished with Swindle a couple years ago and had a roit. Would have never thought he would be bass angler of the year. So I would say heck ya go for it. That is why I am fishing the everstart as a no boat this year.

Casey Hewes

Kevin,
If you have doubts about spending the money, I would suggest you look into a local bass club. Most of the good sticks in the tournament scene today actually got started in a club. This is a great way to learn tips and techniques, as well as the local waters in your area. I guarantee if you spend a couple of years in a club, you will be more than ready to get into a pros boat and take care of business!! BC

Thanks for the advice, I don’t want to sound cocky, but I am in a local tourney group and am already one of the top contenders every week. My problem is not finding fish, it’s getting around the stereo type associated with people my age. I’m not even sure what it is, I know you all of more years out on the water than I do but growing up I fished alot and in the last three years I have fished at least 5 out of 7 days a week in the summer. So I have the spots, and the ideas. just not the respect of other fishermen.

kevin

Kevin,
You are a good fisherman and you know what you’re talking about. I beleive that 99% of the pros you will be fishing with will know that by talking to you. We all know when somebody is full of s&#*. You seem to have it together, and if you get some guy that doesn’t beleive you, well that’s his loss. And remember why should you give up your water to a pro. If he won’t go to your water, then burn his. And your spots will be saved for another day. Also, why should you take a pro to your water so he can catch your fish, then tell all of his buddy’s about your spots. Tournament fishing is all about consistency. Nobody wins every single tournament. And no matter what, ocasionally your gonna have a bad one. So if it’s respect you want, my advice is to just do it right, and with that you will be consistent. And before you know it you’ll have your picture in Bassmaster Magazine. BC

Natureboy, any time you get the chance to fish with someone knew, look at it as a learning experience. You may get the nicest person you ever fished with, learn from them, after all if you think you know it all, you might as well put your rods away. You may get someone who is on some nice fish and could teach you a few things, if not just tell him about your spots, if he has nothing going he may go to your areas. Never stop learning, good luck

Hey everyone, thanks for the advice! You all make stong and valid points. I do believe that everytime, whether catching fish or not, you fish with someone new, you learn something. I like to ask questions and that helps, but I’d rather play the silent observer. By just watching someone else i retain more information than reading a book. As for the flw, I will probably go as an AM. Just to give it a shot. And as far as anyone is concerned on this site, I’d love to share a seat with anyone if they ever need one. That invitation goes both ways. If anyone ever needs a boat to ride in give me a holler.

thanks, kevin

Natureboy,don’t expect the pro to listen to you at all he is there to fish his own game no matter what your age is.the pro will listen to results,by you cathing your own fish when he is not,or possibly if your a local. A great starting point might be a draw tourney or a team tourney that the angler you are fishing with an angler that already respects you.But I think if you try some pro/am events 99% of the time you will have a good expreince.Talk to the pro before the tourny starts and you will know where you will stand.

I think the learning from others is a great benefit of the draw format like ABA. The risk is you might have to share your secret spots, but many of the spots seem to be community holes and well known (ie spring lake on 13, etc). I think the pro-am is an excellent opportunity to learn with some drawbacks listed above, and team tourneys are great if you have a good partner, but i often wonder about the limitations and lack of learning new ideas or techniques. ONe could argue that there is nothing better however than knowing your partners habits, spots, techniques, etc which is valid.

All in all, they all have benefits, but as far as learning the most FLW or BASS is the pinnacle of angling skill and the goal of most or all regular tourney fishermen ( or the dream of us working stiffs with families-lol) so if you have the cash im sure it would be worth your while. Ken Warren fished a BASS event earlier this year on Table Rock- maybe he could weigh in????

Hey , you got to give it a try. MOST of the trips will be good but you cant count on 100%. Some people you will just not see eye to eye with, he might be having a bad tourny or he might just be a jerk. The best you can do on a bad day is to be observant and try to learn some thing. Then you will have the guys that will really help you and try to get you a limit. Those are the people to remember and try to stay in touch with. You can’t ever have enough fishin buddies.

I hear you on the can’t having enough fishing buddies! Knowlage is power, and friends equal sharing and in the end everyone learns something. I fished the bws last year in mid summer. I scrounged up my uncle for a partner. He was a little rusty but we still managed a fourth place finish. I guess thats what happens when you decide the day before that you are on good fish and should find a tourney. I have been fishing the wed night ace tourneys for two years now. its fun and i’ve done well but i’m not learning anything or getting the rush i got from the bws. I’m going to try to fish catfishdays for sure and a bws and maybe the flw. we’ll see. how many tourneys I fish will depend on if I can cash a check in one of the first two and if I can get a few hundred out of the ace deal. thanks for the help guys. If you ever need anything ask.

Kevin

Kevin,

As JJ mentioned I did fish as an amateur this past March on the BASS Tour event on Table Rock. It was a great learning experience. I learned the fine art of fishing jerkbaits from my day one partner Jay Kendrick. On the second day I had the honor of fishing with one of the greats in my book, Harold Allen. While he didn’t show me any technique that I didn’t know inside and out he was very pleasent and talkative. I learned a great deal from him as to setting up and working a strategy. I will more than likely do it again as it was a great deal of fun and I did learn alot. I was disapointed in the poor fishing. I didn’t get a keeper all week. In fact fishing was so bad if I would have just caught a legal fish I would have got a check. The down side is it was expensive. Entry fee alone was $650 not to mention gas, hotel, and food for a week.

Another thing I’m doing is going as an observer in the E50 event in Kentucky. This is only $300 but no fishing allowed. I’m sure it will be fun and one of the observers get to take home a boat so it is kind of expensive raffle. Plus there are other perks that make the money not seem too bad. So I’ll get 3 days of watching on of the 50 best pro and I’m sure it will be a good learning experience and I can take notes and get an article or two from it.

One other thing JJ touched on it the ABA or American Bass Anglers. This is not a pro/am but a true draw format. The difference is the boater and non-boater compete against each other and according to the rules each gets half of the day to call the shots. So you don’t have to worry about them not listening to you. Entry is $55 so it is much more economical and there are tournaments currently on the river. I run one of the districts which fishes pools 11-13 and there is another district on pool 16-17.

Another nice thing is you can switch from boater to non-boater during the season and it has no effect on the points or standings. So if you wanted to start as non-boater and then move to boater once you are comfortable with it you could. If you are close it sounds like it could be a good match. If you want to know more feel free to contact me of check out the links in my signature.

The local club idea is a good one too and it could even be cheaper and more laid back. These are not usually as competitive so I’d say the chance of a bad experience is less then it would be in a big pro/am circuit.