I have made up my mind!!!

with the replies that I have been reading from the last few days, I am going to start taking my fishing to the next level. I am going to join a bass club and start to learn about how to look at a lake differently. I mean, sometimes you can go to a lake and find fish just about anyway, but I wanna learn where they go, kind of staging spots to specific times of year. I also am thinking on giving up some hunting and spending more time in the boat. i can’t believe i said that to my wife neither, but it is true, I wanna start fishing better and harder. thanks for all the advice and tips, look forward to seeing more of my questions this winter into spring.

shane

Shane-Here is my .02 on your thoughts
Make sure you find a GOOD club to join. Beleive me they are few and far between. I have been in 2 clubs and to be honest, they really haven’t done much for teaching. Most guys are very secretive on just about everything. I tolerate the club I am in now just because I like to fish the tournies. But, as far as people teaching you things, it is very rare. About all I have really picked up are spots to fish. The only problem with that is, I respect the people that took me to these spots that I will not go back to them while fishing with other’s, unless it is a community spot.
I too gave up a lot of hunting last year to spend more time on the water. It has helped since I rarely fished once bowhunting started in the past.
There are good clubs with good people in it, you just have to do your homework to find them

well I have narrowed my search down to 2 clubs. one club that I have really looked into and liked from the begining is that club that Mike Finke is a part of, not only because he is there and I could possible be paired up with him and get a free day of guiding on what ever lake, but the fact that they do give back to kids and community. I also wanted to find out if the club members are like you said, secretive or do they share and teach.

the other club that I am looking into also has a fellow IDA member in it, theodor nugget. this one is a little closer to home and probably fishes more of the lakes that I might know, but there again, lies my delema, both are what I am looking for in a club. maybe I might just have to join both, and trust me that Idea has crossed my mind, I havent made my final decision, I am going to sit in on a meeting and see how it goes, and go from there.

shane

If you really want to take it to the next level you should non-boater in the BFL’s and Clubs till you get your game going. It is a cheap way to learn bodies of water and different techniques. I have been lucky to have had my dad in all my clubs, so folks have been more open. But I leaned a ton about river fishing in the BFL’s and even more about all around fishing in the Stren’s. I leanred to C-Rig at Guntersville in the back of a boat B.A.S.S. and got to fish with Ken Cook and Gerald Swindle about 6 years ago. Just something to think about, I think the BFL’s are a $100 a piece from the back of the boat.

I agree Casey. Start in the BFL as a non-boater. Cost is $100 per tournament and a great way to learn technics and how to fish all different bodie’s of water. Take the BFL’s on the river. Different pools and different times of the year make it a whole different ball game.

Not just the BFL, but any type of boater, non-boater tournaments. Silverado fishes different MN lakes.

Good luck!

The size of the club is important!!!!!

I have been a member of 4 different Bass clubs and have found two things to be true.

When the number of members gets over 20 something happens and the members start to get B$I%T*C@H+Y.

When Competion becomes more important than fellowship things break down quickly.

I started my tournament career by fishing co-angler in a local bass club (Belle City Bass Anglers). Although you always have the guys who think they are KVD and unwilling to share anything at every level, the club was a blast and for the most part the guys were willing to share some info. However, from what I learned I would rather just make serious observations verses asking question after question. I know when I have a guy with me it gets old answering questions all day when I’m trying to stay in the zone. I honestly tell my co-anglers way more info than I should if they just let me do my thing.

I agree that the BFL’s will teach you a lot. Of course you can have a bad draw, but that I believe will teach you WAY more than drawing the guy who is on the motherload and you can throw anything out there and catch them. Trust me, you will learn faster how to catch fish when you always have to struggle to get them to bite…

I started out in a club as a boater. I’m still in the club just don’t participate as much now. Our club has over 30 members most of the time. There are guys that will really help you and there are others that tend to just let you see what they are doing and you will need to interpret that on your own. I learned alot in the club.