Why do you fish Tournaments?

I was going to post this in the BASS forum, but believe it or not, other people fish for more than just Bass , so i’m posting in General Disc…Anway..

Just curious as to why you(us)(I) fish tournaments? Is it the competition? fun? Dream of making the big show? Money? JC wrote an excellent article on the “The Cerebral Angler”, which many of us are ( http://www.classicbass.com/edzoneJC1.htm ) if you haven’t read it

I myself love fishing and the competition, but I guess there is a piece of me that wants not only to become as an elite angle such as JC and Champman , but also to maybe someday make “the big show”

So why do you fish tournaments?

p.s.–>keep the ribbing of me to a minimum

Catching fish is just plain fun. Catching fish in a tourney takes the fun to another level. I only had to fish one and was hooked for life. Wether or not you win anything, tourney fishing is blast.

I have always loved to fish. I used to play a great deal of golf but golf just became more frustrating every year. I would keep trying to shave strokes off of my score but I just couldn’t shave any more off. No matter how hard I tried I could not get my score below 81. I would get so frustrated that I wasn’t enjoying the game any longer. I pretty much gave up playing golf and joined the walleye club to try my hand at fishing tournaments. I even thought about fishing for bass but decided I needed some sort of a challenge so walleye it was. Bass are just too-easy to catch. I don’t know which is more frustrating, golf or walleye fishing but I know that I will always have room to improve when it comes to fishing. I do love the comradery of the fishing community and the competition of the tournaments. It is also nice to pick up prize money but I would probably still fish the tournaments if there were no money involved.

Eyehunter

I have not fished any yet but this summer I am hoping to fish a few small local tournaments, including the IDA ones, in order to just meet a few new people and learn a few new things. What better way to meet good people than at a fishing tournament

I probably shouldn’t even post on this subject since I am not a Tourney guy but we fish a few small tourneys every year and the number seems to be increasing. My reason is pure greed. I want to spend as much time with my son as possible and he wanted to try tourneys so we have. We fish about every weekend anyway but now we can call it pre-fishing. It has helped my son to really concentrate when he is fishing. It seems to have given him that little extra something to strive for. There are many benifits to fishing Tourneys but one of the best ones is all the great people you meet.

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I even thought about fishing for bass but decided I needed some sort of a challenge so walleye it was. Bass are just too-easy to catch.

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I love comments like this one…

I thought that comment might ruffle the feathers of a few bass fishermen. The truth hurts doesn’t it?

Eyehunter

That’s okay because us Bass Fisherman say the same thing about those toothy green bottomfeeders

If I had a $1 for every Walleye Jeremy and I caught in our tourneys last year, we wouldn’t have to worry about work.

Aww, we don’t mind hearing about how easy bass are to catch if you don’t mind us running a blade through the gravel feeders that get in our way.
OK, OK, I never kill walleye for fun, and since I don’t eat fish I guess I will have to play nice….
jc

My best smallies have come while fishing walleye tourneys. In a couple of high-water walleye tourneys I have caught more bass than walleye. It can be intoxicating hooking into a 4Lb smally but it will never compare to locating a school of 4Lb+ hungry greenies in a tournament. That’s money in the bank.

Eyehunter

I used to fish more than a few tourneys every summer. Mostly the weekend angler curcuits. I got to be fairly decent at it, and earned my fair share of checks and trophys doing it. At the end of the year though, I’d add up how much money I had lost between expenses, and missed work, then look at how much I had won!! Finally I asked myself, why should I pay to fish, when I can be paid to fish. So, now I guide, and have all the fun of competing against the other guides at McQuoids Guide Service, and I get a nice paycheck everyday I’m out there regardless of my success on the water.(Which by the way has been very very good for several years)

Now, about the only time I fish a tourney, is if the night before the tourney, I’m not booked for a guide trip. The tourneys are always on my home waters, I don’t have any additional expenses running around the country, and all my guiding is the same as pre-fishing. The only additional cost to my everyday living, is the entry fee for the tourney.

Its worked out quite nicely for me too. Its been over 3 years since I didn’t win at least my entry fee back in any tourney I’ve fished, plus most of the time my wife is my partner, and that is special time for “us”.

Having been on both sides-is it ethical to use resources foryour monetary gain? What excludes one group from not being as good to resource as others. Wisc is studying this same problem in their law. Minn has looked away at times to the issue at certain events. What about the guy that bank fishes,uses new hi-tech uro nets?

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Having been on both sides-is it ethical to use resources foryour monetary gain? What excludes one group from not being as good to resource as others. Wisc is studying this same problem in their law. Minn has looked away at times to the issue at certain events. What about the guy that bank fishes,uses new hi-tech uro nets?

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Umm, Yes is it ethical… Ever heard of a farmer?
jc

It’s all about the competition for me. Heck, we very seldom get in a boat and there’s not a side bet going for first fish and biggest fish.
For now I just love to compete.

As time goes by though I can see myself fishing more just for the love of it. There’s nothing more serene than being on the lake at the crack of dawn, not a ripple on the water and watching the world awaken before your eyes. The wildlife that surrounds us is a spectacle to behold. Probably also why I enjoy living in the woods, so much to see! Hunting too!

All true gamefish hit topwaters

Rootski (who is known world wide for his inability to catch Walleyes)

Great question and I’m glad you posted it here versus the Bass forum! It’ll be interesting to read why others participate. There are many reasons that motivate me to tournament fish. To date I’ve fished as an amateur in the RCL and last summer I team fished in some of the MTT events. Pre-fishing is challenging in itself. Trying to find the right fish and put together a pattern that you have confidence in can be fun and provides for learning opportunities whether on familiar water or foreign. I’ve learned volumes about electronics, rods, reels, lines, strategies, reading the water level/temp/weather/etc, boats, motors, bait, sponsorship (do’s and don’ts), sportsmanship, and I’ve met a lot of great people at the same time. And then there’s all the new bodies of water, Devils Lake, Winni, Mille Lacs, LOTW, Lake Erie, Okoboji, Pool 3, Oahe, and that list keeps growing. I’ve learned a new successful technique/presentation on nearly every body of water, how great is that? Last but far from least is the fun of pulling in sows like this picture I will try and attach…… Looking forward to seeing what motivates other tournament “junkies.” Kurt

Ive never fished in tournament. Ive always wanted to but as someone mentioned; it can get costly. Im self-employed; have somewhat flexible time and have the resources. Ive got what I feel is a ton of money wrapped up in chasing walleyes. My question is wheather or not there is tax deductions for any part of the costs such as lodgeing; fuel, equipment; boat? Bait? Any insight would be usefull. If there is any I may just go for it. Thanks in advance.

Speaking of tournaments, check out the IDA walleye tour dates now up on the Tounament forum.

i do it for the thrill. nothing like running water all looking for tha same big fish, scouting different areas, finding good fish and go on tourney day to find some weekend warrior there panfishing. hey that’s the breaks, but when you do catch a money fish, all the days of realtionships–oops i mean difficulties goes to the wayside. it really is a level above the rec. fishers, that not everyone catches fish that day and how well you adapt is what gets you hooked. knowing that you have a shot at being the best of the best that day on that water, even and ice tourney for a local club, seeing your name on the board and everyone else can see it, makes a guy feel proud. it gets to be an addiction like going to the casino and hitting triple sevens.

I fished a few last year mainly to have fun and try and catch some fish. I can say they were challenging especially for bass. There are way too many good sticks in this area and competition is stiff to say the least. I wouldn’t mind doing a few walleye tournies this year to get a feel for what those guys are like. I don’t much care if my name is ever in lights or get known far and wide. I mainly did it to compete with myself and the fish.

I fish tournaments because I love bass fishing and I love competition. I’ve been fortunate in my career to have had the opportunity to fish at pretty much every level, including the biggest show of all, the Classic. Regardless of the level of the tournament, one thing remains the same, it’s you vs. the fish and your success is measured in comparision to the other anglers. While I do enjoy fishing just for the sport of it, it’s the comptetion of other anglers in a tournament that make it what is for me.

My son and I used to fish a few touraments from Pool 4 through Pool 6 per year. We never won any but did Ok finishing in the top ten a few years. The touraments we fished were Bass, Sheepshead (Fountain City) and Walleye.

The Bass tournaments were a disaster. Little courtesy exhibited and Bass Boats flying by you in the sloughs with little regard for other boats. On balance we did OK with a much smaller boat and motor.

The one sheepshead tournament was great. Just throw them in a gunny sack, weigh them and proceed to fried sheepshead and soda. Everyone had a good time.

The Walleye tournaments were mixed. More so then the Bass folks, the Walleye people exhibited more courtesy. The first tournament we fished two brothers on different days both had over ten pound Walleyes on Pool 5A and we finished 25th with only one fish. Live bait could be used and the 2 ten pounders were caught on willow cats. Ironically, places 26 through 60 caught no legal Walleye. The tournament was on labor day with the Temps in the 90’s. As an aside we caught lotsa of smallies. This tourament was extremely well organized, by the bait shack in Winona, Mn., but the Jaycees took over subsequent tournaments and things just deteriorated.

Anyway, I am sick of the lack of courtesy shown by the Bass Boat guys, the Wally tournaments are Ok and the next one I fish will be for Sheepshead.

Finally, fishing is for relaxing and the silly tournaments contribute nothing toward that.

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I am sick of the lack of courtesy shown by the Bass Boat

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Bass Boats flying by you in the sloughs

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While i’m not defending anyone, as i know there are so bad apples out there…and I definitly don’t know the situation you were in….but i do know that some sloughs are better to be run at full speed and at top plane so that the boat doesn’t get stuck…..Not saying that’s the case here, as like i said, i wasn’t there…but just throwing that out there.

Either way, it’s the bad apples that make us all look bad….very unfortunate.

I fish em to donate money to better fishermen than I.

tofishy4you-Not to start a battle here, but I know exactly where you are coming from on the bass tournies. But not to totally bash the bass tourney guys, I will say that almost all the guys on this site are very much respectable and courtious in all ways. I still have a VERY BAD taste in my mouth of a “club” I was in and it really turned me off to 90% of bass fishing.
I am curious to see how the Walleye tournies are run and the people competing in them act toward one another as well as other fisherpeople.

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My question is wheather or not there is tax deductions for any part of the costs such as lodgeing; fuel, equipment; boat? Bait? Any insight would be usefull. If there is any I may just go for it. Thanks in advance.

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Hatchetman- If you win more than $599 in any season the IRS moves you from the “hobby” catagory, to the “must claim as income” catagory. Now when your fishing smaller scale tourneys and do well, that’s up to the cash winners to report it or not. However, I personally have received 1099-misc. forms from the IRS the last two years from tournament winnings. So I have no choice but to let them deduct taxes. But, I help minimize the deductions by off-setting the winnings by showing my expenses. You cannot show a loss (unless you make a business out of it–and that is a entirly different can of worms), but you can deduct up to the amount of the winnings. So save ALL of your receipts. I even have the receipts for my Red Bull and 2 bananas that I buy prior to every tournament. It’s just like the person that wins $600 or more gambling on the lottery. They can deduct up to their winnings in losing lottery tickets.

I’m not a CPA or tax specialist, so double check for yourself before doing this. But this is what do.

– d-nort

I guess most farmers own,lease or rent from other OWNERS so I thought it was some what different. Public waters the fish are owned by all of us.Thats why some of us fight so hard to protect or fishing and hunting. I just asked ? was using the fishery for money(Guides,tourn pros)a ethical use of the fishery?

Haas,

The same people that you are questioning are you BIGGEST advocates for protecting fishing and hunting…

As for as your ethics question, i’m sure you could impose it for anything..Is pleasure boating ethical for the water system? Water skiing? some could say it causes erosion and such….but i guess i don’t see any ethical dilema here?

I agree with you Slop. I see many great fisheries continue to get better and better. A lot of that is directly related to the care taken from tournament fisherman. Keep up the good work guys!

Thank you for sharing how you feel!I asked the ? because I knew you all were advocates of the sport! Tourn fishing,guiding and over harvest by some has put some of our Ia. fisheries in trouble? This is what forums are about-I repect your position and only ask the ? Tight lines forever!