Tournament Fishing 101

I hope that I don’t get “eaten alive” for this post but I’m going to go for it anyway. After 42 years of chasing the elusive walleye, I’m interested in testing the tournament circuit. Here’s my conservative plan…….. The new RCL League allows co-anglers at a modest fee of $75 per one day tourney. Seems to me like a fool proof way to get my feet wet and see what tourneys are all about. I’m a bit skeptic because my fishing hero, Gramps, taught me that there were ALWAYS 2 principles to fishing and you must never mix them up. ONE – there is fishing and TWO – there is catching…. While Gramps might have left this planet a couple decades ago, his principles sure have lead me(and my family) to many a fine fishing trips with a few good catches thrown in there.
Will tourney fishing provide the thrills I envision as when I attend the local MWC and RCL weigh ins? I guess time will tell.

I’d enjoy hearing some positve feedback(constructive criticism will be tolerated) from some of the pro/amateur fishermen that might reflect back on how they got their start and what they might do differently or what worked “perfectly.”

Thanks,
Kurt Turner

GO IN WITH A OPEN MIND! IF YOU ARE TO CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL CATCH FISH EVERY TIME YOUR GOING FOR MONEY YOU ONLY END UP DOWN WHEN YOU CAN’T PRODUCE! YOU WILL LEARN MANY THINGS EACH TOURNEY SOME GOOD AND SOME NEED BE LEFT ON THE WATER! WHAT WORKS FOR YOU MAY NOT WORK WITH THE PERSON YOUR PAIRED WITH! MY PARTNER WROTE A GOOD TIP ARTICLE HERE ON THE EFN SITE CHECK THAT OUT! ALL IN ALL YOU WILL GAIN MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT AND OVERALL YOU SHOULD ENJOY IT! GOOD LUCK

Kurt,

Basstracker is right.

I have a well respected uncle in the fishing business and he told me one tidbit that I will never forget about tourney fishing and thats “if you are in it to make money, you are in the wrong line of work.” Alot of this is true, sure there is money to be made in these tourneys but the most important thing to remember is asking yourself why you want to get involved in tournament fishing? Not every time will you be fortunate enough to have a good day on the water and also be fortunate enough to cash a pay check at the end of the day. You may learn some very valuable information by the end of the day? Fish are not biting? Well, rest assured some one out there in the field of competition will find fish that are, and thats what really keeps me going somedays out there. Not all the fish are doing the same thing at the same time. Be sure you find yourself a good partner that you can get along with very well for long periods of time in the boat and someone you work well with together as a team. You will not believe how fast those 8 hours go in a tournament. Sometimes, I swear time speeds up the minute I leave the launch site.
As far as the excitement goes??? You will have a day full of adrenaline!! A day full of anticipation, hopefully a day full of confidence! And most of all, be sure you have fun. End result, go into the event with an open mind and you will have a good time.

Good Luck to you Kurt. Keep us all posted how things go for you! We will be rootin for ya!

I agree with what Basstracker and DeeZee have said. I wrote an article that is on the artilces forum that gives a co-angler some tips for these tournaments. So I would check that out and if you have any othe questions just hollor to anyone on the website.

Kurt,

The biggest thing I learned this year was to keep a positive attitude and don’t ever give up. I fished the RCL championship this last year and everything on day 2 went wrong. We kept a postive attitude got our boat running again and with 3 hours left to fish I pulled enough weight to make the 12 man cut.

Basstracker, DeeZee, Bass boy & Fireflick,

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I’m going into this with an open mind and open ears. Almost every day I realize how many new techniques there are to learn. Learning is the easy part, perfecting is the life long journey that I most enjoy.

Again, thanks for your positive comments and I hope to see you on the water sometime soon.

Kurt

Years ago I joined Walleye Searchers of Mn., a walleye fishing club based out of Rochester to learn more about walleye fishing. My first tournament was on a lake that my family had vacationed on for 5 years before and I can honestly say I learned more about fishing that lake in one day in the tournament than I had in those five years. Was a great way to see if I like tournament fishing too. We meet the first Monday night at the Elks Club in SE Rochedter at 7:00. Please feel free to come to a meeting and check it out.

I PM’d Ezhook, and thought some extra comments should be posted . If your goal is not to win and make money, in any legal and ethical way possible, stick to club and local tourneys. Now that the medication and proposed surgery appear they will get me back in a boat almost daily, I expect to move back into a successful position in national walleye series quickly,(within 3 years), and I’m not going there for fun. Fun just comes along as part of the deal

One of the best and truest comments ever made about tourney fishing is stated in almost every post above. You have to have a mindset that lets you be able to take the cards however they are dealt and make a hand out of them. Like the man said “It ain’t over till its over”.

My worst experiences in team fishing were when one of the partners quit,(gave up), when it got tough. My best experiences were when we both didn’t.

Did you guys know that in walleye fishing it has been stated many times that if you catch your limit every day in every tourney you will be able to make money and place well in any series!!!!! Bass now that’s another story. Lawrence