as a coangler like myself i fished in a club for 10 years then i paired up with a friend who is also in the club and decided to fish a team curcuit the fisher of men. why we picked it was the cost $150 per team and they relitively stay in the metro area. next year i decided to fish the silverado as an amatuer. funding is my main concern. i hope this helps
Thanks for the info. I just checked the FOM East division and yes, looks like they are alot closer to home. Thanks for the info !
I just moved from AZ to MN last year and I went as a co-angler in the Silverado Pro-Am tournaments as an amateur. I had wanted to learn the lakes and observe how the locals fish. I would highly recommend this circuit as a co-angler because it is a combined weight so the Pro is more than willing to help you out. It is also a very well organized tournament series.
hey nugget,
I have been talking to Jason Basset about fishing a tourney trail. we are looking to fish the ABA or BASS weekend series. you could also fish the denny’s 30 or even something like that. the Silverado is a great trail, but you will be going against the capra’s and some other good sticks that all they do is fish all day long and don’t have to work. I am leaning on doing the ABA this year and also the club ones as well. I just need something to wind down and have fun fishing.
shane 
nugget,
If you’re looking to fish as a co-angler, there are really only a few options in MN. Silverado, BFL, Weekend Series and a new circuit that will be run by the Minnesota Federation of Bass Anglers (MFBA). Details of the new circuit will be released in early December.
Bottom line is you need to look at what you’re trying to get out of a circuit (knowledge, advancement opportunities, etc.) and what resources you have (time and money) to obtain it.
Team tournaments are another option, but bring a whole different dynamic to the equation.
Rick
As a non-boater goes I strongly agree with the last post. The Silverado will help show you the tactics a little more due to sharing the weight with the boater. They also give you the name of your partner a couple of weeks in advance and depending on who it is you can prefish with them. After the season is over yu might qualify for a tournament of champions, then you are done.
The BASS Weekend series is a seperate bag tournament and you run the possibility that the boater will front you and keep all of the good spots to himself. But you do have the chance to advance to nationals.
The ABA is in my mind not the best for a non-boater cause it is a seperate bag but you still weigh in aginst all of the boaters. This is a lower cost tournament series and you have a chance to advance to nationals.
I have been fishing Pro/Ams for the past 5 years and this past year was my first year as a boater. I learned a lot as a non-boater and recommend it to anyone that wants to sharpen their skills and leatn a few more tricks.
A good way to determine what is the best for you is to look at the lakes that they will be on, the entry fees, the payouts, and where you want to be in a few years.
Good luck
I just fished as a co-angler in the BASS Southern Open #3 on Lake Wheeler in Decatur Ala. It was my first ever fishing tournament anywhere at any level. Even though I finished out of the money,(37th out of 155), by 13oz, for me it was the best decision to make. The week cost me less than a week in Canada, but I learned more there than I have learned here in the past 5 years. Could be that I just got lucky draws, but the Pros I fished with were absolutely great. They did everything they could to help me catch fish. They even went so far as to voluntarily toss me their producing lures to use. At the day 1 weigh-in, my partner Tom, and I were in line by Gerald Swindle and Terry Scroggins. Tom knew them from previous tournaments, so we started talking fish. Tom let them know that this was my first ever tournament, and that I had actually caught more weight than he had. They both gave me a slap on the back, and Gerald said, “If you’re going to swing, swing for the fence.” The way I understood it, he was telling me that if I really want to tournament fish, don’t spend a lot of time at local tournaments, but go for what will give you the best potential return. Like I said earlier, I think this is the best path for ME to take, and I am already looking at more opens next year. I would say the best thing to do is to just do what you are most comfortable with.
I am going to be doing the BASS Opens in the Central division next year. I hear they are a awsome run event.
Yes they are. At least the one I went to. The city of Decatur rolled out the carpet for us. Every tournament day, the Mayor of Decatur was at the dock tying up boats as they came in. The Convention And Visitors Bureau put on a free dinner with a live band Friday after the weigh-in. BASS keeps things running very smoothly. I was very impressed with it all.
What would be a good circut to get on for a first time circut angler?
The ABA is a great circut to start on if you want to go as a boater, but if you want to go as a non-boater I would go to the Silverado or BASS Weekend series. If you are doing the team thing that is a different ball game.
Interesting that your first ever was an open, most wait a few year to even try this…more due to the cost than the lack of experience. Good for you that it worked out, sounds like a great time.
I would recommend a few things…join a club could be a start or read through these again. BASS, MFBA, Silverado, ABA, and others are out there and plenty of them. Last year I fished the BASS and a handfull of team tourneys…would love to forget work and fish, then reality sets in. Two in college…changes forget work.
A lot of guys I’ve fished with in the BASS Opens are competing in their first tournament. For a lot of guys it is really their first change to get out on a large body of water in a boat. Most of the time they do really well. I know there are times I am a better guide than an angler. Between myself and Royce Dennington we put a guy in the cut at Amistad while neither of us made the cut ourselves. I think you will find at this level the pros treat and respect the non-boaters the way they would want to be treated. There aren’t too many guys with big heads. For the most part a lot of them feel fortunate that they are able to be there. In some of the weekend tournaments you start to see guys who think they are better than anyone else and should be fishing the tour. Those are the guys who will front end you all day long, but there aren’t that many out there.
I was down too far on the waiting list for the Central Opens this year. I was about boat 250 so I cancelled my registration. They filled up really fast this year after having only 75% of a full field last year. The non-boater side is a different story. Like last year the entries are lagging behind. Last week there were just over 100 non-boaters registered. So if you are interested in the Opens I know there are some openings still available.
I don’t know what I will fish next year. I’d like to get into the Bassmaster Series again. The ABA also puts together a good trail. I have never fished any of the FLW tournaments, but they seem to have the best payouts.
If anyone has any questions or wants tournament advice feel free send me a PM.
Jason
JASON I have a buddy who tried getting in as a boater in a couple of the Southern Opens. He is # 136 on the waiting list. That is AFTER filling a 175 boat field. BASS is trying to get him to change to a co-angler, but he doesn’t want to do it. Simply amazing how many are going in this year compared to last.
I am going this year in the central opens as a non-boater and hopefully next year as a boater. What is this about central division? Red Lake in LA, Kentucky Lake in TN, and Lake Texocma in TX. Why don’t they bring something a little further north especially when they fill the boater slots so fast?
Every time I get a survey from BASS I make sure to comment on the need for venues farther north. Whether or not they actually read them, I couldn’t say. There are plenty of waters large enough to run one of the opens. And what’s with all the river and impoundments all the time? Lets get some natural lakes in the schedule too.
I am looking at fishing as a boater in the opens in a year or 2 and I think that I am going to have to start fishing the river more just to get used to the moving water and changing water levels. I agree that there needs to be more natural lakes in the mix.
BASS keeps changing things up. They had 4 full divisions of the Opens two years ago when they dropped them. If I remember right they had south, central, northern and western divisions. Last year they dropped the opens for a northern and southern tour. So they hosed a lot of people. There were some who were still able to fish the tours they created, but they weren’t full. The tours consisted of 5 tournaments with entry fees of $1,500 each instead of 3 tournaments for $1,000 each. Then this year they dropped the north and south tours for the opens. Only this time they brought back two open divisions. Maybe the anticipated the lower turnout last year. For 08 I really expected a northern division, but no such luck. I would imagine in 09 they would think about adding more divisions since they filled up fast this year. Another thing I wish they would bring back was the open championship. I would be nice to have something to look forward to a the end of the season. I’ve been a BASS member since I was 12. I hate to say it but it’s tempting to buy a Ranger and hit the strens. I think I’ll save some green this year and fish the Weekend Series. Maybe, with a decent year I can get priority entry again to make it easier to get into the opens in 09.
tracking bass,I think capras work pretty hard at bait and tackle store,fished with dean at milleacs in silverado two summers ago and fishing is how he relaxes.I entered the series to get chance to fish withor against lieferman or ted capra,
dean caught a 9 pound walleye and brought a 25 pound muskie upto near the boat day i fished with him.
they work really hard and make time to fish.
some of the ams were winning big fish consistantly that year and they probaly had some that could outfish most any team on any given day.
I was not one of the great ams but loved the experience especially the lake spots
Shane, Steve is one of my fishing buddies on one of our favorite lakes. As a matter of fact he is hosting a fishing tournament that I was telling you about. Steve is the one that did the last post.
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