More on So You Want to be a Tournament Angler

[djkimmel]

You never know... best is to keep swinging away and every time you don't hit it out of the park, try to figure out adjustments to make for the next time.

[joshimoto son]

I would be happy to win a BFL on the Boaters side....   
I don't even have enough stick to do that yet....

From one "Moto' to another.
Just because you can't beet the guys that have been treking these waters for almost as long as we have been alive, doesn't mean you can't go out there and do well in a circuit that expands above the current level you're fishing at.

Here's my theory, I hope it works, because this is what I'm banking on.

It is quite possible to spend LARGE amounts of time and money learning to fish your local waters to the point you're finishing toward the top on a consitant basis.
Then what?  Now you're ready to take it to the next level and continue your success? Who says?

I know you haven't always been a Michigander, but for example, let's say you were. Let's say you were
a big stick here and was moving onto a Stren Series or Bassmaster Open.

Did what you learned up here teach you how to locate fish on southern impoundent?
Did it teach you how to put together a "milk run" when fishing tidal waters.
Did you know the tide swings two times a day on the eastern sea board and only once a day on the southern.
Did you know a lot of anglers outside the Upper Midwest start drooling when they see a grass flat that looks nearly impenetrable.
I can't even begin to list all the things I've learned.

If I remember right, I think you actually do know a lot of that stuff based on your background.

I'm not writing to get any feathers ruffled up, please don't take it that way. I just remember so many people warning me about how I'm "not ready"
even as a co-angler to leave my own state and fish a Bassmasters Open or Stren Event because of how I've been finishing here.

If I would have listened to that convention of thinking, I would have missed out on a bunch of events people only dream of.

Yes! I'm saying there's a chance.

Don't wait if you can afford to go bigger. I promise, it will make you a better angler, "Richer"? Well that's a whole other story.


joshimoto son

[motocross269]

You are right Joshi"moto"...I have fished with some guys that fish the FLW Tour from the back of the boat..The skills that they have gained fishing down south really show up when Pitching, flipping and fishing away from the "big water"...

[Got Fish??]

  Well done. But dosen't every one wish thay were a star pro football player, or a great race car driver. I think the passion of being the best at something you love is the american dream. We all need to have some kind of release, that lets us forget the everyday stresses in our lives. I think profishing  has made this sport what it is today. So I say if that's what makes you smile, Don't give up the ship!

[Skulley]

  Well done. But dosen't every one wish thay were a star pro football player, or a great race car driver. I think the passion of being the best at something you love is the american dream. We all need to have some kind of release, that lets us forget the everyday stresses in our lives. I think profishing  has made this sport what it is today. So I say if that's what makes you smile, Don't give up the ship!

That was beautifully said Got Fish??  I think I'm going to cry.........   I could hear the Star-Spangled Banner playing in the background.   


BD                     

[1javelin]

My year will be spent practicing all the time, with no tournaments thrown in, because hopefully this time next year I will be living South of the ice belt and fishing Stren Series events.  Maybe not, but if I can pay off the bills and have cash to spare, I am friendly enough and determined enough to get a little help.  I mentioned this on another site and was shot down by most saying unless you can whip on the sticks here you'll get pounded everywhere else.  Seems that when I fished Ouachita, the first time I fished an impoundement like that, I was fun fishing and catching around 15 pounds a day.  The tournament I didn't enter because I wasn't 'good enough' was won with somewhere around 18 pounds if I remember right.  I probably could've upgraded a little and put some run to that, but that would mean everyone else was wrong   Give it a go if you can afford it and see what happens.  Practice wins tournaments, not always money.

1Jav

[jgip087]

Read a few more of the threads and talked to a few more Elite series guys so I can add a little bit more. Those guys last year were spending around 100 grand just to fish those tournaments. Next, the money was great for a select few but...but... for the average Elite Series angler not so! Those guys were hardly getting by and some had to take loans, mortgage houses, ETC just to pay the entry fees. Money is hard to come by and even few elite series anglers get a boat to fish out of for the year from a company. If they don't sell those boats then guess what? They are stuck with it and if they want to stay on the pro staff they have to buy another one.

[djkimmel]

My year will be spent practicing all the time, with no tournaments thrown in, because hopefully this time next year I will be living South of the ice belt and fishing Stren Series events.  Maybe not, but if I can pay off the bills and have cash to spare, I am friendly enough and determined enough to get a little help.  I mentioned this on another site and was shot down by most saying unless you can whip on the sticks here you'll get pounded everywhere else.  Seems that when I fished Ouachita, the first time I fished an impoundement like that, I was fun fishing and catching around 15 pounds a day.  The tournament I didn't enter because I wasn't 'good enough' was won with somewhere around 18 pounds if I remember right.  I probably could've upgraded a little and put some run to that, but that would mean everyone else was wrong   Give it a go if you can afford it and see what happens.  Practice wins tournaments, not always money.

1Jav

1st - you have to believe in yourself. You don't need anyone else for that although support from others is nice. There's a lot of general advice out there, but that doesn't always apply to everyone the same. Josh made some good points about that somewhere on here.

I've met a few tournament anglers most of us have never heard from that make an okay living by tournaments by doing it the way it works for them. My purpose isn't to shoot anyone down - there will always be some people out there taking that job - but to make sure people I like have a lot of information available so they can make informed decisions.

I get a fair amount of "I want to be a bass pro" email and I think it is best if I tell it like it is up front. It isn't easy at all for most people, but it can be done by people with a well thought out plan of financial planning, solid skills, a great work ethic and a lot of the right knowledge. A little luck is nice too.

[Fishmael]

Also I have heard (and it makes complete sense), if you think you're going to pick up sponsors, you'd better realize that image is very important.  You have to be clean cut, don't be wearing unkempt clothes when in the public eye, don't curse, etc.  Sponsors want someone to represent their company and fishing ability is important, but not everything.  I guess I have everything but the fishing ability.  Guess I'd better check e-bay.

[Got Fish??]

 Well I'm glad I jerked a tear from ya BD. Nice to see a sentamental angler who's not afrade to cry over spilling his capton crunch in the morning. see out on the lake.

[Skulley]

You got to catch fish over 14 inches in order to compete Got Fish??.  You are the only guy I know that is happy catching 13 inch fish all the time.  If I have told you once, I have told you a hundred times......fishing for numbers and 13 inch fish is great when you got the kids with you, but when you are fishing on my boat, it's keepers and the bigger the better.     


BD