Competitive Bass Fishing

[Mako]

Have any of you fished bass tournaments before? What do you like about them? How is tournament fishing different from pleasure fishing? Do you prefish? What kind of strategies do you take with you when you go to a lake that you've never been to before?

Drew and Tony, how was your experience fishing with other college students?

[Tone2129]

Our experience with other college teams have been extremely enjoyable!

Other teams have been extremely helpful. OU, TA&M U, EKU...the list oges on. Even when Nebraska almost lost to Ball State we were talking to those guys down at nationals and were obviously making fun of us a little bit, but were really cool and down to earth. Its very cool meeting guys our age that want to compete, like us.

Drew and I pre-fished Lake Lewisville when we were at Nationals, and the Woods Tournament this summer I/WE will pre-fish. On March 28th I will be fishing Bass Masters weekend series at Grand Lake of the Cherokee, in Oklahoma and will pre-fish that as well.

You can always start off fishing a lake and by the end of the day you may have gotten the hang of things. The bass movements, what they are feeding on, where they are holding. But in a tournament, it is crucial to get that early morning bite to get off to a good start. That is one thing that Lake Lewisville was denying all the anglers.

[Tone2129]

When we pre-fish:

Drew and I, before we were even on the water bought a topography map and would mark stick ups, docks, fast transitions from deep to shallow water, and other advantage points. If those were not not holding fish we would try and hit deep water holes and structure (brush piles). Also if we did find a spot that we didn't mark we would fish it real quick, and if it held even 1 fish, we left the spot. Wrote down what we were fishing with, how we were fishing it, water clarity, and temperature, as well with the structure/cover we pulled the fish out of.

When fishing a lake we cant pre-fish:
I always have tied on

drop-shot - Dark colored finesse worm nose hooked
Texas Rigged worm - Red Shad/Blue Fleck
Senko - Watermelon Red fleck
Top water - Baby Bass Zara Spook
crank-bait - Baby Bass Bandit 3-8 foot diver
Spinner bait - Depending on the weather.

***********General rule for thumb**********
bright sunny days: White or Chartreuse color with a willow blade

Over cast cloudy: Black/darker color with a colorado blade.

[Chad]

Never fished a tournament, but would like to someday. Hopefully I can learn more about it from your forum.

[BadBass]

The National Collegiate Bass Championship was the first big time fishing tournament for me. I'd fished locally in tourneys with friends and family before but nothing like the Nationals on Lake Lewisville. We were treated amazingly by FSN, and all the other sponsors and people who put on the event. Like Tony said, it was awesome to meet with other guys who have the same passion for fishing as we do.

For me, Husker Bass Anglers gives me big time tournament experience that i really couldnt get anywhere else. It's been a blessing in my life.

Drew Friedrich
Treasurer
Husker Bass Anglers

[RedefiningFate]

Now for the big question. Can I you teach me to catch Bass...I tried so hard last year to catch big Cats, that I didn't fish for anything else. This year I am going after anything and want to get into the bass fishing scene.

[Willie Boy]

Originally Posted by RedefiningFate

Now for the big question. Can I you teach me to catch Bass...I tried so hard last year to catch big Cats, that I didn't fish for anything else. This year I am going after anything and want to get into the bass fishing scene.

ReDeF: pm me...I won't promise to teach you anything...but it would be fun heading out for a day on the water...sure we can rustle up some willing basses close to home...

[Tone2129]

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.

Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for the rest of his life

I GUARANTEE I can teach you to Bass fish

[burrodebo]

How much are the entry fees, ballpark estimate, for the tournaments you guys fish?

How many members from HBA would fish a tournament?

How do you guys currently cover the entry fee costs?

[south of 41]

Persistence + Presentation + location + lure selection are key elements to TURNY bass fishing.

Practice Practice Practice

BO use to have wed night tournament. Might even be a few more bass to catch now that the lake has filled. before if you caught a bass you were in the money...

Some clubs use to allow guests to fish.

Would not cost anything to put on a little fun forum tournament ???
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[Chad]

Originally Posted by south of 41

Would not cost anything to put on a little fun forum tournament ???
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Yulp... Husker Bass Anglers should host a tournament - Beat the Husker Bass Anglers. Teams pay a reasonable entry fee that goes to support the HBA and then we see if the old men can keep up with the college men.

Wagon Train.

[BadBass]

It would be awful fun to show you old guys up...

We'd love to put something like this on, especially with a bunch of forum members! I'll talk to Tony and the rest of the HBA and see what we're thinking.
-Drew

[BadBass]

Originally Posted by burrodebo

How much are the entry fees, ballpark estimate, for the tournaments you guys fish?

How many members from HBA would fish a tournament?

How do you guys currently cover the entry fee costs?

Bo,
For the National Championship that we fished in this fall there was no entry fee. For the other tournaments throughout the spring and summer that i've looked into the entry fee is between $30 and $50.

Tournaments are fished by 2 man teams. Tony and I were the only Husker anglers at the National Championship last fall but we've found 4 new members that want to fish tournaments for the university.

For the Collegiate Championship we were treated extremely well by the tournament sponsors. We were given a $250 for traveling expenses and like i said earlier there was no entry fee for this specific tournament. We also stayed with Tony's relatives which was a big advantage. No cost and homemade italian meals were big perks!

As of now we get no funding from the unviersity. They will allow us to rent a unversity truck to drive down to the event but we have to pay for our gas. With gas, hotel, food, and entry fee expenses tournaments are a fairly expensive venture.

-Drew

[south of 41]

It would be awful fun to show you old guys up...

I bet I have plastic's that are older then you young pups

I Also would be willing to bet my little nephew Josh (4th grader) could fish bass with the best of the HBA boys.

Would be fun to just get out for some bass again...

[Tone2129]

gas was about 400 bucks, but thanks to my parents who wanted to take a vacation anyways, and the 250 given to us from the tournament it was only $150. Like drew said the 30-50 dollar entry fee. We are currently trying to see if we can get money from the university...drew is looking into that.

Plus mention food (we can make sandwiches all week, I love sandwiches), and lodging...Ill sleep in a truck, or pitch a tent. But its kind of expensive which sucks. That is why we are asking questions about sponsorships.

[Tone2129]

we could do a open montly tourney.

$30 per boat. 20% goes to the club, the rest is a winners take all tourney...what do you think?

[Chad]

I'd love to participate, but would like to see you fellas take a bit more than 20%.

Say you get 10 boats, that's $300. Wining boat takes $150, HBA takes $150. With gas prices what they are, that might get you boys halfway to Fremont.

[burrodebo]

Yeah, take more than 20%. This is a fundraiser of sorts for you guys. Nobody is going to care if you take the lion's share of the entry fees to support your club.

This would be for bragging rights and fun anyway, and to support some young bass anglers trying to fish some tournaments. I'd be happy to fish this thing and donate my entry fee.

[Tone2129]

hhhmmmmm. I will look into this, it would be fun!

[Tone2129]

it looks like J Cyboron tried something similar to this.

NGPC FAQ's: Week night bass fishing tournaments