First Bass Tournament.

I'm very late on my posting the tournament was actually the 9th of April, but I havn't had much people interested in hearing about it so I'll share it on here.

I'm from Harrison and the tournament was in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Which is about 3 hours from me but I can make it in 2 1/2 hours. My brother and I were going to be fishing it together it would be my first tournament and my brothers second. I left out the day before after my wife and I celebrated my birthday (April 8th) and got to my grandparents around 7:00pm.

My grandfather who's a long time tournament bass fisherman (amateur tournaments mainly) decided he wanted to pass down a lot of his high scale shimano reels and daiwa rods to us so that was a plus. Me, him, and my brother talked till about 10 pm then we all went to bed. Atleast they did. I was so excited for the tournament that I didn't go to sleep at all. Me and my brother decided the day before we would go get something to eat before we left at around 3:30 am. Well at 3 am I woke my brother up and said I'll be back in time to leave, I went down to the local Walmart, about a 5 minute drive and walked in and bought a 4 pack of red bull. Finished 2 before I got back. I wake my brother up and say let's leave a little early, as I was so amped and energized that I couldn't sit still.

So we left, soon to find out all the 24 hour fast food joints in Pine Bluff decided they didn't want to take people's orders today... my luck. So I go into a gas station and buy Overpriced but huge honey buns snd banana nut muffins... we get to the dock and put in at around 4:15 am and we arnt allowed to leave and start fishing until our number is called and they start calling after safe light, which is around 6:15-6:30 am this time of the year. So there we sat. It was a lot colder then expected so we both froze until our number was called and we took off (we were 74) and we were etill numb for 2 hours afterwards.

We fished topwater early and then quickly started changing tactics after no luck with that. Wind came up at around 10 am so that made it more difficult than most can imagine. I'd rather coyote hunt in 40 mph winds than try to fish with an open face baitcasting reel. We were so exhausted by 11 that we were just really trying to just finish it out. On top of that our trolling motor battery was almost dead because of fighting the wind so much. At 12:30 we catch our break. I get one, but he is good sized. We decided not to weigh him, maybe for luck I don't know, but we guessed 4 1/2 pounds. Not my biggest but we thought we could get in the money on the big bass prize just because it was a bad day for everyone, my uncle who is a top notch fisherman ended up with nothing but a mud covered boat from getting stuck in a sand bar.

We ended up heading in at around 2:00 and weigh in was at 3:30 so we had to keep that fish alive for an hour and a half in the same water because of the penalty for dead fish. It was difficult but we did it. This was a 5 fish weigh in or big bass obviously I only had my one which was ok, as I was very happy with my fish and thought I had a good chance for atleast big bass.

We did the weight in I was 6th to weight in. My fished weighed 4 3/4 lbs. Not great, not bad either. I held big bass until the 9th weigh in...

Out of 89 boats only 31 weighed in. Me and my brother being the youngest team we were one of the boats that weighed in. Very proud of myself and him.

I should add the biggest bag was 5 fish weighing 17 lbs and big bass was 5 1/2 lbs.

 
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Nice JJ...not many Bass lakes out my way, mostly trout. We fish the Colorado River for strippers though! Especially at night with a 12 pack!....good job.
 
Goodness... If Grandpa is an experienced tournament fisherman, read that to him. I suspect Grandpa will chuckle and then go over it line by line telling you boys how to fish smarter, not harder.
 
Originally Posted By: JJTAlwaysWishing

Right after weigh in, me on the right my brother on the left. People say we look short in this picture, I should say that I'm 6'4" and he is 6'

Do they make you turn the fish loose after weigh in?
 
Originally Posted By: woodguruOriginally Posted By: JJTAlwaysWishing

Right after weigh in, me on the right my brother on the left. People say we look short in this picture, I should say that I'm 6'4" and he is 6'

Do they make you turn the fish loose after weigh in? Yeah they did, sadly. That's what I was doing in that picture.
 
Originally Posted By: GCGoodness... If Grandpa is an experienced tournament fisherman, read that to him. I suspect Grandpa will chuckle and then go over it line by line telling you boys how to fish smarter, not harder. First tournament man, didn't expect to win just happy to compete.
 
Originally Posted By: JJTAlwaysWishingOriginally Posted By: GCGoodness... If Grandpa is an experienced tournament fisherman, read that to him. I suspect Grandpa will chuckle and then go over it line by line telling you boys how to fish smarter, not harder. First tournament man, didn't expect to win just happy to compete.

I know... But know this, if you really want to compete you have to be smart about your fishing. Otherwise, don't pay the entry fee and just go fishing for free. I'm not getting on ya, just saying.
 
Originally Posted By: Infidel 762That's a nice bass.. Why do they make you release them after weighing? I have no idea, I don't know if you absolutely have to but the people who weighed me in told me to so I did.
 
Originally Posted By: JJTAlwaysWishingOriginally Posted By: Infidel 762That's a nice bass.. Why do they make you release them after weighing? I have no idea, I don't know if you absolutely have to but the people who weighed me in told me to so I did.

I've fished a few tournaments, not the big ones but local bass clubs. Normally 50 or less entrants. Also have fished with a couple of really good tournament fisherman who regularly fish the big name tournaments on several occasions. That's the way to learn all the latest new regimens. Never seen or heard of a tournament anywhere that didn't require the fish to be alive at check in and that they must be released alive. There are a couple of reasons. First most experienced tournament fishermen catch a lot of bass, big bass. If it was not catch and release the population of bass would be adversely affected. Similarly that's why you find slot limits on many species. The best breeding fish will be those in the slot that are required to be released. Also the tree huggers don't have a case when all fish are released. Not only tree huggers get upset with tournaments but regular recreational fisherman would be up in arms when the lack of many spawning fish caused a precipitous drop in populations. It's sort of the same mindset that predator hunters have for not shooting coyotes during breeding season. A smart sportsman is concerned with future populations. And as well, an experienced fisherman will tell you if you want to eat fish, go catch the overabundant Crappie or Catfish that taste a whole lot better than Bass. As far as a trophy to hang on the wall, taxidermists no longer need the fish to make the trophy mount. Weigh your Bass, go to the taxidermist with the weight and he'll make a duplicate from prefab mounts and paint it. You nor anyone else can tell the difference. You would be extremely hard pressed to find a taxidermist anywhere that would mount a fish the old way, its too time intensive and you wouldn't like the price.Your best bet for learning is to join a local Bass club and attend as many meetings and events as you can. Also subscribe to Bassmasters magazine and read each one cover to cover. Hope this helps.
 
Originally Posted By: azmastablastaOriginally Posted By: JJTAlwaysWishingOriginally Posted By: Infidel 762That's a nice bass.. Why do they make you release them after weighing? I have no idea, I don't know if you absolutely have to but the people who weighed me in told me to so I did.

I've fished a few tournaments, not the big ones but local bass clubs. Normally 50 or less entrants. Also have fished with a couple of really good tournament fisherman who regularly fish the big name tournaments on several occasions. That's the way to learn all the latest new regimens. Never seen or heard of a tournament anywhere that didn't require the fish to be alive at check in and that they must be released alive. There are a couple of reasons. First most experienced tournament fishermen catch a lot of bass, big bass. If it was not catch and release the population of bass would be adversely affected. Similarly that's why you find slot limits on many species. The best breeding fish will be those in the slot that are required to be released. Also the tree huggers don't have a case when all fish are released. Not only tree huggers get upset with tournaments but regular recreational fisherman would be up in arms when the lack of many spawning fish caused a precipitous drop in populations. It's sort of the same mindset that predator hunters have for not shooting coyotes during breeding season. A smart sportsman is concerned with future populations. And as well, an experienced fisherman will tell you if you want to eat fish, go catch the overabundant Crappie or Catfish that taste a whole lot better than Bass. As far as a trophy to hang on the wall, taxidermists no longer need the fish to make the trophy mount. Weigh your Bass, go to the taxidermist with the weight and he'll make a duplicate from prefab mounts and paint it. You nor anyone else can tell the difference. You would be extremely hard pressed to find a taxidermist anywhere that would mount a fish the old way, its too time intensive and you wouldn't like the price.Your best bet for learning is to join a local Bass club and attend as many meetings and events as you can. Also subscribe to Bassmasters magazine and read each one cover to cover. Hope this helps.

Well where I live currently it isn't big largemouth area, there is largemouth but most target walleye and stripers in the surrounding lakes, which don't get me wrong are very fun to catch but just not my style seeing they mainly troll for them. Ehh I have no future as a proffesional fisherman I fish for hobby not for anything more. Just because I compete once in a while doesn't mean I want to be a pro although I love doing my best but I feel like fishing is something you get better at when you do it, don't get me wrong research and tips help, but [beeep] you can know everything about a fish but you ain't gonna catch him on the couch. Just like yote hunting.
 
Gotcha JJT,personally I don't care for tournament stuff either, fishing or hunting. Never been to one where someone wasn't accused of cheating somehow. The only time I fished them was when my company sponsored a customer and gave me a chance to meet and talk to potential customers. It may seem hard to believe but some Arizona lakes have Stripers and a few even have Trout. I grew up in NE Oklahoma. My grandfather had a nice cabin on Lake Hamilton and his brother had one on Bull Shoals. We fished both lakes frequently. Spent some time fishing Tablerock lake as Well. It's nice to have something besides golf to fall back on in the hot spring and summer. You're right though not many caught from the couch, LOL.
 
As my grandpa says, only thing you'll catch from the couch is a cold haha. Yeah I just recently moved to Lead Hill which is basically on Bull Shoals from a house I had on Table Rock. I liked it better, although big lakes have never been my forte I'm more of a small lake/pond/river guy. I tear 'em up in then small rivers and ponds. But who doesnt
 
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