Bass Fishing Tip of the Week 01/09/2011: Selecting a Bass Tournament Trail

Fishing a bass tournament can be one of the best ways to test your know how and learn from others. Talking with fellow fishermen after the tournament can often lead to greater catches in the future. Tournaments also teach you how to be efficient with your time on the water as well as the importance of preparation.

On the other hand, selecting the wrong tournament trail can lead to eating bologna sandwiches for dinner, a big headache during the tournament and cursing fellow anglers.

Some important criteria in selecting the best tournament trail for you can be entry fee costs, costs for gas/hotels, type of trail as well as the directors/members of the tournament organization.

Let's discuss entry fee costs 1st. If you are well off it probably is not a factor but for most of us with mortgages, rent, car payments, boat payments, insurance, etc cost is probably one of the biggest factors. National tournaments such as BASS and FLW can have some rather large fees and is only recommended for those with considerable experience at the local tournaments unless fishing as a co-angler. The local or state trails can be the ticket for most tournaments as fees often are $100 or less per boat.

Costs for hotels and gas are another major consideration even for state tournament trails. If the lake is a few hundred mile from your home, vehicle gas costs and hotel costs are often involved. Consider this when selecting the tournaments you want to fish as you may want to fish closer to home in either a local trail or club. Also consider the size of the lakes or chain of lakes the organization is fishing. A large lake like Okeechobee or a large chain of lakes like Kissimmee can often lead to a considerable gas bill for your boat. If you can afford it it can be very rewarding to learn these lakes, but don't fish 'em if it means that you can only eat bologna sandwiches for a month in order to pay for the costs involved.

Finally consider the organizations directors and members. You may wish to observe some weigh ins of the tournament trail/club you wish to join before dishing out the membership money. If you see some joking and a lot of smiling faces it's probably a good trail. Watch the director and ask him some questions, if he/she is receptive to your inquiries and is more than happy to answer them it is more likely this is the trail for you. If they shrug you off and simply tell you to take an entry form, time to look elsewhere. Try to talk to some money winners and see if they will tell you what they caught them on or any other helpful information. How they react to this will tell you if this is the trail you want to fish.

I have listed a few tournament trails for Florida here: http://www.floridabassfishing.us/Bass%20Tournaments%20in%20Florida.htm . This list should give you a start on what is available. Until next time, Tight Lines.

The Largemouth Herald