Mysterious
FiSHinG touRNameNts
solving things
I
would like to talk about some of the mys- tery perceived by some fishermen, especially newbie’s, when they are trying to figure out how to have success on the tournament trail or at least develop consistency on those weekend outings. My personal story is not unlike most guys who get interested in tournament fishing. i started bass fishing with friends on weekends and caught a few bass on crankbaits. Then i learned how to catch bass on jigs, because i found that they don’t always hit a crankbait. i figured out how to make and tie my own jigs and caught bass on those too. This was fun; but the competitive spirit that lives within me, kept calling me to want more from bass fishing. in the mid 1990’s, i tried to find someone to partner up with to start fishing the local team tournaments here on the central coast of Calif. What i found is that no one wants to team up with the “new guy”, that unknown entity. So in 1996,
by KeN sauRet
Story & Photos
Getting Started in Tournaments
when the Won Bass Western Classic was held on lake nacimiento - my home lake by the way - i hung around the festivities before the tournament and met some of the co anglers that had qualified for the Classic that year. i explained my dilemma trying to get a team partner to enter the local tournaments and the guys said that if i entered the Pro/ams as an amateur the next year, the two pro’s that i would draw were obligated to take me fishing. i loved that idea so the next year i entered the Won Pro/ams and started my tournament career. i fished my first tournament when i was 42-years-old. i think i was the oldest newbie in the tournament. i was in awe of how these guys could find and catch bass in any weather, on any body of water. i had lots of questions and i wasn’t afraid to ask the pro’s i drew. Some were very helpful and some weren’t very talkative. one of the most common sayings i would hear from the pro’s that i talked to was that if i wanted
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