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Posts: 1636
| I'm sure it has been asked before but...
Do you find tournament fishing to be fun? A challenge? Or just luck?
What do you like about it? |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | I think it's fun, first of all, I am a competitive person and when you can combine fishing with that I get a blast out of it.
I also think it is quite the challenge fishing against some of the best anglers out there, putting them all on one body of water makes for some real good competition.
Luck is involved in all aspects of fishing I believe to a certain extent.
That's why most tournaments are not just one day, you can get lucky on one day and bag 1st place. But when you throw in multiple days it makes in a little harder. I personally think muskie tournaments should be like 3-4 days, that way I think you throw out a lot of the luck. The guys that really know the lake and what they are doing are more likley to come out on top. This would also make if fun to put some patterns together on bodies of water.
Jeff |
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Brandyn,
Not to sound like some kind of a jerk on here ~ but I like fishing tournaments because a 34 inch fish will make my knees shake. Any other day it is just another muskie. Sure I am happy to catch them all, but the smaller fish just don't get me going like they used to.
TH |
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Posts: 8788
| I think its fun. You're still fishing, right?
It's just like a normal day except for a few bad things:
A. on a normal day you might leave a spot where you raised a small fish and go try to find a big one
B. on a normal day you can fish as long as you want
C. on a normal day there might only be 30 other boats musky fishing instead of 80
D. on a normal day you're not the 33rd person casting at that spot
E. on a normal day you can stop fishing and eat
F. on a normal day you can probably get to the spots you want to hit
and a few good things:
A. on a normal day nobody will give you money or a trophy or any prizes no matter what you catch
B. on a normal day you don't get to compete against other anglers
C. on a normal day you just go home after you fish
I'm pretty new to tournaments, so maybe the excitement will wear off down the road. But for now I kind of dig the whole deal -- driving up and seeing all the tournament boats on the road, being out on the water wondering how everyone else is doing, knowing the next cast might be worth a couple grand, laughing as you watch someone working a spot you hit twice already, just seeing what everyone else is doing out there, how different people approach a lake...
Some days though? I don't want to SEE another boat, I just want to fish and enjoy where I'm at. Fishing for the sake of fishing is fun too. |
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Posts: 217
Location: ladysmith, wi | I really enjoy tournament fishing, like said in eariler post a 34'' can get your knees shaking, what i most enjoy is all the good friendships i have made with fellow musky anglers throughout the years and the wealth of knowledge i have gained from them weather it be on the tourny lake or a lake i plan on fishing sometime down the road usaully someone has some info for me, and making a little extra ching aint bad either |
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Posts: 1168
| I enjoy it but actually enjoy being a judge boat more. I can fish but don't have that pressure on it and come out of the deal pretty good. Plus since you are criss crossing a body of water from different angles that you might not normally do you end up picking up on structure that you might not have before. Haven't picked up on any new areas since the fish caught in the ones I've judged have been what I would call community spots, but nonetheless, it gives you a very very different perspective of a body of water. |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Honestly, I think that if you have an opportunity to fish a tournament or multiple tournaments, I think it's time well spent. For me, fishing a tournament isn't about winning money, or wanting to be the best, but is that part of it? Of course it is, I think anyone that chooses to fish tournaments does it for the fun, because everyone knows, fishing muskie tournaments isn't going to provide you a living.
For me, fishing tournaments is about the morning, getting up early, well before sunrise. Being around fellow fishermen that enjoy the same thing you do. The comraderie, the excitement, the hopes that one has for the day. To me, tournament fishing is about combining my love for fishing and the competitive spirit I have. Do I want to catch fish and place? Yup, I sure do. But the reason why I fish tournaments is for that one moment, just that one moment, the one reason why just about every professional tournament fisherman that I know lives for. That one moment is when you get the final ok from the director saying your good to go. It's that one moment when you get to lay the hammer down and just go. That to me is what a tournament is about. So, the question was, do you find it fun? Well my answer to that is, how could you not have fun fishing a tournament? |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | If you think you are gonna have a heart attack when you see a dandy follow,
well, wait until you see that fish during a tourney (whether it followed your bait, or your partner's).
Think you swear when she rejects you like all the other girls at the 7th grade dance?
HAH! You could get ex-communticated from the pope himself if he heard what you said during that situation in a tourney. |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Nightmare,
You could get ex-communicated from the pope himself if he heard
what you said during that situation in a tourney.
HA HA HA HA HA
Great line, really funny, I think I'll use that one!!!!
Tom |
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Posts: 1059
Location: Medford, WI | Can't give my opinion yet, but from reading your guys' responses it sounds like I'll have a blast!!! My fishing partner and I decided to get into a tourney this summer for the first time; and I know we both will have a blast fish or no fish.
On a side note, if anyone has a livewell that they are willing to borrow or sell, please PM me. Our boat isn't really meant for a musky fishing boat so much, as far as what's on it from the company (good ol' Super-Snapper!). So I'm looking to borrow one July 9th or buy a cheaper one.
Good luck and have a blast to all tourney fishermen out there, Jake Bucki |
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Posts: 624
Location: Bloomington, MN | I enjoy it to the extent that there is a slim chance that I may actually register a fish, and possibly win one. My first two muskies won me tournaments back in the 70's, now the weekend muskie warriors probably know more about these green bags of slime with a pea size brain (Quote of Mr. Worrall), and are more effecient at the sport then I will ever have the ambition to learn and aquire. The "patch days" thankfully are over, but now it has turned into the $40k boats with the matching logo outfits craze. I realize that this is what is required for "pro's" to do to keep their sponsorships, and they are the safest and most wonderful boats to fish for muskies from, but there is a fair amount of of anglers that have put themselves into financial hell to have those glittercrafts in the water just to keep up with the "Jones's". I've been very close to hitting that point (realize I'm the financially strapped dummy that bought a 1959 26' wooden boat to be part of the Minnetonka R.F. gang-always wake/distance angler respectful), and I've spent too much $ tweaking out something that should be recycled into adult beverage holders, just to keep up with the times. A majority of the tournament fisherman are fantastic people that if one needed a kidney, I probably would donate it to them. There are those that if they caught three 50"er's in a day would still have the expression on their face as if someone took a leak on their Post Toasties! I fish the Hodag Muskie Challenge almost every year and have judged some PMTT tournaments since my 15 minutes of fame. I believe that if a tournament has a 1st place prize of over $2000 (not $20k), that a minimum of 10% of the anglers are so tuned into that body of water that they would make Bobby M look like a berry picker harking a Rat Man bait on a surf casting rod in the middle of no-where-ville(unfortunately that works more than we care to admit) , and I guess I'm one of the few that actually like/respect Mr. Mesikomer for how he has treated me in the few times I've have met him, and what he has done for the sport of muskie angling. Fishing muskie tournaments can be a great deal of fun, you can learn a great deal from the folks involved and possibly meet life long friends (not meaning in the ickey bad you know what way..not that it is wrong), but you will encounter some of the "AAARRRRHHH AAARRRHHH Tim Allen/Tool Time guys/and unfortunately some gals, don't dare mess with them" that may make it a bitter experience. I still do believe that luck is somewhat of a factor, but that is not a "trail" winning theme. I'm sorry that this has turned into my "Uni-Bulldawger Manifesto on Muskie Tournaments"!!! Gotta go and Mow that gosh darn lawn!!!!
p.s. If and when a 34" follower doesn't get my kneecap shaking like an adult pleasure toy (Unfortunatley I only know how they shake through what I've heard on the radio "theater of the mind"), I will give up the sport and start chasing that #*^@ white ball around.
Edited by Clark A 5/19/2007 4:52 PM
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | "Uni-Bulldawger Manifesto on Muskie Tournaments"!!!
Love it! LMAO!
Fever,
Go ahead. use it.
Here is my favorite:
"Many a man's tongue has broken his own nose."
Benjiman Franklin
Edited by muskynightmare 5/20/2007 12:06 AM
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Posts: 2024
| I like it a lot. As TH (Boo, Red Sox... go Braves... haha) said earlier even a small fish gets your blood pumping extra hard when there's money and bragging rights on the line. And as MercKid said just being around fellow die-hards is fun.
Being among the younger tournament fishermen out there I feel a little more pressure to outperform some of the old farts (no offense guys!), but that extra pressure makes it all the more interesting. I also think there is a lot to be learned from tournament fishing. For example, I tend to camp more on fish in tournaments then when I'm fishing for fun and usually the results are positive compared to not camping. I may incorporate camping into more of my fishing-for-fun trips as a result of witnessing this work in tournaments.
Tournament fishing, in my opinion, can only make you a better fishermen. It forces you to analyze each situation carefully, make calculated decisions, adapt, and try new things all of which can be added to your repertoire for future use. |
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