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"Which Tournaments should I Fish?by Rick Pelletier That’s a question every tournament angler faces each year. From the club angler to the top pros, the decision of which tournaments to fish can be very difficult. I believe that if you answer a few basic questions first, your decision making process will be much easier. Before we get to those questions, let’s look at the different types of tournaments that are available out there. There are three basic tournament formats - draw, team, and pro/am. Each one could be held on a local, regional, or national basis, but would be essentially the same no matter what level it was held at. A draw tournament is where partners are matched up by a random draw. It is then left up to the partners, through discussion and negotiation, to determine which boat to use, how to divide the fishing time up, etc. All draw tournaments I am aware of allow for each fisherman to have equal time selecting the fishing locations and running the trolling motor. If there are any issues that can’t be resolved through discussion, then it is usually results in a coin flip. Each angler is competing against all other anglers, including his partner. However, many times both anglers chances for success are increased as a result of working together in order to maximize on their combined knowledge and skill sets. Draw tournaments are a great option for anglers that are looking to learn. This is due to the fact that you fish with a different person each day and are exposed to vast amount of fishing knowledge in a short time span. Examples of draw circuits are clubs, Military Bass, Redman, and Bassmaster Invitationals. A team tournament is where anglers determine their partners on their own and sign up for the tournament as a team. The anglers, as a team, compete against the other teams, not each other. Boat usage, fishing location, etc. is decided by the team. By allowing anglers to determine their own partners, team tournaments have a couple of advantages to them. First, anglers can pair up to maximize their assets ( i.e. knowledge of a lake, skills, equipment, etc.) in order to try and improve their chances of winning. Secondly, it allows for the opportunity of less experienced anglers to pair up with a more experienced angler that they feel comfortable with (which may not be the case in a draw or pro / am format). The main drawback to this format is the limitation to learning, due to the fact you’re usually fishing with the same person all the time. I recommend team tournaments for anglers that think they can consistently finish in the money. Examples of team circuits are I.N. Bass, Denny’s Super 30, and Team Bass. A pro / am tournament is where a pro angler is matched with an amateur partner by random draw. The difference between a pro / am and a draw tournament is that the pro competes only against other pros and the amateur competes only against other amateurs. Also, the pro has complete control of the boat for the entire day. Anglers that should compete in the “pro” division are the more experienced anglers who feel that they can consistently finish in the money against other top pros. The amateur side provides another great learning opportunity, and usually at a reduced price. The advantages are basically the same as a draw tournament, except you’re more likely to draw someone with a great deal more experience. Examples of pro / am circuits are the Silverado, FLW, and Bassmaster Top 100. Obviously, you don’t have to fish an entire circuit in order to fish the tournament(s) you want, nor are you limited to fishing only one circuit. Not to mention there are several good tournaments that are not part of any circuit - CLASSIC BASS Invitational, Dennis Green Invitational, Minnetonka Classic, Midwest Pro / Am, U.S. Invitational Bass Blitz, and many others that you might want to consider. Now we can go on to a few questions that should help narrow down the choices. First and most importantly, what do you want out of a circuit? - money? learning opportunities? sponsorship? to be one of the guys? a reason to get away from your spouse? Second, is there any limiting factors on what I can fish? - money? equipment? time commitment? other obligations? spouse? skill level? willingness to travel? After going through these questions and writing out the answers, you should be able to look at the available circuits and start to narrow down your choices. Another suggestion would be to talk to the tournament director or other anglers that are fishing the circuit you are interested in. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a relatively large number of quality tournament choices available to us, considering we have such a short fishing season. And bringing as much information about these choices as possible to you the tournament angler is one of the primary goals of the members of CLASSIC BASS. We hope you will use the CLASSIC BASS Newsletter or this Web Site to help make your tournament choices. A side note to all tournament anglers - if you are a non-boater during a tournament day, plan on sharing in the costs for fuel, oil, etc. with the boater. This is just common sense and should be offered by the non-boater rather than requested by the boater. Generally, $10 - $20 is the norm, but is up to the boater based on how much gas was used. Boaters - be reasonable! It’s a good idea to discuss this as soon as you find out your fishing together to reduce confusion after the tournament. I’d like to finish by leaving you with one last thought. As you are planning out your tournament schedule for the summer, leave some time open to take a kid fishing. No matter what the result of the tournament is, it will pale in comparison to the impact you can have on a kid’s life, not to mention the impact it can have on you. That’s it for now - see you on the water.
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