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My First Bass Tournament ExperienceBy: Deirdre Davison
Saturday was an experience that will play in my memory for a long time to come. I fished my first BFL tournament on Lake Wateree as a Co-Angler. As some already know, I became very interested in fishing because I wanted to spend more time with my husband. Because I am determined to do well in whatever endeavor I undertake, I engaged Rusty as a fishing coach and dove in head first! I thought that fishing a tournament would not only give me a day sharing in my husband?s life but would also help to solidify my fishing lessons.
We drove down to Camden for the tournament registration and meeting Friday which is where you hear the tournament rules and meet your fishing partner for the tournament. I was honest with my boater and told him that I had only been fishing a very short time, had never used a net, and was there to learn. He took a deep breath and seemed to take it all in stride.
Three o?clock a.m. came incredibly early, but I was so psyched that I was already fired up, talking a blue streak about the upcoming day, and pretty much bouncing off the walls. Bless my husband?s sleepy heart; he had to endure that from the time that we left the house until he dropped me off at the dock to find my boater. So on the dock I stood, saying, ?Good Morning? to every fisherman that looked at me in disbelief with all of my gear. One gentleman even told me that my husband had left me with ?the dirty work? of holding his gear. I laughed and informed him that the gear was mine. A huge smile came across his face and he stopped to encourage me. What a great day I was having and it wasn?t even dawn yet!
As I waited by the dock, low rumbling engines broke the predawn peacefulness. The smell of gas permeated the air as a multitude of boats bobbed and jockeyed for position. A line of boaters, some more patient than others, waited to put in and just as many co-anglers waited on or near the docks to be found by their boating partners. Even though everyone was taking their time, the scene was anything but subdued.
Fast forward an hour. Being part of the take off is like coming out of the gate on a thoroughbred race horse; heart pounding and every synaptic nerve firing. We?re off! The adrenaline rush of the take off only lasted about two minutes for me because my boater had chosen to fish a group of islands just across the main channel. We zipped over and immediately started throwing buzzbaits and pop-r?s. With my boater?s fifth or sixth cast, BAM! he has a bass on! Now I?m freaking because I?ve never worked the net. He was aware but wanted me to net the fish anyway. I was so nervous. As I got the fish into the net, it jumped and before it could hit the water and my heart had time to skip a beat, I netted it in mid air. That three pounder went into the livewell. Sweet!
Back to fishing. I threw my buzzbait and between the time that it hit the water and I could start reeling (the lure was just under water), I felt a good bump. I set the hook and came back with only the line. Whatever it was ate my lure for breakfast! Neither of us had another hit for about an hour.
My boater caught his second fish in grass pitching a jig. Rusty had given me a pitching lesson and I wasn?t too afraid of trying even though I had more backlashes than successful pitches during my practices. Unfortunately, because of the position of the boat, I could not get my lure to the grass. Given that dilemma and determined to not be daunted by anything that came along during MY first tournament, I picked up a 7?6? pitching/flipping stick Texas rigged with a cute red worm. I knew that I could get more distance on the cast with that setup. So I leaned back, wound up and shot that lure out with all the force that I could muster and ohmigosh, the reel went from fuzzy to a rat?s nest of a backlash! It looked like a bad hook and loop rug. The sound as the line on the spool wound over and over itself was a sickening sound, not dissimilar to the sound of screeching tires before an impending accident. You know that it?s coming but don?t know how to stop it.
I fiddled with that line for about a minute with very little headway, so I wound it up, put the rod down and picked up my other 7?6? rod. The cast would have been a nice one except that I only had about 15?-20? of line on the spool! Oops; I forgot to check all my gear?.hmmm, lesson learned. That won?t happen again. That left me with a 6?6? baitcasting rod and a 6?0? spinning rod.
The third fish that my boater caught was on a shaky head. I remembered hearing from others who had fished tournaments that I should fish something slightly different, whether it be a different style lure or a slightly different color. As a result, I chose to fish an Arkansas Shad Super Fluke on the spinning rod. That Fluke looked fabulous in the water. Of course, me thinking that it looked fabulous in the water didn?t mean that the fish thought that it looked fabulous or even remotely appetizing. No bites, not a single one.
I went from the fluke to a black/blue lizard and threw it wherever I could. I was working a dock when I felt a bump and improperly set the hook. Part of the lizard made it back to the boat making that lure toast. Lesson learned; don?t be afraid to set the hook?.that?s why I?m there ? to practice and to put fish in the boat!
It wasn?t until after his fourth fish that my boater realized that he was on a wood cover pattern and as was his right, he saturated each laydown and pocket before moving on which left very little for me to fish. Actually, had I been more experienced, I believe that I would have been more confident in my ability to catch fish behind him. I fished a Texas rig behind him with a variety of plastics. At the end of one laydown, I felt a fish and set the hook. Unfortunately, I didn?t set the hook well and as a result, that bass did not spend the afternoon in the livewell. Two bad hooksets. I think that I know an area where I need more practice.
I think that my boater took pity on me after his fifth, sixth, and seventh fish and suggested that I try a shaky head. Well, I was there to learn and I had never fished a shaky head so after a minute of instruction, I was throwing a shaky head! Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I felt bumps and pulls. I remembered Rusty?s words, ?Hooksets are free.? so I set the hook often, very often. I caught two sticks and just about everything that I tossed to! I didn?t know what the jig head felt like as it dragged along. As a result, I made a number of mistakes with it, the first potentially being that I used it at all because it was a lure about which I knew nothing!
In hindsight, I believe that I should have listened to my instincts. I felt that I should have given up trying to fish behind him because it was so fruitless and instead should have turned to the deeper water and thrown a c-rig. That may not have been the right thing to do, but my gut said it was, which means that I would more than likely have fished it with more confidence and because of that confidence may have been more likely to land a fish!
The outcome of the tournament was that I did not put a fish in the boat. My boater however did declare me a good luck charm because he experienced his highest finish to date as a boater. Other outcomes were that I learned to stick with what I know, that my basic instincts are good, and that I am not afraid to take a chance and try something new when what I am doing is not working. I realized that my casts, while short would be accurate if I had more distance on them. I learned that I don?t get easily distracted and frustrated; in other words, the mental game of fishing is the easy part for me. I learned that SPF 50 put on every two hours does not keep me from getting sunburned, and I learned that tournaments are both grueling and exhilarating and I learned that practice DOES make a difference. I had the opportunity to catch fish; I just didn?t execute technique very well.
The parts of the day that I liked the best were seeing my husband take off with his co-angler and then seeing him again in the afternoon and saying, ?There?s my husband.? I enjoyed seeing my boater put fish into the boat and enjoyed the warm welcomes and kindness from a number of BFL ?old timers.? I enjoyed feeling comfortable enough to change my lure if I didn?t like the results that I was getting and was thankful that most of my casts were fairly accurate. I appreciated that my boater was willing to get me unhooked when I hooked a laydown and that he would occasionally say, ?Cast over there.?
I did not enjoy the stifling heat. Because we fished a very small area all day, we rarely experienced the refreshing breath of wind as we moved at trolling motor speed. I did not enjoy that I didn?t catch any fish and I was angry with myself over my poor hooksets. I didn?t enjoy that my boater checked in over fifteen minutes early when I was still trying to get a bass on. To be honest, I didn?t enjoy that I felt that I lacked control over my own success even though I fully understood, accepted, and embraced the reality. Actually, the truth is that I was always in control of my own success; I just wasn?t (and am still not) skilled enough to execute the techniques that will support my success. I sincerely believe, however, that it will come ? with more practice; LOTS of practice!
My first tournament was an incredible experience, exciting, invigorating, and frustrating. I gained new respect for serious anglers and came away with even more drive and determination to not only succeed at this sport and to never have an empty sac again if possible, but to also make my husband proud enough to want me to keep fishing with him! Believe it or not, even though I came home completely exhausted, I heard myself say, ?I want to go out on the lake tomorrow.? I guess that there is a fine line between obsession and insanity.
2007-06-11 22:27:42
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