Tell Me About Your First Tournament! 2024
MSWV reply :
Me and my brother have been fishing since we were pre-teens, mostly wading, floating in rafts, or in our 9.9 horsepowered jon boat, but we havent fished out of a bass boat until recently.. We have signed up for our first tournament which is a buddy tournament that will have 50-75 boats.. Were a little nervous.. We are both very competitive and Im sure we will prob have fun but Im sure we will learn a lot..haha
Does anyone have any good first tournament stories? How did your first tournament go??
HookdUP reply :
My first tournament I didn't have a fish Til an hour before it was over then ran down a bank and caught 20 lbs .... Won 2nd and big fish ... Felt like I was about to be the next kvd after that lol ....
ColdSVT reply :
I caught two good ones in the first ten mins of my first tourny ( a 3 and 4.5)
Those were the only two i weighed that day lol
Bluebasser86 reply :
My first tournament I never had anything that I was sure was a bite and it never got above 40 degrees.
sprint61 reply :
Cought the fattest 14 and 3/4" fish ive ever cought. Couldn't make it bump 15" for nothing lol.
ol salty reply :
My first tournment was the most anti climactic scenerio ever. I joined a club over the winter. Had 2 months to prepare for my first tournment. Stayed up late playing with my fishing stuff. Then layed in the bed with my eyes pegged open with anticipation for a few hours. The short night and no sleep didnt phaze me. I was focused dude! Jumped in the truck and headed for lake sardis. After the 3 hour drive at 3 in the morning I arrived at the ramp. Only to see 10 guys standing around shaking thier heads. With 30 to 35mph winds smackin the bank they canceled the derby. I was sooo disappointed! Crushed! I was ready to risk it all!I thought these guys fished rain or shine! Since then ive bought a boat of my own and fished several tounments. It only took one day on the water in my own boat with about 20mph winds for me to finally understand and agree with their call that morning.
EmersonFish reply :
My first tournament was 'The Grand Challenge' down in Oklahoma, probably about 15 years ago. Caught one fish. Don't remember the weight, although I still have the slip somewhere. Needless to say, it was humbling. Never have done worth a darn at Grand Lake for some reason.
WIGuide reply :
My first tourney was an interesting experience. It was held the weekend before the normal inland season started on the Mississippi River. Prefishing was minimal due to that fact but my partner had fished the river "quite a bit". I was super excited the night before and could hardly sleep. After waking up before my alarm went off (not a morning person so that's pretty impressive for me) I chugged a few Monsters and decided to chatter like a little school girl the 40 minute or so drive to the ramp. The temp had dipped the night before farther than they had said, leaving us with temps in the high 30's at take off. I came prepared though, I had brought hand warmers that I bought the night before....only problem is none of them worked. For about the first hour I was sitting in the back of the boat thawing out. My partner caught a decent smallie off a wing dam and we were on the board. We continued to fish the entire stretch of wing dams to not have as much as another bite. We take off towards our primary area and he decides to stop at a point that he's done well on in the past and continue to not get bit. We finally make it to our primary area, a fairly small creek where we had found them the weekend before, only to discover it's a city of boats that day. We managed to scrounge out 1 small keeper largemouth before the end of the day. We ended up in 10th out of 14. I definitely learned a lot that day!
Felix77 reply :
I was very spoiled with my first tournament. It was a pike team tournament my club uses as a warm up on Ticonderoga. I was quite the novice but my partner and I worked out a plan. Little did I know that what I was using was going to be the ticket. My spinnerbait just seemed to be what they were biting on that day. My partner, who was also new to me was fantastic. He said if that is what they are biting on then you keep catching them and he will net and cull them.
We won! Quite the intro to the club. LOL
gulfcaptain reply :
When I was a jr in HS, joined a Wednesday night bass club team tournaments on the lake I lived on in Okla. First tournament, well I got grouded for something stupid which I don't remember at this point, my Dad fished with my partner, I got to go to the weigh in that evening. They won, I watched. Got to fish the next week, but of course we didn't catch any that night. But that was my intro into any kind of bass tournament.
scaleface reply :
My first club tournament ,I got skunked . My first open tournament I caught a 6 lb drum right off the bat. LOL and got skunked on bass .
corn-on-the-rob reply :
Last year in the spring, first college club tourney. Cold weather and water on a tough lake. Got stuck in the boat with 3 people and fished in the back. Everyone fished against each other, there was no angler/coangler division.
I started off the day so excited/nervous it was like I had never casted before in my life! Very inaccurate and set the hook at everything. I finally settled down, got 2 bites all day, boated them both. Got 3rd out of about 13. With 2 fish I wasn't expecting much but no one was catching much that day. I was happy with how it went.
Trenton reply :
Opened the gates and caught 8 banging cranks off submerged trees. Weighed in our limit and took 5th out of 22 and had a nice 4lb get off at the boat that would have given us 2nd easy. All in all so stressful lol but super fun we made top 10 in points on the year and have our classic tomorrow. Can't wait for this years tournaments to start
Catt reply :
Henderson Fishing Rodeo July 4th 1966
Henderson Swamp, Henderson Louisiana
Finished 9th out of 50 registered anglers
I was only 15 
slonezp reply :
First real club tournament with my son as my "buddy", I only remember 2 things. I remember some guy had a paint job on his truck that blended right into the gel coat on his boat. Right after that, I remember my son who was 14 or 15 says, "Dad, You've got the $#ittiest boat here"
StinkyBass reply :
My first tournament really put me and my buddy to the test. His boat motor was too big for the lake we were fishing so we had to borrow a friends ragged 9.9 hp 14 foot jon boat. and when i say ragged, i mean ragged. Blast off (not really blast off in a 9.9 LOL) was at 7am, we were in the first set to leave. we got the trolling motor going to get us into deeper water but my buddy couldnt get the 9.9 to fire up. everybody was given the signal to go and our motor still hadnt started! 20 minutes later with the trolling motor on 10, and after the last set of boats passed us, i noticed a small can of engine starter... 5 mintutes later we got it to fire up. needless to say rough start. the day was rough all the way around. it was late march and the day after a massive cold front. it was 38 degrees with a constant 10 mph NW wind with gusts up to 20 mph. I kid you not, it started snowing! i caught a fish around 9:30am only to be disappointed by a 2.5lb pickerel. with 40 minutes left in the tourney, by buddy hooks into a scruffy looking 2.4lb bass. with our tails between our legs we motored back to the dock. come to find out, our 2.4 pounder won the tourney AND big bass as it was the ONLY bass caught that day! i learned to stick with it and sometimes you just need to shut up and fish! 
basseditor reply :
1983 my first tournament. It was cold in March and not knowing better my friend and I camped out. We froze. I drew an older gentleman who was blind in one eye. All the boats were bobbing around just outside the marina wake less area. Shotgun start.
The signal to go comes. He puts the throttle all the way down. Unfortunately he had the steering wheel turned all the way to the right. Front end of boat swings up and hard turn and we missed the boat to our right by a frog's hair.
I had never even been on the lake. He didn't practice either. We both blanked. Next day I drew a veteran who limited and I got two. But I didn't feel good. The flu was coming on. I barfed all the way home on the 5-hr. drive that took 8 hrs because we had to stop for me to jump out and spill my guts multiple times.
IndyGlockMan reply :
Early April this year, Patoka Lake, Indiana. Froze our butts off and caught 2 undersize fish in the last hour of the tournament as co-angler.
The boater got skunked, but we had a great time anyway.
papajoe222 reply :
My first tourney was a big bass rollover at my local club (the club owns a series of strip pits), biggest bass over 5lb. wins. No 5lb. fish and the purse rolls over until the next week. Fish that size are rare in those waters, though there are some 7lb.+. Anyway, on the 5th week, I tied into a monster and was within earshot of two other boats. I started trash talking as I reeled her in. About a minute into the fight I realized it wasn't a bass by the way it was fighting. I did everything in an attempt to loose that 8lb. drum, but she wouldn't come unbuttoned. I was the brunt of a ton of ribbing at weigh in and for quite a while after. 
Big Kahuna Ranch reply :
My buddy and I fished a open tournament on our home town lake.
We went out Wednesday before the tournament and prefished.
Found some nice bass back up in a creek near an old bridge.
Then we went out to some deep water points and found some more nice ones.
Come tournament day we are set. We hit the creek to get our five limit, but it had rained the night before and the whole creek was muddy. Nothing there.
We hit the mouth of another creek and caught one two pounder.
By the time we got out to the deep water points the wind had picked up and we were fighting three to four foot white caps.
Needless to say we got soaking wet, no more fish and my first tournament was in the books.
Dtrombly reply :
My first tournament I was bank fishing with an aerated cooler as a live well, lol. 90 degrees out and didn't get bit until an hour left in the day, working a frog on a weed edge and got back to back blow ups, landed one of the fish, a 1lb 13oz largemouth. That was the only fish I weighed in and still finished 3rd out of 10 anglers. Winning bag was 6lb 13oz. Was a tough day for everyone
JigMaster4 reply :
My first tourney was last year, and I am in highschool so another person was my captain. Caught 2 fish in the first hour or so, and it was looking pretty good. We decide to move, and the key broke off with half of it in the ignition. We had to set the trolling motor on high and get to the nearest ramp and get picked up by a friend.
CroakHunter reply :
On 5/3/2015 at 11:29 PM, IndyGlockMan said:Early April this year, Patoka Lake, Indiana. Froze our butts off and caught 2 undersize fish in the last hour of the tournament as co-angler.
The boater got skunked, but we had a great time anyway.
Gotta love patoka early in the year.
Skeeter Dan reply :
Got Skunked !!!!! on a cold and rainy day in Feb.
IndianaFinesse reply :
It was an interesting experience... Fishing out of a 14 foot aluminum rigged with a 9.9 HP motor we caught a small limit of bass that weighed about ten pounds. We were close to getting dq'd for being late, the guy heading the tournament up walked over and told us that if we would have been ~35 seconds later he would have disqualified us. Which wouldn't have bothered me much, but we were the second boat out of eight to arrive! The other six were late (including the winners) but not a word was said about them.
Then when we went to get our fish bumped, the same guy that was in charge of the tourney dumped our fish in the sink with a golden rule in the bottom of it, and with out even individually measuring the fish he tossed three of them back. They were all within an inch and a half of the minimum, but all were legitimately keepers and he didn't even really measure them. Then a couple of his buddies brought in a couple obviously short fish (the minimum was 15" and they didn't look 12") but he let them slide and was even ribbing them about bringing in dinks!
Still got third place, but it ticked me off enough that I haven't competed in that club since.
OCdockskipper reply :
June of 1978
Canyon Lake California
After a year or so of reading Bassmaster magazine, I decided I was good enough to fish a bass tournament. Problem was that I didn't know any other bass anglers, had a small boat that was docked in Canyon Lake (no trailer) and was 15 years old, so I couldn't drive anywhere else. So I sent in an application to BASS to set up a Canyon Lake Bassmasters chapter, with me as the president, my dad (who didn't fish) as VP and my younger sister as Secretary/Treasurer. With the approved application in hand, I typed up a "Canyon Lake Bassmasters Invitational" sign up sheet, had my VP make some copies of it and got the guy at the general store to let me put them on display near his cash register. In 2 weeks or so, I got 11 entries and we were in business.
I didn't know much about structure fishing, so the tournament was set for Saturday evening (4 hrs) and Sunday morning (4 hrs) to take advantage of the low light conditions. With two half days, we ended up using a 5 fish limit both days (even though the regulations for the lake was a 10 fish limit). I met the participants for the first time on the 1st day of the event, all had a good laugh that some kid was the one setting up & running this tournament. Only 4 of the entries had halfway decent boats, so we ended up with 3 participants per boat.
I can't remember the name of the guy who won, even though I was in his boat (a brand new Skeeter) the first day. He showed me how to flip and smiled knowingly when I caught a spotted bass on a crankbait (he had been the one who had brought them over from Lake Perris). I do remember the 2nd place finisher, a man named Bob Dashiel who was a member of a local club called the Ambassadors. On the 2nd day, in addition to his limit, he also brought in a pair of 15 lb catfish that had eaten his homemade jig, in case anyone wanted a catfish dinner that night. Bob took a liking to me after that, taking me out in his boat a few times, giving me some of his jigs and teaching me about bass fishing.
As for me, I caught fish both days, but didn't limit either day and ended up somewhere in the lower third of the standings. I learned alot and made friends with some men who were all old enough to be my dad. I held a second tournament the next summer, which Bob ended up winning and I came in 4th. That was the last tournament I ever ran or entered, for later in the summer a started dating this cute brunette who I paid a lot more attention to than fishing or anything else. 38 years later (7 dating, 31 married), she still is my top priority 
ohboyitsrobby reply :
April 1st of this year on lake ouachita. 24 boats for a benefit. Most everybody had more money in fishfinders than I have in my boat. Hadn't caught hardly any fish that week. Also my ole ladies first tourney. When we all took off we went up the lake while 23 other boats screamed the other way. We didn't win but got 4th. I also got schooled by my girlfriend that day who was throwing a Carolina rig for the first time lol. Was a great time and unless we can't get a babysitter for our son she'll be my partner every time win or lose.
Bucky205 reply :
When I was in my 20s I joined a bass club called the "Interlachen Bassmasters". The club had about 30 members, boaters and non-boaters, and we held club tournaments once a month. In practice I would catch fish, in tournaments I would catch one or two dinks if anything. Several tournaments later and I'm fishing with a guy named Herb and were throwing identical plastic worms, he's catching fish and I'm not even getting bit. I can't figure it out, he looks at me and says, "RELAX". I was like RELAX?, were in a tournament. He told me to quit feeling pressured, and fish like I knew how. I took his advice, relaxed and caught fish. I think we ended up third or fourth, probably the most valuable tournament advice I ever got.
Columbia Craw reply :
Fished a little 35 boat club sponsored open at the urging of a young guy I know. The water temp was 41 degrees and the water was dirty. I caught a 5-11 and a 3-13 in the last hour and we won by an ounce. The Club's president told me all I could do from then on was go down. It was fun enough. I just go fishing and not get to serious about it. I've made some really good friends over the years as a result. That's the best part.
PECo reply :
I fished my first black bass tourney on May 11, 2013. It was a kayak fishing tourney, in which the winner was decided by the total length of each angler's longest five-fish bag. We fished a shallow reservoir separated by a causeway that had to be portaged to be crossed.
A field of 25 kayakers was expected, but threatening rain resulted in a field of only 12 boats. I said "boats", because canoes and one trolling motor-powered dinghy were also allowed to participate.
A buddy and I helped each other portage our kayaks over the causeway. Only one other boat, a canoe, attempted to portage, but dumped and gave up. It did rain, but it wasn't very windy and there was never any electrical activity.
Portaging was definitely the right move. I easily took first place and my buddy took second. My five-fish bag was 82 inches and had four roughly three-pound pre-spawn females, including the 18-1/2 inch lunker. My buddy's five-fish bag was 68-1/2 inches.
A great thing about it being an early season kayak fishing tourney is that I released all of the pre-spawn females right back over their bedding area after I measured and photographed them.
It was the first tourney ever organized by the guy who did it. He had trophies made for first, second and third place. I still have the trophy. It has the wrong date on it, May 1, instead of May 11, and the fish on it is a trout, not a bass. ?
huffman1988 reply :
I fished my first tournament this past Friday night. A 6pm to midnight open tournament they hold weekly. Only 16 boats entered. I had 6 pounds by 7pm and thought I was in business. Couldn't catch another keeper the rest of the night. It was a slow night for everyone though. Winning weight was only 10 3/4 pounds. He also had big largemouth and big smallmouth too. Definitely fun and I see more in my future.
scaleface reply :
In the late 70's I joined a small bass club that had approximately 20 members as a non-boater .There was no major lake around here at the time but several small conservation lakes, so everybody fished from converted jon boats . It was the first tourney of the year and I show up with a a spinning combo and a spincaster . Never having bass fished from a boat before , I got skunked. I may not have even landed a fish , cant recall but I picked up a lot from that tourney . I realized that my casting skills were inferior to everyone else and my tackle box was ill-equipped . By the time of the second event I had a baitcaster and few new lures . By the time the season was over I had two or three baitcasters and a victory to boot.
Sam reply :
The memory of my first tournament is that when it was over I had no idea where we were or how to get to the main highway to go home.
I met my boater at 4 AM at a gas station and followed him to the ramp that morning. I had no idea of where we were going.
After the weigh in, I asked one of the guys how to do I get to the main highway and he was nice enough to let me follow him from the ramp to the main artery.
Now, I do a recon of every ramp we use during the week and have never had a problem since.
As for what I caught? I don't remember. No idea what so ever.
Fishin' Fool reply :
My first tournament was on Lk Erie out of Marblehead Bay in May. The weather was real nice leading up to the tournament like mid 70's. Of course the night before the tournament a cold front pushed through and it ended being 30 something in the morning with a high of 50. When my boater headed out onto the big water with each wave he took it was like a bucket of water was thrown in my face. By 7am I was soaked down to my underwear. It was a miserable day I caught 1 drum. However, I did go home and buy a quality rain suit after that :/
Bulletman20XD reply :
My first was a club tourney on Belton lake (Phantom Bass Club Killeen TX.). It was a cold, rainy day in mid December, I only caught 2 fish all day but both being over 5 lbs. it was enough for second place. Incidentally, this was also Keith Combs first club. His neighbor (Dave Hogue) had got him started and he was hooked. The following year Dave Hogue was AOY and I was second to him by 1 point. We were a Honey Hole affiliated club which the top 2 in each club qualified for the state Best of the Best tourney on Lake Limestone where I ended up 4th.
Keith fished the club for the next couple of years. Fished lots of local opens and up and up and up. If you have not followed his career as I have most would not know he has won AOY in every club, and circuit he has fished with the exception of the Elites where he was 2nd to G-Man last year (neither of which are doing very well this year). I'm very proud of him for sticking with it and doing what he loves.
Tas1498 reply :
The first tourney I fished I was so worried about getting a 5 fish limit I forgot to catch some kickers. Weighed in 5 for like 5lbs my strategy has since changed lol.
BrockstaRama reply :
I fished the bassmaster kid fish in 1992 and won the state championship but when it it came time for the national championship they never called to provide info or anything. I was mad for a long time after that.
andywbass reply :
June 21-22, 1975, Big Stone Lake, SD/MN. The first annual Soo Bassmasters Invitational. 26 people, all male, entered.
I (Andy Williamson) went as a non-boater. All bass weighed in were largemouth. Total poundage for everyone was 53 lb. 12 oz.
Day one- fished with Ben Overbaugh of Minn. He got three small keepers off Gapen's Weedcutter spinnerbait. He was a Gapen's employee. I got no bass, only perch and white bass.
Day two- fished with the man that won, Jim Hasik, of Omaha, who had 12 lb. 7 oz. the first day. He and I got skunked the second day, but he still won by nearly 5 lbs. White bass bit good. Babe Winkelman entered.
I have the entire results, in detail, if anybody wants them.
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