I am still in high school but have been interested in tournament fishing for a long time, but i don't have a boat. There is no way i can afford a 20 foot bass boat, but i was thinkin about just buyin a small jon boat. I don't know much about the rules and even if you can enter a tournament with a jon boat but if i could i would still have no live well. I could put the fish on a stringer, but from my experiences the fish wouldn't live long enough to make it to the weigh in, resulting in penalties.
I could be stringing them up wrong or sumthin but i don't think so.
Any suggestions or comments on this topic will be greatly appreciated.

XJX

xjx,

Most Bass clubs will allow a 14' John boat in their tournaments and some don't even require you to have a gas engine. Find a Bass club in your area and ask them what their minimum boat requirements are. I have not heard of any club that allows you to use a stringer as a method for keeping fish alive during a tournament. I would recommend that you invest in a Toho-rig live-well system, or the cheapest system would be a standard cooler with an aerator. Check out this link:
http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=1293&hvarTarget=search





You will also need all the U.S. Coast Guard required safety equipment. (i.e., Life jackets, throw-able floatation device, running lights, sounding device, signal flare, anchor, etc.)

Let us know how you make out. You can order all of the items you need from Bass Pro Shops. The link to their home page is in our "Buy N Sell" section.

Good luck...

Brendan

How are you doing buddy? If you have your heart set on being a boater in the club tournies than listen to Brndan, he hit the nail right on the head! Another option would be joining a club as a non-boater. Thats what I did and it worked out great, you learn alot by watching someone else operate, and you will also save a couple of bucks. Good luck with your journey, I hope everything works out great for you.

XJX,

Brendan and Dennis could not have answered the question any better. I do agree with both guy with their ideas. I started fishing small tournament with a 12 ft jon boat and an aerated cooler. After 2 years, I up graded to a 15 ft flat bottom boat w/ a 30 hp motor. Now, more the 15 years, I have my TRITON TR-20 (fully loaded) w/ a 225 hp Mercury. Get to know about the fish (habitat, seasonal patterns, and baits)--read alot of magazines and articles. If you every get a chance, go to a fishing seminar--you wont be disappointed. If you need any help, dont hesitated to call or e-mail me.

XJX,
Don't worry about starting out small. Just be sure the rig you purchase is a safe one. All the guys from the Bassin' USA Pro Staff most likely started out just like you, I know I did. I actually started with a vee bottom which is a little more sea worthy at times. Go with the cooler-aereator suggested and when it's hot, add some ice once in a while. Salt is also helpful for the fish. Maybe you could locate a partner who might purchase a mpotor if you furnish the boat or versa vice. You have the desire, you'll find a way! Keep us posted we care. Johnnie Crain, Iowa

There are several clubs across the country that have "paper weigh-ins", which are catch and immediate release. You only bring in your total from the measurement of the fish you catch. Perhaps you can find a club such as this.

All of the bass tournaments at the Rock Island Conservation Club, of which I am a board member, are on paper. We have judge boats on each lake, which go to any boat that has caught a fish, measure it, record it on the contestants paper, and then release the fish where it was caught. Each boat carries an orange flag which they stick up when a keeper size fish is boated.

There are also some, which are draw, and each partner witnesses the other's catch when it is measured.

If nothing else, perhaps you can get some of your buddies together and start forming a small club, which would use this form of fishing. It would be a start, and give everybody a taste of competition fishing.

Best of fishing,
Dan

Paper weigh-ins sound like the purest and most effective form of c&r, Dan. Far less stress on the fish, and only one well needs to be filled (less water to haul around from spot to spot.) Great idea. Next thing to enhance bragging rights, would be for the judge's boat to take digital pictures.

Frank

Frank,
Digital photos are the perfect thing. In fact, it helps publicize the tournament in any post press, and the judge boats can many times catch the action of the fish being landed. It makes it great for someone like me in the press, as I'm the main judge boat for these tournaments.
Dan

XJX, I am the tournament director for a small, jon boat club in NY. We run the same livewell set up Brendan told you about. It really works. I use 2 frozen 1 liter bottles of water to drop the temp. In 8 qualifying events, a two day classic and two non quals last year we caught about 350 largemouths. We had one fatality in our first event and no other casualties for the rest of the year. I think that is a pretty impressive record. if you take care in what you are doing, it will work out fine. My advice is, join a small boat club and fish there until you feel comfortable to make a jump to the realm of bass boats.

Craig,

That is an awesome live release percentage. Only 1 dead out of 350, you are doing something right that is for sure.

JT Bagwell