To join, or not to join...

Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent for me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I can hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the future.

Sounds like a blast. I'ld go for it. Fish every tourney and pay attention.
You may do better than you think.

--
** FREE Fishing Lures
** Weekly drawing
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

No-brainer Charles, get that cheque in the mail! Maybe you could do the
Christian thing and help out a pro too! Could be the start of something
great too? You get 10 fold what you put out! Even if you only went in a
couple of tournaments, what's a C-note more or less?
--
Steve

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

Is that the actual FLW tour or the Everstart/bfl's Charles?

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

Oops... sorry, it's the BFL.


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Is that the actual FLW tour or the Everstart/bfl's Charles?

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has
been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the
Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

You've got a boat my boy - go as a boater! The competition in the BFL's
will be far from the pro level, in fact you might find yourself saying (to
yourself of course) "Gee, what is THIS guy doing up front?" I'm not saying
that the competition will stink, but I am saying that the odds of getting a
"good ride" in the BFL's is very low. The BFL is on par with the BASS
Federation Charles, and you have the skills & knowledge to compete as a
boater in either of them.

Now if you get a chance to ride on the FLW or BASS tours, by all means don't
pass it up. That would guarantee you an increase in knowledge...

Call me if you want to chat about this.

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
...
Oops... sorry, it's the BFL.


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Is that the actual FLW tour or the Everstart/bfl's Charles?

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has
been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the
Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent
for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and
third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I
can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I
can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

I'm going to see if I can dig up the results from previous tournaments to
see how well the others have done.

In a nutshell, this is my problem. I've fished Priest Lake for about 6 years
and have basically relied on finding fish where I've been successful in the
past. Old Hickory Lake, while I haven't fished it as much, I usually rely on
fishing reports and others that feed me information. I can always find fish
on Old Hickory, but they're all small (which the lake if full of). Center
Hill is a hit or miss thing...


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
You've got a boat my boy - go as a boater! The competition in the BFL's
will be far from the pro level, in fact you might find yourself saying (to
yourself of course) "Gee, what is THIS guy doing up front?" I'm not
saying
that the competition will stink, but I am saying that the odds of getting
a
"good ride" in the BFL's is very low. The BFL is on par with the BASS
Federation Charles, and you have the skills & knowledge to compete as a
boater in either of them.

Now if you get a chance to ride on the FLW or BASS tours, by all means
don't
pass it up. That would guarantee you an increase in knowledge...

Call me if you want to chat about this.

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
...
Oops... sorry, it's the BFL.


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Is that the actual FLW tour or the Everstart/bfl's Charles?

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has
been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the
Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent
for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and
third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my
house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I
can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I
can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

I'm going to see if I can dig up the results from previous tournaments to
see how well the others have done.

In a nutshell, this is my problem. I've fished Priest Lake for about 6 years
and have basically relied on finding fish where I've been successful in the
past. Old Hickory Lake, while I haven't fished it as much, I usually rely on
fishing reports and others that feed me information. I can always find fish
on Old Hickory, but they're all small (which the lake if full of). Center
Hill is a hit or miss thing...


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
You've got a boat my boy - go as a boater! The competition in the BFL's
will be far from the pro level, in fact you might find yourself saying (to
yourself of course) "Gee, what is THIS guy doing up front?" I'm not
saying
that the competition will stink, but I am saying that the odds of getting
a
"good ride" in the BFL's is very low. The BFL is on par with the BASS
Federation Charles, and you have the skills & knowledge to compete as a
boater in either of them.

Now if you get a chance to ride on the FLW or BASS tours, by all means
don't
pass it up. That would guarantee you an increase in knowledge...

Call me if you want to chat about this.

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
...
Oops... sorry, it's the BFL.


"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Is that the actual FLW tour or the Everstart/bfl's Charles?

Warren

"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message
.. .
Just got my FLW packet in the mail this morning, and the thought has
been
floating around in my head anyway to sign up as a non-boater in the
Music
City region as a non-boater.

The lakes that are fished this year a

Percy Priest Lake, Fate Sanders Marina
Center Hill Lake, Floating Mill Recreation Area
Kentucky Lake, Paris Landing
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp
Old Hickory Lake, Bull Creek Ramp

Entry fees are $100.00 for co-angler and the locations are excellent
for
me
since I'd only have to stay overnight somewhere for the second and
third
tournament. The others are within easy driving distance from my
house.

I'm not even thinking about going into this with the attitude that I
can
compete... but rather as a learning experience. My hopes are that I
can
hook
up with some decent anglers that I can learn from and help me in the
future.

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 21:34:28 -0500, "go-bassn"
wrote:

You've got a boat my boy - go as a boater! The competition in the BFL's
will be far from the pro level, in fact you might find yourself saying (to
yourself of course) "Gee, what is THIS guy doing up front?" I'm not saying
that the competition will stink, but I am saying that the odds of getting a
"good ride" in the BFL's is very low. The BFL is on par with the BASS
Federation Charles, and you have the skills & knowledge to compete as a
boater in either of them.

Now if you get a chance to ride on the FLW or BASS tours, by all means don't
pass it up. That would guarantee you an increase in knowledge...

Some quick comments:

1. Warren...I don't want you take offense to this...but I'm
going to give you a bit of advice that just might help you
tremendously in next year's fishing tournaments: "Don't believe
everything you read in Bassmaster magazine..especially the crap about
how you are a just a minor league fisherman compared to whoever the
BassMaster writer is writing about in that month's rag."

2. Charles...if all you want is to compete well, just join the
lousiest bass club you can find north of the border (ie. "Have
fishing rod...will travel" Rapala and Wal-Mart lover's Club) and fish
their tournaments...:

3. Everyone...in all seriousness, if your goal is to increase
your bass fishing knowledge...IMO, the best way to go about that is to
spend "as much time on various waters" fishing "with as many different
people" as you can...picking up and practicing the different fishing
techniques and strategies that are out there. (read this above
sentence over and over again and you really don't need to read
anything else below)...

You can do it as a boater or nonboater. You can do that from the
boat or from the shore. And you can do that fishing with a guy in a
plain white unadorned T-shirt who has never fished a tournament in his
life...

You can can do that by fishing no tournaments at all or by
fishing in pretty much any tournament circuit...FLW, BASS, BFL,
Federation, whatever... Understand that the major difference in these
different tournament circuits is who is allowed to fish them, the
entry fee, and location of tournaments (ie. BASS hold the majority of
their tournaments in the southeastern US). Now, someone might be able
to make an argument that the level of "competition" is better in one
or the other..but there is no way that any circuit has a monopoly or
even majority of the best fishermen out there...whatever your
definition of best fishermen might mean.

The last time I checked...there still isn't a true "open"
national fishing circuit that fairly tells us who the best fishermen
in the world are. If there was, I might fish it and claim my throne.
Or maybe some guy nobody ever heard of from the swamps of Florida
might...: Regardless, you should never rule out the Harry and
Charley's of the world...especially if you're doing so in favor of
some punked out fancy schmancy type that drives a 22' 45k rig with a
275 hp motor on the back of her...even if the latest crop of BASS or
FLW writers tell ya they are "Fishing Gods" bc they wear a certain
fishing circuit patch on their sleeves...:

IMO, for "most people" who want to increase their fishing
knowledge...going as a nonboater in "any tournament circuit" is an
outstanding way to quickly pick up the "what to do and what not to
do's" of fishing. As for worrying about bad draws...you should be
able to learn something from anybody...even if its only what not to
do. And in any tournament circuit, you will fish with some guys who
have varying degrees of fishing skills. And you'll probably find that
what you learn is not necessarily dependent on the success you have in
a fishing outing...as you can pick up a great technique or two without
having success on that particular day. And I guess its possible to
not learn as much on the days that you accidently stumble on a mess of
em' too...

But the main thing is to get on the water as much as possible and
fish with and learn from as many different anglers that you can. And
don't just throw a Bill Norman Professional Edge "Middle N" Crankbait
in Blue/Chartreuse all the time either...:

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Favorite Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosiertradingpost.com/FishingTackle
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner

"Dwayne E. Cooper" wrote in message
news SNIP

2. Charles...if all you want is to compete well, just join the
lousiest bass club you can find north of the border (ie. "Have
fishing rod...will travel" Rapala and Wal-Mart lover's Club) and fish
their tournaments...:

There's no competition in Al's club....


The rest is good advice! Thanks for sharing your insights, and please don't
lurk as much. You seem to have a LOT of experience to share!

Nothing else snipped... cause it's well worth re-reading


3. Everyone...in all seriousness, if your goal is to increase
your bass fishing knowledge...IMO, the best way to go about that is to
spend "as much time on various waters" fishing "with as many different
people" as you can...picking up and practicing the different fishing
techniques and strategies that are out there. (read this above
sentence over and over again and you really don't need to read
anything else below)...

You can do it as a boater or nonboater. You can do that from the
boat or from the shore. And you can do that fishing with a guy in a
plain white unadorned T-shirt who has never fished a tournament in his
life...

You can can do that by fishing no tournaments at all or by
fishing in pretty much any tournament circuit...FLW, BASS, BFL,
Federation, whatever... Understand that the major difference in these
different tournament circuits is who is allowed to fish them, the
entry fee, and location of tournaments (ie. BASS hold the majority of
their tournaments in the southeastern US). Now, someone might be able
to make an argument that the level of "competition" is better in one
or the other..but there is no way that any circuit has a monopoly or
even majority of the best fishermen out there...whatever your
definition of best fishermen might mean.

The last time I checked...there still isn't a true "open"
national fishing circuit that fairly tells us who the best fishermen
in the world are. If there was, I might fish it and claim my throne.
Or maybe some guy nobody ever heard of from the swamps of Florida
might...: Regardless, you should never rule out the Harry and
Charley's of the world...especially if you're doing so in favor of
some punked out fancy schmancy type that drives a 22' 45k rig with a
275 hp motor on the back of her...even if the latest crop of BASS or
FLW writers tell ya they are "Fishing Gods" bc they wear a certain
fishing circuit patch on their sleeves...:

IMO, for "most people" who want to increase their fishing
knowledge...going as a nonboater in "any tournament circuit" is an
outstanding way to quickly pick up the "what to do and what not to
do's" of fishing. As for worrying about bad draws...you should be
able to learn something from anybody...even if its only what not to
do. And in any tournament circuit, you will fish with some guys who
have varying degrees of fishing skills. And you'll probably find that
what you learn is not necessarily dependent on the success you have in
a fishing outing...as you can pick up a great technique or two without
having success on that particular day. And I guess its possible to
not learn as much on the days that you accidently stumble on a mess of
em' too...

But the main thing is to get on the water as much as possible and
fish with and learn from as many different anglers that you can. And
don't just throw a Bill Norman Professional Edge "Middle N" Crankbait
in Blue/Chartreuse all the time either...:

--
Dwayne E. Cooper, Atty at Law
Indianapolis, IN
Email:
Web Page: http://www.cooperlegalservices.com
Personal Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosierwebsites.com/OnTheWater
Favorite Fishing Web Page: http://www.hoosiertradingpost.com/FishingTackle
1st Annual ROFB Classic Winner