|
|
John's Journal...
Entry
60, Day 2
Learning From the Pros
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Sam Swett of Covington, Louisiana, has fished on the B.A.S.S.
professional bass circuit for 10 years. Avid fishermen in his home state
know him as an expert knowledgeable bass angler.
Question: You've talked about fishing the pro-ams.
How do someone get involved in fishing a pro-am tournament?
Answer: Before you fish a pro-am, you first of all must become
a member of the B.A.S.S. organization. Generally in May or April B.A.S.S.
sends out its magazine to announce the tournament schedule for the following
year. B.A.S.S. also announces the rules and the deadlines for getting
in your entry fees. Generally B.A.S.S. randomly selects anglers. If you
enter, I recommend you enter in all seven pro-am format tournaments. That
way you have a chance to get into at least one because a lot more people
fish the pro-ams now as amateurs with the understanding that it's a random
draw. So the more tournaments you enter, the more chances you have to
get chosen.
Question:
When you fish on the pro-am, you sit on the back of the boat, right?
Answer: Yes, as an amateur you have to fish out of the back of
the boat. You don't have any say so whatsoever about where you go, lure
selection or anything like that. But you can observe the pro, you can
mimic what the pro does, or, if you feel a need to change, you literally
can change out baits. I've done that before. Luckily, during the first
four pro-ams I fished back in the mid 1980s, I spent each four-day tournament
with a different pro.
Question:
What did you learn from those four different pros?
Answer: I learned technique and tournament strategy. Often when
you fish a local tournament, you'll only fish for one or two days. However,
when you fish two-, three- and/or four-day tournaments, you learn time
and fish management. Often people will go out and catch all their fish
in one day and not reserve any to catch for the next two to three days.
So once I get a limit, I start hunting different areas as opposed to continually
pounding a spot where I've had good concentrations of fish.
Tomorrow: Funding The Fishing
|