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So my stupid fishing question of the week.

Atchman2

Atchman2

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Joined
Nov 10, 2011
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Location
Knoxville, TN
So I see some of these catfishing tournaments. I think I'm a pretty decent catfisherman and would enjoy a little competition. What happens when you show up with an old boat, a motor that is 1/4 the size of your competition, etc? Do you get laughed at because you aren't one of the cool kids? :D

I've seen some of these new purpose built catfishing boats. Some of them are over $50K! That is amazing to me. While I enjoy and spend money every year to improve my gear, I can't fathom spending that much money on a boat. Not to mention the huge trucks they use to tow the boats. I mean I'm not a poor person at all, but that is just an amazing amount of money.
 
i wouldnt worry about what anyone thought, id fish it if i wanted too. a guy i work with fishes night tournaments on Beech lake out of a 16ft john boat and a 25 hp mercury. built a livewell out of an igloo cooler and a swimming pool pump. they was calling him their john boat buddy on the first night, until they weighed in and won the tournament. he embarrassed them so bad they were trying to change the rules to keep him out.
 
WTM":3j3522c2 said:
i wouldnt worry about what anyone thought, id fish it if i wanted too. a guy i work with fishes night tournaments on Beech lake out of a 16ft john boat and a 25 hp mercury. built a livewell out of an igloo cooler and a swimming pool pump. they was calling him their john boat buddy on the first night, until they weighed in and won the tournament. he embarrassed them so bad they were trying to change the rules to keep him out.
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Just proves that gear don't make the fisherman, or the hunter, for that matter. I was once the guy setting on the bank, wishing I had a boat. Never put a person down cause their equipment doesn't have as many dollar signs that yours does. Some of these guys with the "pro" gear sounds like the same ones that mite cheat if winning means that much.
 
I wouldn't care about what anyone thought, you no what you can do go fish it.
Got a story a older guy i use to know on Kentucky lake started fishing bass tournaments in the 90s had the worst looking boat there.On top of that the only rods he would use were Zebco 33 hogs.A lot of them made fun of him until he won like 4 straight tournaments then they didn't think is was all that funny anymore.
 
If you're more worried about what others might think of you and your equipment then you probably don't need to fish in a tournament anyway. Great new fangled equipment is nice but not a pre-requisite to being the best out there.
 
Those guys are just like you. Most (95% at least) are great guys. They either have more money to spend or are willing to do without other things to afford their passion. Go fish a tournament, have fun and see for yourself.
 
I would go for it if thats what i wanted to do.We fish crappie tournys and alot have high dollar fiberglass boats,all we have is a 17 and 18 ft aluminum rigs.

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I know a guy who's boat motor petered out right after the tournament started. All the competition sped off so he just used his trolling motor and fished around the ramp. Guess who won? Yep :party:
 
Thanks folks! My boat is an older aluminum virtually the same as the Tracker boats. I do have a large tank I can use to keep fish alive. Problem is it takes up a lot of room.

Anyway thanks for the kind responses. [emoji16]

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I like nice bass boats and such . But I'm not gonna spend the money. I still fish a tournament every now and then. I fish out of a 16 ft jon boat and catch just as many as the big bass boats but not as comfortably.
 
When I get to a tournament and I see a guy pull up in an old well used boat that won't hardly start or float I get worried because I know that guy is a die hard fisherman. I promise nobody cares what you fish out of and IF they do screw em. I fished my first tournaments out of a buddies 14' aluminum boat. He didn't have a livewell so we had to use a fish basket. We would stop every couple of minutes and drop the fish back in the water to get a little oxygen then head back up the river to do it again until we got to where we were going. After a few tournaments that we did well in they told us we couldn't fish anymore because we didn't have a livewell. Showed up the next week with a Coleman cooler equipped with a 12 volt pump hooked to a pvc pipe with holes drilled in it. We had fun a caught fish. Don't sweat it. Have fun
 
I'm not a tournament guy but if I was I wouldn't give a crap what people think about my boat.


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Spurhunter":1yydhlm2 said:
I can't imagine someone that uses rotten chicken livers for bait could look down on anyone else.

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come on now a real cat fisherman doesn't use rotten livers, we use live and cut fresh fish for bait.


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larry ipock":yzbgg8b4 said:
WTM":yzbgg8b4 said:
i wouldnt worry about what anyone thought, id fish it if i wanted too. a guy i work with fishes night tournaments on Beech lake out of a 16ft john boat and a 25 hp mercury. built a livewell out of an igloo cooler and a swimming pool pump. they was calling him their john boat buddy on the first night, until they weighed in and won the tournament. he embarrassed them so bad they were trying to change the rules to keep him out.
Click to expand...



Just proves that gear don't make the fisherman, or the hunter, for that matter. I was once the guy setting on the bank, wishing I had a boat. Never put a person down cause their equipment doesn't have as many dollar signs that yours does. Some of these guys with the "pro" gear sounds like the same ones that mite cheat if winning means that much.
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Not fishing but here are a couple of examples of it not being what looks good.

A friend of mine was an All American trap shooter in the 60's. He said an old man showed up at the Grand American once wearing bib overalls and shooting an old off brand single barrel gun. No one had any idea who he was. He won the whole thing, and no one saw him again.

One of the older gun dog writers wrote a story about the best dog and best wing shot he ever hunted with. He described the dog being of mixed lineage possibly part Airedale if I remember correctly. The dog had one good ear as the other had been chewed off. Its owner was a farmer with a single shot gun. The barrel was cut off at an angle with a pencil eraser taped to the end for a bead. The writer explained how the dog out hunted the other dogs and the farmer never missed a bird.

It's not about the looks but about the ability.
 
So many people love to claim they catch more in a tin can than the guys in a $70K boat. I say good for them. But it seems like the only people who care are the ones running around in the tin can. Most fisherman don't get a hoot as to your boat type, motor on it, or how fast it goes. If I see a guy driving a $75,000 diesel truck pulling a $65,000 bass boat all I can say is he is doing something he enjoys. His money, his choices, none of my business,
You can run to the grocery store in a 25 year old beater truck and buy the same groceries the guy in the $100K Mercedes buys. Either the truck, car or boat is just the transportation to get you to your journey.
 
I agree with RandyinTN. I don't care what kind of boat anyone has. I give everyone the same respect. We're all fishermen. My only concern with smaller boats in bass tournaments is safety. With my 150, I feel like I get rocked around easily if I draw an early blast off in our evening opens. I just try to get out of the way.
 
TNReb":1lp71zsb said:
I agree with RandyinTN. I don't care what kind of boat anyone has. I give everyone the same respect. We're all fishermen. My only concern with smaller boats in bass tournaments is safety. With my 150, I feel like I get rocked around easily if I draw an early blast off in our evening opens. I just try to get out of the way.
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lol, back in my day 150's were the max due to safety. i remember when BASS said they would never raise the hp ratings due to safety, then the western guys said they wouldnt fish any tournaments unless they did.
 

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