If you truly want to improve your bass fishing skills, the best way to get started is to join a bass fishing club. When it comes to bass fishing, it’s no different than anything else in life; practice makes perfect. You can read all the bass fishing articles, watch all the bass fishing television shows, and quiz all your fishing buddies, but the bottom line is that if you don’t get on the water and practice you are not going to improve. What’s more, you need to present the bass fishing skills you do have with a variety of conditions so that you can learn what to do when things change.
Bass fishing clubs are a group of anglers with a common interest; that is to catch bass. Most bass clubs are low pressure with just a few dollars on the line to make things interesting. When club entry fees are keep low, anglers are more likely to share how they discovered the winning pattern. If the winning purse is worth to much, it’s natural for angles to get tight lipped and the sharing stops. With set schedules, a basic set of rules and camaraderie, bass fishing clubs are the perfect environment to learn and get your feet wet and still have the thrill of bass fishing competition.
Being part of a bass fishing club provides you the opportunity to learn how to catch bass on a variety of lakes. This forces you to learn different types of bass fishing. The clubs first tournament might be on a river system, with the next tournament on a large impoundment, and finally one on a smaller natural lake. All of which present a different set of possible bass catching scenarios.
The primary bass catching pattern will change from one lake to another. The pattern could be fishing ledges on a large impoundment with a deep diving crankbait while the next event might be chasing bass around boat docks with a jig, and yet another tournament you’ll be on a grass filled lake where a frog might be the best option. This builds your versatility and confidence with these different techniques and structures.
Not only will you have to learn to catch bass on a variety of lakes with a variety of cover and structure, you’ll also have to learn how to deal with the ever changing weather. Because club tournament schedules are usually set a year in advance and there is no way to forecast the weather, Mother Nature is sure to throw you a curve ball or two. Even the best developed prefishing patterns can be ruined with a simple cold front.
Most bass clubs are a draw format. This means that there is a pairing of members for each tournament. Members are usually broken down into two groups, boaters and non-boaters. All the boaters go in one hat, and the non-boaters in another; then names are pulled to pair members together for the tournament. This in itself presents a great learning opportunity. By fishing with a multitude of different anglers throughout the year, you can learn different techniques and tips. Each angler fishes each technique just a little bit different than the next. When you fish with several anglers throughout a given year, the knowledge base to glean information from is endless. As long as you keep an open mind and are willing to share, your experience will increase exponentially.
Participating in a bass club will improve your bass fishing skills. By keeping an open mind, open eye, and open ear the knowledge that a bass club brings to the table is phenomenal. Think about combined knowledge; if a bass club has twenty members and each of those members has been bass fishing for ten years. You now have 200 years of bass fishing knowledge and experience. Join a bass club and tap into this vast library of bass catching skill.
Get the Net it’s a Hawg
Mike Cork
Ultimate Bass
Learn More about Mike Cork
