[Tournament Bass Fishing Magazine]

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[Bass Man Reid]Thoughts and Ramblings - April 2001

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

I can recall every second of it with crystal clarity - every second of it. What follows is the short version. It was just another cast of perhaps a thousand I made during that tournament. The water was quite clear, the air temperature was pleasant and a slight breeze rippled the water. I was burning a small chartruse spinnerbait on 10 pound test. It was around 9:30 a.m. in a small cove with bluff walls where my partner and I were settling into a beautiful spring day. I had one small fish in the box already, but the lake was about six feet high and fishing conditions were a bit tough.

From the instant the fish hit, I knew it was a good one. When she shot to the surface and jumped the first time, it was clear that she was a big spotted bass...a really big one, and with her jump she showed us every bit of her. She was a pig, a lunker, a hog. I have only seen fish like her on the walls of tackle shops. She was the kind of fish that you dream about catching. As she landed back in the water, she swam parallel to the boat. She looked big even under the water, and was clearly not too happy. She was coming up again, and nothing I did could dissuade her from it. I begged her out loud to stay down, but she came up anyway. I have to admit, I was freaking out and had no idea what to do. I only knew that I wanted her in the boat, and wanted her there as soon as possible.

As she broke the surface the second time, she again came completely out of the water. Her massive head shook, trying to free the bait from her jaw. I pulled, the bait stayed put, but the tenuous link between me and the bait parted with an audible pop.

My mind raced for something to do to correct this clear aberration against what is right and proper in the universe. If I can just...if only...maybe...but the stark truth of reality was clear in an instant and there was nothing to do. I had to sit down on the deck for a few seconds to allow myself to quit shaking and to try to regain my composure. Then, as if to add insult to injury, she came up twice more within yards of the boat still trying to get rid of the bait. Fortunately on her last jump, the spinnerbait came free and arced through the air for a few feet before landing back in the water and sinking into the abyss, and she went off somewhere, no doubt to sulk for awhile, none the worse for her experience.

At that point, I had a choice to make. On the positive side, I could settle in and do the best I could with the rest of the day. After all, she might have had a big sister. Or I could take the negative alternative and could dwell on near good fortune and spend the rest of the day contemplating something like the following: "If only I coulda landed that fish. I woulda won the tournament. I shoulda taken the big fish pot too." Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Truth is, I did both. Human nature makes us wish for what was possible, but it's a thought process that we can control (to some extent). I admit that it was a bit of a struggle, but I settled in and ended up with a respectable finish in the tournament (although I never did find her big sister).

Now that the tournament is over, and I've had the opportunity to replay the scene over and over, the experience will make me a better fisherman. I choose to make it so. One of the things that I will carry away from the experience is to use the memory as a constant reminder that a big fish can come on any cast, whether it's your first or last of the day. Another lesson is to be prepared mentally when the big fish does strike. I'm sure that a factor in losing the fish was my own failure to be focused and ready to do battle with fish that large. I let circumstances dictate my behavior, and wasn't able to control the situation well enough to win the battle. Next time, I'll be prepared.

So there's my big fish story. Every word of it is true. It was a great experience and I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to wrestle with her if only for too short a time. It also gave me something to write about this month. Hope you've enjoyed hearing about it, and I hope that when your opportunity comes, you'll learn from my mistake.


Good luck in your tournament endeavors,
The Bassman

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Tournament Fishing Basics

Tournament bass fishing is a fantastic way to participate in a wonderful pastime. It allows you to meet and fish with other fishermen, learn new fishing techniques, and, if you're really serious (and lucky), to make a profit.

If you are interested in tournament bass fishing, this page is dedicated to you. Hopefully, you'll learn something new or find something here that you like. I'll keep the site updated with new products, helpful hints, and links to other interesting sites related to tournament bass fishing. Come back as often as you like. Your suggestions, comments, and questions are important to me and can be sent via E-mail.

A bass tournament is a competition between anglers to see who can catch the most black bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted) in a given time span. Most tournaments define "most" by weight for a fixed number of fish. While some competitions are based around a big bass format where only your largest single fish is weighed, most tournaments weigh five or six fish per angler. Nearly all bass tournaments are "catch and release" in that the bass are released alive after weigh-in. (If you ever find a tournament where the fish are not released or are handled badly, I suggest that you steer clear. Our natural resources are just too valuable to squander.)

If you think you might be interested in tournament fishing, look around for a local bass club to join. Bass clubs exist that cater to all skill levels, ages, and genders.

I started tournament fishing when I joined a small bass club at my former place of employment. The Boeing Bass Club has been a wonderful source of fishing knowledge and friendship since the day I joined. The club size has varied from 30 to 50 members, with 20 or so that participate quite regularly. The club conducts one tournament each month at local lakes, with a year-end "classic" at some more remote site. We also host the annual Boeing Bass Club Open Hospice Benefit Tournament whose proceeds all go to benefit various Hospice organizations in North Alabama. This Boeing Bass Club is loosely affiliated with the Alabama BASS Federation as the North Alabama Bassmasters. The BASS Federation is a national organization of bass clubs affiliated with the Bass Angler's Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) and is a great resource for information.

While a club will give you an opportunity to get acquainted with the sport, if you want to get more serious, look for one of the national trails such as the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing Leagueby Operation Bass (formerly the Red Man Tournament Trail, or the Military Bass Angler Association trail run by the American Bass Anglers. These organizations (and others) stage competitions that span multiple tournaments. They put on a good tournament schedule and are separated into regions so that you can compete locally. When you get really serious, there are trails such as the Bassmaster Tournament Trail and the FLW tour that cater to professional bass anglers on a international level.

There are trails that are conducted as a series of solo events with each fisherman working alone, pro-am events with a pro and an amateur in each boat, buddy tournaments where you carry your own partner, and draw tournaments where fishermen are paired in a boat but compete against each other. The type of tournament you want to fish in is probably available in your area if you just look hard enough.

If you want to specialize, there are even trails such as the National Smallmouth Trail (NST) that caters specifically to smallmouth anglers, and the Guys and Dolls trail that mixes genders on a team.
Each type of trail has its own peculiarities, advantages and disadvantages. Look for something that suits the way you want to compete and go for it. (Your local tackle retailer can often the best place to start looking for information.) You'll probably find that you've been missing out on a lot of fun.

Basic Reminders

For those of us who are blessed with the opportunity to be active in outdoor sports, it is sometimes really easy to take the majesty of nature for granted. In our blindness toward our surroundings, we threaten not only the basis for our sporting endeavors, but often our survival as well. Sometimes we all need to be reminded of some basic (but important) things:

Ecological responsibility.

Think safety.

Kids like to fish too.


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Interesting Links

This is a collection of various links that may prove interesting for the wired angler. The links are either directly or indirectly related to tournament bass fishing. I've been to each of the listed sites at least once, but I make no representation that the list is current and the links are active. If you have a suggestion for a link to add, or if you find a dead link, E-mail the URL to me and I'll check it out.


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Last updated September 27, 2001

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