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You want to catch more bass? Ever consider fishing a Qualifier as a non boater? You should be!

Last weeked I fished the B.A.S.S Qualifier in Tri Cities as a Non Boater (back seater). I got two great draws and got to fish with Jeremy Percifield, and Sean Minderman. I learned massive amounts about different bass boats, electronics, patience, humility, fishing techniques, and where big bass hang out. They put me on them all day each day and acted like complete professionals. With the caliber of fisherman in this state, I'm not exactly sure if a "bad draw" was even possible. Chances were definitively slim to none.

I have to ask the question.... why are more people not signing up as non boaters or showing any interest? I'm guessing its because they don't know what they are missing, and they have too many questions they are afraid to ask. That was how I felt, but i'm glad I got over it, and just asked the damned questions.

People talk about tournament circuits having lower boater turnouts, and club participation is down. That's likely because there isn't alot of new blood. Qualifiers should be a keystone in changing that, and I don't want to be critical of anyone, but I feel like more guys would do it, if there were some tesitmonials, or easy access to information.

If you want to become a better bass fisherman, meet some cool people, fly around all day at 70mph, and catch a bunch of fish in a competitive format without a big entry fee.... then this is for you. Do the math... It is $200 dollars for 4 days + some gas money. That is $50 dollars a day + gas to fish with someone who would hand most guides their lunch, and to think you can actually win some money too!

I'll offer this:

Shoot me a pm and I'll answer any and all questions. I don't care how dumb you think they are....I can promise I already asked that dumb question and have the answer for you. Or you can always email the president, gene batey directly at gbatey@apollosm.com He answered alot of my silly questions with fast responses.

What I'll say is that you don't have to be a good fisherman. You just have to want to get better, and you should want to compete a little bit. In the field of non boaters there were guys that had never caught a limit of bass before in their life. Other non boaters were experienced guys who fish NWbass and ABA. There were both men and women who fished.

To sign up you simply need to:

A. join a bass club. (if you don't have time to participate in a club there are "paper clubs.")

B. get a B.A.S.S membership at Bassmaster.com (this costs $25 I think, takes 5 minutes and includes the magazine and some free gear)

C. go here to print your entry form, and mail it in with your money: http://www.washington-state-bass-federation-nation.com/Qualifiers.htm

There's a "Drivers Meeting" meeting at 7pm the night before the tournament, but don't be fooled by the name.....everyone needs to show up who is fishing including non boaters. You show up there early and they go over rules or changes and you draw a boaters name out of a hat and that is who you will jump in the boat with the day of the tournament. You talk to your boater and arrange a meeting time, and quickly discuss what kind of fishing you'll be doing, and what types of baits you might not forget.

Bring some cash to offer your boater for gas money (B.A.S.S has a $30 dollar gas limit that the boater can ask for, but I think you can give them more if you want/can), bring a few rods (6-7 at very most), a life jacket, pliers/knife, a sandwich and some water and a tackle bag. You show up early and meet up with your boater whom you met the night before at the "drivers meeting". You blast off at safe light and your boater puts you on fish and if you don't know what baits to use or how to catch em, they will help you. You can ask a few questions, but mostly you just fish hard and observe what your boater is doing. If he hooks one, you get the net quickly. they will let you know if they want you to use it or not. If you hook one, he'll get the net for you. If he says its time to move, you reel up your bait quickly without hesitation and secure your stuff (hat) so your boater doesn't have to go back for it when it blows out of the boat.

At the end of the day, you go to the weigh in, and see how you did. If you wanted to "gamble" you would have needed to sign up for what they call "option pots". It might be $20 or $30 dollars per day for big fish, and for "big stringer" (total weight of your catch), and if you have the biggest fish against other non boaters or biggest stringer you win some money. You would have signed up for this at the "drivers meeting" so bring a check book or cash to that. You don't have to if you don't want to.

After day 1 weigh in, there is another "drivers meeting" where you get to draw a different boater for the following day. You repeat the whole experience but with a different boater...

Hopefully this sheds a little light on why you'd do this, how you'd do this, and what to expect. If you have questions, then shoot me a pm, or email gene batey jr, but I will say that if you are not doing this, you are missing a huge opportunity... I'd recommend anyone do it at least once. It doesn't matter if you are interested in tournies or not. Just do it.

I would say that it does require the right attitude. If you carry an ego....its going to be best left at the door. Your job as a non boater is to adapt, to not be waited on, to not complain, and to simply fish hard and soak in the lessons with a smile on your face. You might have to make due at times with a tough situation, but if you expect it to be tough you'll be prepared. Your boater is going to be "the man" so treat him and his equipment with respect and I can just about promise they will put you on fish by days end....If you show up late, act entitled, and whine, this may not be for you.

Again PM me with questions, and just go for it. You have the rest of your life to not do it if you don't like it.

I was really hoping to learn about largemouth on the river. In two days fishing this format I received some invaluable lessons....

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Walters on May 15, 2013 at 2:40pm

Nice write up man. Sure would be great to see more non boaters out there. I learned a ton when I was fishing as a non. Guys are great and will teach you a ton, just pay attention and watch what they do. Hopefully you will get some of them motivated to fish these events. I will open the door to questions also, feel free to hit me up, and I dont care how dumb you think it is

Brian

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on May 15, 2013 at 3:36pm

The fish pictured were caught with Sean on day 2. Jeremy Percifield also put me on a serious number of largemouth, and I weighed 4 of them and 1 big brown one on day 1. Interestingly, and luckily, the areas where they took me, I had practiced, and sort of knew where they were hanging out a little, but they showed me how to break it down and instead of venturing into dead water like I seem to always do, they kept me in the higher percentage areas and demonstrated some techniques that I wouldn't have been comfortable with had I not seen them execute it.

While I did have great draws, I started thinking about all the guys I didn't draw.... Ron Mace, Mark Maderos, Don Hogue, Dave Kromm, Wade Ralston, Gene Batey, Ratchford....list goes on and on... I'm not sure a "bad draw" was remotely possible.

I could understand why some guys in other regions wouldn't want to chance drawing a sketchy boater, but I'm not really seeing too many grenades out there if you know what I mean.... Thats why I think its crazy for the newer less experienced washington anglers to not give this a shot regardless of future aspirations.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Lunde on May 15, 2013 at 3:42pm

Great write up..

I always felt not good enough to fish with the big sticks out there. You have once again put the desire back in my mind to try this.

Good looking fish..

Permalink Reply by Clark Hess on May 15, 2013 at 3:47pm

Thanks for the info! Sounds like you had a really great experience with it, and those are some awesome fish. I've wanted to get into the tournament scene when I get a couple more years under my belt, I'm definitely gonna give one of these a try.

Thanks again for the heads up,

Clark

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on May 15, 2013 at 4:07pm

No problem Clark....although by looking at your pictures, it doesn't seem like you are short on skills. I guess the point of my diatribe is that newer anglers aren't going to "feel ready". If it is possible for you to do, then just jump in, and you'll realize you were probably ready a while back....

In my opinion, "getting into the tourney scene" and fishing as a non boater in a qualifier are two different things and require a vastly different set of resources. What I mean by that is fishing a qualifier as a non boater is like putting your toe in the water. Heading into the tourney scene is more like jumping off a diving board.

Clark Hess said:

when I get a couple more years under my belt, I'm definitely gonna give one of these a try.

Thanks again for the heads up,

Clark

Permalink Reply by Clark Hess on May 15, 2013 at 4:21pm

I hear ya, boats and travel are expensive and unfortunately so is college :P non-boater is as close as I'm gonna get to tournaments for a few years. Honestly, before I read your post I hadn't even thought about non-boater opportunities. Thanks for the encouragement to get out and try it, I think I'm gonna go check out the qualifier schedule right now haha

Permalink Reply by Jon Rappuhn on May 15, 2013 at 5:58pm

Jake,

Have several questions and comments, what is your PM email so we could discuss this. I've never heard of it, I thought the "2nd" person was ALWAYS a friend of the driver. Very Interesting. My email is "charger66fan@yahoo.com"

Permalink Reply by Zach Chandler on May 15, 2013 at 6:19pm

Just send him a friend request with a question attached, he'll get back to you.

Permalink Reply by Chris Hollick. on May 15, 2013 at 6:23pm

I agree with you Jake, its a fun and rewarding way to fish and learn.

One more thing I might add, if your like me and thinning on top you might want to pack an extra hat, I didn't and I paid for it. I lost it on the blast off and fished all day at Bank without it. Needless to say every time I combed my hair for a week it was like a snow storm because I was so sun burnt, and fyi is was painful also.

Permalink Reply by Jon Rappuhn on May 15, 2013 at 6:26pm

Will do, thanks

Zach Chandler said:

Just send him a friend request with a question attached, he'll get back to you.

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on May 15, 2013 at 7:08pm

Jon,

I sent you a friend request. Accept it, and then you can pm me. There are basically two tournament formats. Team formats are one type where your "partner" is someone you select, such as a friend. "Draw formats" are where if you dont' have a boat you sign up as a non boater and you select a name out of a hat and they pair you up at random. As far as I know, the two popular qualifiers (TBF and B.A.S.S) are both "draw formats."

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on May 15, 2013 at 8:50pm