There are plenty of other sports out there. Here is why I choose tournament fishing as my sport of choice. At my age I was limited to what competitive sports I could do. I was never a fan of old boys footy or chasing a little white ball around a paddock. With fishing always being a part of my life, I found the decision quite easy.
Being able to combine my love of traveling Australia and camping with my passion of fishing just seemed a no brainer. With the backing of the family it was time to challenge myself and see where my new adventure would take me.
Starting out as a co-boater and coming second in my first ever pro event I thought this fishing tournament thing was a bit easy. How wrong was I? I did 2 or 3 more events as a co boater and the results didn’t go my way. Then we had a round at my local waterway, Lake Boondooma. A Boater had to pull out and somebody that had traveled a long way was going to miss out. So I stepped up, borrowed the tournament directors boat and had a crack at the whole boater thing.
I was hooked. Now the challenge was getting myself set up to give me a chance of success. All I really knew was what I had seen on tv shows like AFC and now it was going to be my turn. At the start I was on a tight budget and with the help of close friends Bill and Cindy Schloss I was able to purchase my first tournament rig. Bill and Cindy won the boat and sold it to me at a major discount,
something I will always be extremely grateful for.
That my fiends was the start of a whirlwind ride over the next few years. Quickly mesmerized by the sport and the possibilities it provided I was completely sold and devoured as much information as I could. People that are close to me know I am an all in kinda guy that will shoot first and ask questions later.
I attended everything I could over the next few years, traveling all of the east coast. But I made a big mistake. That mistake was that I got caught up in all the dock talk and the theory that you needed the biggest and fastest boat to compete. So, I swapped my trusty Wildcat pro and purchased the biggest and fastest boat I could find. The A 21 Nitro cdx with a 250 Mercury Verado on the back.
And I can tell you this boat could fly. It was fast and it was stable. The dream had come together
I felt like I had made the bigtime UNTIL I did my first double header tournaments. 6 days fishing at 2 venues and wow I needed shares in Caltex with a fuel bill of over 500 dollars for the boat alone. I was lost and unsure of what to do next, so I made the decision to off load the big girl and buy something a little cheaper to run. I found a 18ft Champion with a 200 etec.
It was a lot more maneuverable and a little cheaper to run. Now I was set and finally ready for a full tilt at a title. As in life things change, and the family chose to move to my native Victoria. My fishing had changed and now the Champion just didn’t suit my needs anymore. I still needed to compete in Bass but now also Murray cod and Yellowbelly tournaments. It was back to the drawing board. I couldn’t find the exact boat I needed but remembered how good the Wildcat Pro was so I started looking for a smaller aluminium boat again. After searching for the perfect rig and having no success.
I contacted Bluefin to see if they could custom build a boat for me. After a short chat with Bluefin they told me about a new boat they are releasing this year and sent me the photos as there were none in the country. Trusting Bluefin and purchasing off a photos was a no brainer for me as I loved my
Wildcat. I placed the order and what I got was a Basspro 498 powered by a Mercury proxs115 the ultimate multipurpose tournament rig.
My mistake can be your gain, it’s not always the biggest and fastest. There is a saying " All the gear and no idea". That was me.
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