A typical tournament day starts around 6:00am and ends around 4pm.

Official tournament hours almost always run between 7am and 2pm, however, on occasion they may start at 8am and run to 3pm. Tournament hours will be communicated to anglers prior to tournament day.

The time built in before official hours is for boat captains to launch their boats and for anglers to get organized. The time after official hours is for weigh-in, boat retrieval, and the awarding of prizes.

For individual trail events, younger anglers are typically paired with older, more experienced members of the club who share information and often act as mentors.

While on the water, boat captains (typically parents of members or club volunteers) also help younger anglers learn about and appreciate the sport of bass fishing.

To be a member in good standing, an angler must meet the following requirements:

• $40 annual dues

• Members provide (2) $25 gas cards to offset the cost of gas for volunteer boat captains.

• Participation in at least 50% of club events (e.g. annual fundraiser, club meetings, tournaments, and community service events). This participation requirement may be waived for extenuating circumstances.

Safety First: Bring required safety equipment including life jackets. On occasion a Jr will forget their life jacket. Show anglers where safety equipment is kept in case of emergency. Jumper cables, extra rope, if not you, someone else may need assistance on the water.

Your boat: introduce angler to your boat, where things are, how you want them to treat your boat and you as Captain are in charge. Show them where storage is and how to properly use it

Trolling Motor(TM): ask angler’s skill level running a TM and if you are comfortable having them run it. New angler’s may not choose or could be uncomfortable operating the TM, so you may have to do it or the older angler should be capable. If younger angler doesn’t want to run TM, be sure both anglers discuss sharing time upfront and out back, so one angler isn’t stuck at back of boat all day. No matter who runs the TM, anglers are entitled to 50/50 split of time at the bow

Share knowledge: Some Jrs will be new, some veterans, encourage discussions and share experiences so everyone can work together and have a successful day of learning and skill building on the water

Nutrition: Water and a few snacks, just in case one of them didn’t bring enough or its super hot out to stay hydrated and healthy

Housekeeping: Paper towels and/or towels for keeping the boat clean or picking up the occasion spilled drink on the deck. Trash bag for end of day clean up.

Tackle: Extra tackle in order to provide some educational tips for anglers to improve skills. Will be helpful for new anglers to show them a hook, jig or bait they may have never thought to use in certain fishing situations or conditions.

Bring a net: Jrs can help each other, work as a team, get used to landing fish with a net. Adults can assist Jrs with landing fish by net.

Lake tools: Have a lake map or electronics/GPS so Jrs can think on their feet and/or find spots to fish on water. Teach how to read a lake maps and electronics to learn how to be productive and what to look for in a new fishing spot.

Coaching: Make suggestions to Jr anglers on technique or tackle by asking leading questions which will help Jrs think on their feet about how to fish and be a better angler. Suggest changing spots if you think enough time has been spent in one place, angler’s can learn time management from you the experienced angler.

Suggestions through education are meant to teach, NOT meant to change the outcome of the tournament

Plastic baits: this year Jrs will collect used plastics to be recycled, please save them, someone will be collecting them

Have FUN out there, these Jrs are the future of our sport!!