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wmarchant's picture
Submitted by wmarchant on Thu, 02/14/2013 - 11:47

On November 8th 2008 I was fishing Loch Raven Reservoir, as I had done countless times over the past 40+ years. I was an avid fisherman who had never fished a tournament in his life, even though I have always had a very competitive nature. I had fished only for the pleasure of fishing from the first time my father put a rod in my hands, at the age of 3 or 4.
On that November morning the Metro Reservoir Anglers were fishing day 1 of their Tournament of Champions. I spoke with a few of the MRA members prior to the tournament. Nice bunch of guys. That day, I had a great day on the water, catching a lot of good fish. My competitive juices began to flow. I started to think (naively) “I may be able to complete with these guys”. I seriously started to think about joining MRA. The 2009 fishing season was spent gaining much needed experience on Liberty and Prettyboy. In 2010 my son Max and I teamed up and joined MRA. We attended the Annual meeting in February, and met a lot of good people. We studied the rules, and when the first tournament arrived, we were ready!
Any thoughts that we were truly ready to compete with these highly experienced tournament anglers were cleanly erased at our first tournament on Liberty. We finished 27th out of 30 teams catching 1 small keeper and several undersized fish. The outcome wasn’t what we intended, but our first MRA tournament beat-down was a great experience. My son Max and I had a great time working together to try to find fish. Neither of us had ever fished so hard and concentrated so long to try to solve the puzzle. We were completely hooked on Tournament fishing!
Over the past three seasons, we have enjoyed some good results and some poor results (never failures). Every tournament experience has been an absolute joy. The first two seasons with Max as my partner, and the third season with my life-long friend Jeff as my partner were fantastic. I look forward to the 2013 season, as Max is returning to competition with me. I can’t wait.
MRA provides a friendly environment to test your skills with some very experienced tournament anglers, and get to know some good people. The experience can make any angler better. My only regret is that I didn’t join MRA many years ago.

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Bstandiford's picture

Walt, my tournament fishing

Permalink Submitted by Bstandiford on Thu, 02/14/2013 - 14:24.

Walt, my tournament fishing started the first time I launched a boat in Loch Raven. It was 1982  and I had the ramp all backed up ( I'm sure a lot were aggravated with me ) Anyway,someone came up to me and said "you fishing the tournament 20 dollars per man" I said why not. That day there was 60+ boats. After breaking my prop before blast- off and catching I smallmouth bass , finishing 5th with the 1 fish ( April cold front) I was hooked. Since that first time I have met so many helpful people. Ronnie Bise helping me with bait cast reels, Ron Broadwater with helpful tips early on. These are just a small sample. Even now Rob helping with my Livewell oxygen system. Walt, you have helped me with certain baits. This is why I will try to help others as well. One thing I have learned is you can learn something from someone with little experience as well as the tried and true pro. As I have said before if you are interested in tournament fishing the Metro is the way to go.

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wmarchant's picture

Bob, It is a great club.

Permalink Submitted by wmarchant on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 14:21.

Bob, It is a great club.
MRA is a fantastic way to exercise your fishing muscles for anyone who wants be challenged with friendly competition. It is anything but easy, but as I have said before, I love the work. The majority of teams (myself NOT included)are very good at this.

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Ralph Davis's picture

This will be my first year

Permalink Submitted by Ralph Davis on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 10:22.

This will be my first year doing tournys on the 3 lakes. So does this mean that I won't be fishing bumper to bumper on the grass beds lol.

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mball madfisherman's picture

Ralph Welcome to the club

Permalink Submitted by mball madfisherman on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 14:28.

Ralph Welcome to the club.There is a new rule this year for first year members you only get one 12 volt battery .Lol

mike

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wmarchant's picture

Welcome to the Club Ralph.

Permalink Submitted by wmarchant on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 14:12.

Welcome to the Club Ralph.
You should be revceiving your list of GPS coordinates to all of Bob's favorite spots shortly. Have you sent them yet Bob?

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Bstandiford's picture

Welcome, Ralph my two spots

Permalink Submitted by Bstandiford on Fri, 02/15/2013 - 16:13.

Welcome, Ralph my two spots are on the way lol. Did someone say grassbeds, can't wait.

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wmarchant's picture

Two Spots!

Permalink Submitted by wmarchant on Mon, 02/18/2013 - 07:58.

Two Spots!
That's 1 more than I have Bob.

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