Recreational Tournament Fishing with the Founder of Foothills Marine Tournament Trail

There is incredible diversity in seriousness, investment, and skill levels across the fishing tournament landscape. This complexity can be a little intimidating to some anglers newer to the tournament scene.

The PartsVu Xchange Talks Boating host sat down with Jason Land, founder of Foothills Marine Tournament Trail, to talk about recreational tournament fishing to provide some insights and help people sitting on the sidelines, who may be wondering how to get started.

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Could you give an overview of the Foothills Marine Tournament Trail and what it's all about?

Jason: Foothills Marine Team Bass Trail started as a small outing in North Carolina. There was a small entry fee, and competitors basically earned bragging rights. The event grew from there and became a spring travel trail. From the beginning, I partnered with Foothills Marine Center—their entire organization has been incredibly supportive.

We're a grassroots tournament trail with a series of 18-tournament qualifying tournaments, and at the end of the series, we have a championship. You have to fish a specified number of tournaments to qualify.

We payout some great money and have great prizes for qualifiers. There’s also a fish-off where we have big payouts, points champion payouts, and this year PartsVu put together a huge prize package. If you finish the trail, you qualify for the fish-off.

Although we are a grassroots series, some incredibly skilled anglers fish with us— for example, Bassmaster Classic champion Hank Cherry and his son. We have other pros who fish the series, but ultimately, it's all about people enjoying themselves. It isn't a hardcore "gotta win" series.

Which bodies of water are you fishing?

Jason: The spring series was a travel trail in various lakes in North Carolina, but the series that started in October 2021 will be entirely out of Queens Landing on Lake Norman in North Carolina for the whole series.

Lake Norman fishes the best in the winter, so that’s why we've chosen it.

You mentioned Hank Cherry, the two-time Bassmaster Classic champion, but what's the level of seriousness in the fishing tournament? Is it mostly for fun?

Jason: There are some pretty serious anglers. But there are also a lot of fathers and sons, brothers, and friends who are just weekend anglers. We have everyone, from people just getting started tournament fishing to the cream of the crop. There's money to be won, but it's not to the point where people are taking time off work to practice. The series caters more to the weekend angler.

Do you find people newer to the tournament scene get a little intimidated or aren't quite sure how tournaments work?

Jason: Yes, I do see that sometimes. I advise people who want to start tournament fishing to join a club and participate in club tournaments—there are thousands of clubs across the country.

Enter as what we call a "non-boater," someone who doesn't own a boat, or even if you do on a boat, you can still join that way to get your feet wet. This approach allows people to see what tournaments are all about on a smaller, less formal scale.

Club tournaments usually average anywhere from 10 to maybe 25 boats in a tournament, and you're not forking out a lot of money. You pay your club dues, and some clubs have a $10 or $20 tournament entry fee.

Also, young people have a lot more options than we ever did. There are a lot of high school fishing teams and college scholarships out there now.

What do you think is driving the interest in fishing for young people?

Jason: That's an excellent question. I want to say it's because people are burnt-out on electronics; however, I don't know that this is true.

It starts at home, with your parents. If your parents are not into the outdoors or hunting, fishing, boating, whatever it might be, you are probably not going to be either.

I think a lot of the interest is access and exposure. There are many more professional tournament trails that are televised, tons of content on YouTube, and social media has increased exposure. There are many more opportunities for young people to be exposed to the sport than there used to be.

Additionally, the fishing industry as a whole has just grown by leaps and bounds; advancing marine technologies and marine electronics also make the sport really interesting. With all of the electronics, fishing has become almost like a video game, so maybe that is helping young people to connect with the sport.

For anglers who start at the club level, how can they know when they’re ready to move up to more of a tournament trail situation?

Jason: The best experience you can ever have fishing is time on the water.

If you dedicate yourself to it and you've put the time in, it's like anything else—you're going to develop more skills.

You just have to have the drive to improve. I also have known guys who have fished for years and are motivated more by camaraderie than by spending a lot of time becoming really good.

But to directly answer your question, if you start regularly winning at a club tournament level, I would say jump in a couple of smaller tournaments. There are all different levels of tournaments. You could dabble in it or dive in with both feet - it's totally up to you.

Is there any specific gear that's helpful for tournament fishing that a dedicated weekend angler might not have?

Jason: I think it kind of just boils down to what you can afford. I mean, not everybody can run out and buy an $80,000 bass boat, rods, and reels that are $200 - $300 each.

While you need to have a boat to participate in tournaments or have a buddy with a boat, you don't have to have the most expensive rods, reels, and electronics. I know a lot of successful tournament anglers who have been using the same rods for 25 years, and they’ll take every bit of your money.

You want good equipment, but starting, I tell anybody to buy themselves a decent rod and a decent reel. I also tell them not to buy top-of-the-line, because you might not like tournament fishing. See how you like tournament fishing first.

Where can people find information about the Foothills Marine Tournament Series?

Jason: Foothills Marine Team Bass Trail is our Facebook page.

We're also putting our posts on North Carolina Bass Fishing and several Facebook sites. We’re also working on a website.