CHRISTIAN BIERETH: PREDATOR FISHING USA STYLE
were very basic in Germany. So I started to look at what was available overseas and what other anglers are doing to see if I can adopt anything for my fishing style. Along with the best fishing tackle, that I found in Japan, I also took a closer look at tournament anglers in the USA. I remember clearly how surprised I was when I saw that there are professional anglers making their living by fishing tournaments. I was even more surprised when I saw that these tournaments were being shown on major sport channels all over the USA. Besides my curiosity about the techniques and
tackle they were using, I also developed a passion for fishing as a sport, and not just a method to catch a dinner as it was seen in Germany back in those days. Needless to say, I sucked up all the information about the different tournaments in the USA, how they were held and how the tournament system was working. Even with the little information that was available
on the internet about 15 years back, I noted that it is similar in many ways to other sports, like soccer. Depending on the format, anglers are competing for the heaviest fish in a given period of time. Anglers have their fans and for most of the fans it is quite normal to talk about the latest tournament results before they start working on Mondays. There are a lot of different levels of tournament
fishing in the USA. As a weekend angler, you can start fishing local tournaments. If you want to take the next step, you need to fish the State tournaments. Even for college students there is a system where the best anglers from different colleges can compete
against other colleges. And for professional anglers there are different leagues with tournaments all over the country. The most famous tournament is the Bassmaster Classic where the top of the top bass anglers are fighting for a huge trophy and for $500,000 US prize money. After following this event online for about 10 years, I
got the chance to fly to the USA this year to experience the event live, so I took it. My destination was Greenville in South Carolina.
The only flight without too many transfers and at a reasonable rate was one that arrives in the afternoon of the first day of competition, so there was no chance for me to see the first tournament day. After a literally endless flight, I was welcomed by
huge Bassmaster Classic banners at the airport of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was freezing cold and even the girl at the car rental desk had a heater running as the heating of the airport wasn’t built to handle temperatures lower than -10 °C. After taking the wrong shuttle bus to the wrong car parking, going back to take the correct bus to get my rental car, I finally hit the road to Greenville. It took me about two hours to get there and while
on the road I felt the bass fishing spirit as I passed some trucks branded with logos and towing a bass boat. It was evening already, but I drove directly to the arena where the weigh-in was in progress. I just saw the last 10 people bringing in their catch to the huge stage with massive video walls. It’s hard to guess the amount of people in the arena, but I am sure there were more
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It’s hard to guess the amount of people in the arena, but I am sure there were more than 10,000 people in the stadium cheering for their fishing heroes
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