Ramon noodles and a fresh pack of chigger craws or a decent meal and no new lures, quality fluorocarbon line and rice or a #5 combo from Popeye’s and cheep monofilament line?  These are the type of questions a college angler is faced with.  Money is tight and value is very important.  So if the college angler wants to compete in fishing tournaments he must find one that suites his needs.  They must be economically viable, fit a busy schedule, and give the angler’s career a chance to grow. 

There are several tournament series for the college anglers.  Some of these series are college specific such as FLW outdoors National Guard college series, ACA (association of collegiate anglers) both aired on Versus, and the Under Armour college bass series aired by ESPN.  College anglers are also usually eligible to fish in any other open tournament series to name a few BFL, Bassmasters Weekend series, TBF, and many others.  But it the later tournaments have much stiffer competition with college students competing with seasoned veterans and much higher tournament fees.  The college specific tournaments usually don’t payout very much if at all but they do give the student angler a chance to meet pros, showcase their abilities, and ultimately advance his or her fishing career.

I personally compete in the ACA tournaments.  I feel that they are well run, have good rewards for winning, and help give my career some notability.  In 2008 me and my partner won the national championship hosted be ACA and sponsored by Boat U.S.   I received an incredible amount of attention for that finish.  I also received a spot in the TBF national championship.  This exposed me to new people and gave me a chance to make new connections and really helped my career in fishing.  I’m not eligible to compete in the other college circuits because I became a grad student last may.
 

I have also ventured out of the college world and into the weekend angler series.  I began fishing the BFL Arkie circuit this season.  Since I am busy with grad school I can compete as a co-angler with minimal pre-fishing.   I basically just show up on Friday night for the pre-tourney meeting and go fish the next morning.  The entry fees are much more that college events but the pay outs are much more as well.  I am recently engaged and my fiancée lives in Little Rock.  This series fishes around central Arkansas and tournaments are held on Saturdays giving me Sunday to spend time with my fiancée and family.  I also have the chance to move up to compete in the BFL regional on Kentucky Lake if I finish in the top 40.  Currently I am 52, I need a good tournament in September!  If I make it to the regional and do well I have a shot at the BFL All American and if I do well there I could win a spot into the FLW Cup tournament. 
 
Picking the right tournament series is an important decision because you will be investing money and time into your decision.  Make sure the series you fish is a best fit for you!