Anyone fishing the "Heartland Tournament" series?

[Sweaty Monkey]

I bumped into a guy at work who fishes this tournament series as a "pro" in their pro-am category. I am actually interested in trying it out through the amateur side of the deal. Has anyone done this before, and how did you like it, or how did it work out for you?

[Triton X2]

It is a pretty good circuit....That you need to know is that if you fish the circuit as a nonboater, you go where the boater wants to go and you fish from the back of the boat. A lot of guys fish the nonboater side to learn and then go to the pro side. I do know they run a pretty good series and it is run right.....I can say that most of the pros are great guys and they dont intentionally take advantage of their nonboaters, but there are always a few that do...Luckily, it is a very few....Any other questions, let me know and I will try to answer them...I do know they have an elite series, where a pro fishes by themselves on Friday, a buddy tournament on Saturday, and a draw tournament on Sunday.

[Sweaty Monkey]

Triton-
thanks for the info in your reply. I will probably start as a non-boater/co-angler and just do some of the events closer to home. I have actually gotten onto their web site and done a little research on them, and it does sound like a quality organization. One thing that I thought was cool was that it lists all of the current members that are fishing the circuit, and man let me tell you - THERE IS SOME SERIOUS TALENT all through this crowd. Some big name boys prowling this circuit! I have a feeling that I'm going to get schooled by the competition! But I am looking forward to giving it a shot. The payouts also looked really good for just being a regional circuit...especially if you can finish in the top ten of any particular event.
Thanks again for the response!

[Triton X2]

It is as tough a circuit with all of the fishermen around the area as there is including some of the "professional" bass circuits...In fact it may be even tougher.