Tournament Fishing Continued
of great people from different walks of life, many who I have become great friends with over the years.
Does it ever get boring?
Never, the excitement of sight fishing lives in my blood. No matter how many times you get to see a redfish suck up a lure, it’s
like the first time every time.
Has competing at the tournament level made you a
better angler?
Absolutely, it makes you a better angler with a greater focus,
knowing you’re competing against some of the best in the
southern U.S.
Capt. Ty Hibbs
of Marsh & Bayou Outfitter
Brendan Bayard
Hobie Team Member
What draws you into the
world of tournament kayak
fishing?
What do you like about fishing tournaments?
It’s the competitive instinct that we all have. The feeling of being rewarded is
such a high. It’s like no matter how bad the downfall may be sometimes, it’s
the high of everything coming together on that one day and living that feeling of being unstoppable or invincible.
How has fishing tournaments
made you a better angler?
Competitive fishing
creates a
fire that
forces you
to be better. Tournament
fishing
forces an
angler out
of their comfort zone to try new lures,
techniques, and best of all, new geographies. Learning new geographies
across the state only enhances the
days of fun fishing. If you’ve learned all
of the coastal areas, it doesn’t matter
if a front is approaching from the west,
because then you can go east and feel
comfortable with the geography. It’s a
good cause and effect.
What keeps you coming back to
the tournament scene time and
time again?
Besides just the fishing aspects of the
tournament scene, it’s more about the
people. Over the years I’ve met anglers from all over the country and
many of them are my closest friends
today.
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May 2016 www.marshandbayou.com
It’s all in how you accept it and
look at it, there is no losing in fishing competitively. If you win, you
learn something; and if you lose,
you learn something. It’s a learning experience that evolves into a
vast knowledge of your surroundings and your game that will help
you next time, whether it’s in another tournament or in life.
How do you deal with the
emotional ride, the highs and
lows?
“Tournament fishing is not nearly as easy as it looks. I
fished competitive redfish tournaments years ago, it was a
blast. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was much better at running tournaments rather than fishing them.”
- Sam Barbera
Tournament Director Louisiana Saltwater Series,
Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation
Competing is all about emotional
control and how you make decisions in milliseconds while staying
level headed enough to know that
whatever may go wrong, you can
still calm down and continue to
fight until you reach that attainable
success that is available to everyone competing. There is never
going to be one person who will
always win it all, it’s anyone’s game
to win on any given day.