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Part 2
Lessons learned, the hard way.
Our intrepid team is now half way through the season and
doing their homework on tournament #4. Through research on the internet, meeting
people at tournaments and threats from the little woman a new strategy has
developed. Several things have become apparent to our fledgling team.
Eat cheap
You can survive a surprising amount of time on cheese crackers. Ah yes, the
almighty cheese crackers friend of the fisherman. They come in a vast variety of
peanut butter and cheese or cheese on peanut butter. It’s a proven fact that
fishermen in particular can live for days on a few packages.
There’s
always peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A loaf of bread and jars of peanut
butter and jelly make for good lunches when your mouth is full of sores from
salted peanut butter crackers.
Buffets are great places to eat You can save money and if you wear a man bag
with a zip top bag in it you can stuff it with fried chicken (just kidding)
Fish Cheap
Our team now finds a ramp closer to the end of the lake where they want to
practice for the day. Even at 10 mpg in a tow vehicle, they save on fuel by
towing the boat to the nearest ramp. Fuel savings can be a 1/3rd or more
Another thing they found was they could save money by fishing with hooks that
were used and saving the newer sharp ones for tournament day.
Sleep Cheap
Once they figured out that they weren’t Donald Trump our team found cheaper
places to stay. No, they didn’t get a room in Harlem for the Hudson River
tournament, but they learned to sleep cheap. It’s much cheaper to stay at a
local campground with an electrical hook up and showers than most hotels.(I once
stayed at a motel room complete with crime scene tape for over $100.00 per night
near Candlewood but that’s another story) Instead of $100.00 per night they now
average $25.00. Sure the back of the pickup is a little cramped at times, but at
least they have a cap.
Look at the savings:
Boat Payment $750.00
Truck Gas
$150.00
Food 3 days at $40.00 day total $120.00
Boat fuel 40 gal @ $3.75 gal $150.00
Campground 3 nights @ $25.00 $75.00
Incidentals (Oil, Lic, Tolls, etc ) $100.00
Entry fee
$200.00
Tackle (Spring stock up) $125.00
Their total is now $1670.00 which is far less than the original cost of over
$2000.00 per tournament.
If our team had kept the older boat and assume it was in good condition and had
minimal upkeep their cost would have been $920.00 for 6 tournaments. That
translates to $5520.00 versus the $10,020.00 they are now spending. The good
news is the boat will be paid for in 10 years!!!
Fishing tournaments can be as costly or inexpensive as you make it. Remember to
spend your money on good equipment and do your homework!
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