I could certainly fish forever without tournaments. I grew up with fishing and it is a part of who I am and I still love it.

Tourneys are fun in a completely different manner.

I love both. When I'm "fun" fishing I'm catching them the way I want to catch them. Fun fishing I don't care how many or how big they are. A couple hours on the lake is enough and catching something a bonus. I do both but will eventually will just sell the boat and hire a guide to take the old man fishing.

Have only entered one tournament, a one fish big bass tournament. Did OK catching fish but didn't win, but being the back-seat-er and beating the front-seat-er made my day. Tournaments are really not my thing. My tournament is me against the fish and one of us always wins, most of the time it's the fish.

I've never fished an organized tournament don't know if I want too. I've run into some clubs and tourneys on occasion. More often than not I've gotten a condescending vibe. Not labeling all as such. But for now I'm good. Id much rather have the lake to my self anyhow.

If it were not for tournaments I would fish more. I stay away on the weekends because of them and also before some of the tourneys because of all the prefishing. The crowds just take some of the fun out of it for me. I believe the fishing would be better on some lakes because of the fishing pressure and therefore I avoid them altogether.
No negative reflections on any person for what they do. I'm sure some of the tournament fisherman appreciate me staying out of their way.

For me, fishing is fun either way but the competition adds a little more excitement to it. I like playing golf too but would much rather play in a money game. The thing I hated most about tournament fishing are the hours, you fish on their schedule which means getting up at 4am ( depending on how large the tournament is and where and how you're launching ) and usually it's 6-10 pm before you get home, garage the boat and plug in the charger. Fishing just for the fun of it is less tiring and you go and leave when you get ready. You can see how the tournament grind really wears on some of the older veterans like Clunn, Nixon, Klein, etc. Don't know how they continue to be so competitive. I really admire their stamina.

Lost it years ago. I no longer care to fish tourneys but still do. Today was the first time in a long time I just went fishing. If tourneys went away I would crappie fish most of the time.

I fished tournaments for years when I was younger, I used to come home so tired from the stress and HAVING to catch big fish that it was like a job. Today I'm 67 and have more fun fishing with my sons and grandsons that far exceed any pay check I could get from fishing. I keep my boat at my lake house at P.K. and if a tournament comes up there, I might fish it with my son or grandson. I've never enjoyed fishing so much in my life as I do now. I'm really enjoying teaching my 13 year old grandson to bass fish, and he's hooked, that's all he talks about. He's on a roll, he's been hooking up with bigger fish than Grandpa the last few trips out. I told him it was beginner luck

Yes, I love to fish tournaments but if I couldn't, or they didn't exist I would still be on the water every change I got

I'm 72 now and fishing has been such a major part of my life. I got hooked in 1975 and fished tournaments until about 1995. 20 years of pre-fishing and tournament fishing. I fished hard for 15 days/month. Totally burned out in '95 and went back to golf for 10 years. But I returned to fishing and now I fish almost daily but only for about 6 hours. I love the outdoors and have never seen anything prettier than first light on a lake.

I remember a damn good west texas golfer with the last name Perry from Haskell that used to clean everyone's clocks on the golf course.

+1 this is it right here guys

I like a little competition every now and then but I also really enjoy just going fishing, do not have to hurry here or there, can go to a multitude of different lakes,can fish for other species, etc, I guess i am just getting old.

This.