I don’t fish big-money, high-pressure tournaments; it’s just really not my thing, but I do love competitive fishing, just in kind of a more low-key, good-natured way.

I had one just such event this weekend.

I organized a tournament with a bunch of my buddies, fishing out of a local marina in Southeast Louisiana. We fished the marshes, targeting bass and redfish.

Each boat put up $100, and according to the rules, whichever two-man team caught the five heaviest bass would pocket half the pot, and the boat bringing to scales the two heaviest redfish (between 16 and 27 inches) would take home the other half.

Second place in each category would get a nice pat on the back.

Now, some tournaments happen to fall on days when the weather’s perfect and fishing is easy. This wasn’t one of those. Severe westerly winds at the end of last week meant the water was at its lowest levels of the year and it was dirtier than the base of a rose garden.

Compounding the difficulty, the wind blew furiously out of the southwest Saturday, further limiting fishable areas. We knew when we left the dock we’d have our work cut out for us.

But the cast of characters in the tournament included four professional fishing guides, two outdoor journalists and a former bass pro, so the odds were good someone would be able to locate some fish, and that’s definitely what happened.

Check out the video below for all the details.

Like the video? Please give it a thumbs-up, and subscribe to the Marsh Man Masson channel on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below or on the YouTube page. Do you and your buddies compete in low-stress, good-natured tournaments? What are some of the format details?