It was tough today. Very windy and muddy water. So, I chose to try pushing up in some creeks.  I caught 1 dink on some flooded timber in about 6 feet of water and miss a bite.  With the muddy water it was tough to locate bait. I tried looking out in the main lake but no luck. 

I have noticed that quite a few successful tournament anglers have stories about fishing local tournaments early in their journey to the higher levels of tournaments.  I never fished a tournament on any level until this year.  I did do a lot of fishing with various family and friends growing up, but honestly a small percentage of which was bass fishing.

So, my question is this. 

Am I at a disadvantage in my pursuit to be competitive at the highest levels of bass fishing?  At my age I feel like I don't have the time to slowly build the expertise.