Tournament strategies?

[Northernbass]

Just wondering how other go about there tournament strategies. Do you go with just getting a limit? Do you fish for big fish? What do you do when it is tough and you need a few more bites? What do you most have confidence in? Are you a deep water fisherman or shallow water fisherman? What lures do you have the most confidence in?

[JCOOPER]

That is a tough question to answer with a short reply. Most of it depends on where I am at. If I am fishing Hardy Pond when the fish are on beds, a simple limit will not cut it. I would look for a spot that I could catch a limit in the 1st 15 min and spend the rest of the day looking for deeper post or prespawn females. I have been burned several times catching the same 2lbs off beds all over the lake. If I was at muskegon or the grand in august I would run 310 miles if need be siply for a limit. Its different everywhere.

When fishing gets tough, well I cant help you with that one. What I try to do is cover water. Put myself in an area that I am confident fish are in and throw a power bait. If the fish were in an area and a cold-front shut them down I would then spend several hours doodling a drop-shot over structure where I "KNEW" there was fish. You cannot do this unless you are positive the fish are there. I was doing this in Kentucky during the BFL regional. There was actually times where my bait was in the water for 30 mins before I got a bite.

Maybe someone else can chime in on this one. If my original game plan isnt working, I panic. The few times I have remained calm and did one of the 2 things above it has usually worked in my favor.

[PoorBoy]

. Do you go with just getting a limit?
Depends on where i am fishing. sometimes it is hard just to get a limit. i think out of all the ABA tournaments i fished this season, i only got a limit 3 times. i do what i can and hope it is good enough to keep me out of last place.

Do you fish for big fish?
Depends on who i am fishing against. if i am fishing against smallies i will usually try to get a limit or at least 3 fish in the 2.5 - 3 lb range if i can, then if it is getting late i will run to another spot and hope for a kicker or two. if i am fishing against the largemouth, i usually just go for quality fish. but i take what i can get.

What do you do when it is tough and you need a few more bites?
whenever things get tough for me, i power fish my confidence baits. a spinnerbait or a trap. if i cant get bit on anything else, i dont waste too much time throwing every other bait in the box. i stick to what i know will at least put a few fish in the boat and keep me from zeroing. always throw a confidence bait if nothing else is working. a little bit of confidence goes a long way.

What do you most have confidence in?
power fishing a trap or spinnerbait. you cover more water faster and can get fish to hit the baits even if they dont want to. they cant help but react on it.

Are you a deep water fisherman or shallow water fisherman?
it depends on many conditions. i will fish deep if i have to, but would prefer to fish shallow.

What lures do you have the most confidence in?
spinnerbait or a trap.

PoorBoy himself

[jcheetam]

I wish I could catch a limit on tourament day (I only had 2 all year - the first tourney and the last tourney- but, those two limits came when fishing to my strengths and both times I finished in the money - Moral of the story - fish to your strengths and forget what you "should be" doing. When it gets tough, I will either fish faster or slower until I find something that works (usually slower). I have my most confidence fishing crankbaits, mostly Mann's Minus 1's or Bandits, closely followed by buzzbaits if I'm looking for the big boys, then spider grubs or tubes. 90 % of the time you will find me shallow (under 5 ft.).

[Eric]

I can't fish, so I call the two bestest, bassinest dudes I know and beg them to be on my team. I just supply the boat, and we goes feeshin.

[jcheetam]

Team McCheesmith Rules!

All Hail Team McCheesmith!

[PoorBoy]

yeah, we are pretty cool. we need our own tv show. but im thinking rather than having an educational, family oriented fishing show, it would probably be more along the lines of a sitcom.

PoorBoy himself

[Northernbass]

Yeah, as far as for me. I try to be versatile. I think sometimes I hurt myself when things don't go right as quickly as I think they should and start to panic and do stupid things. In the ABA Ponemah tourney this summer I prefished the lake for the first time ever the day before. I fished it shallow and shallower and didn't have much success. So I gambled and went out to some deep structure. Found a weed patch in 15 foot of water that showed some fish on the graph. I started plugging around with some slow baits and hit two 18" identical keepers and marked the spot and left. The next morning I went to the spot with my non boater and started fishing the same lure as the day before and hit two short fish quickly. Then the bite just was non exsistent. So instead of panicing I picked up my crankbait rod tied on a mann's 15+ crank and started cranking the first two casts I got two nice keepers and withing the next hour I was limited out. Those fish were just trigured by that bait hitting off tops of the deep weed patch. After that I moved when the bite slowe down and went to a few other places. I came back to that spot later on and hit a few other keepers but they were to small to help me. So I guess moral of the story don't panic.

Good replies guys.

[mdehol]

I think it is important to use your strengths, but keep an open mind to adapt to conditions. I find that I tend to do best on the waterways I have NOT fished a zillion times because I use instincts rather than past experiences. The small club I fished this year (25-30 people) had 9 events. I made it to 7 of them. Of those 7, 6 were on lakes I had never fished before this year. My 2 wins, 1-2nd, 1-4th were on these new lakes. I zeroed on my other-wise favorite lake! My best events had me catching my fish different ways each time. Shallow,deep,power lures,plastics,etc) I think you need to fish your favorite style when you can (for me, thats within 10' from the top-especially docks) but to have the skills to work with the conditions present. I have a long ways to go, but I try to get comfortable with at least one new bait or depth each year to the point I have a confidence in using it in a tournament.

[jcheetam]

Northernbass, are you fishing the ABA next year? We're going to have two divisions next year.

[Northernbass]

Yeah I am going to fish the ABA next yer. I will just fish the district 7 though. I also fish the NBAA weekend tourneys too everywhere. Last two years I was fishing in Indiana for that for something different. THis year I will probably fish the motorcity inland division. This year they fished pretty much the same lakes at ABA district 7 but instead of ponemah they fished orion and they fished Oakland lake as well. I may need a partner for the NBAA tourneys this upcoming year if any of you are interested in trying.

[wickedcarpenter]

All i need is a partner that can catch fish! ;)i can't get into the money catching all the fish by myself.
If you want a partner to hit the warters let me know.My Bass Boat is my tackel box but i only use hand tied pig n jigs when lb's are on the line.i don't work, just fish Bass,Wife makes the money i watch the kids.
i don't care for the pro thing,Just winning!

We can use my boat 2000 20'6 Sprint 296 pro 200 Merc EFI that has blew away 225 Rangers ;D The boat Sucks but it's fast! It's a ex Tony Christian boat that he beat to hell and back and has cost me a ton of cash to rebuild, but that's a done deal and it's hell on warter now i'm not blowing smoke up anyone's ass when it comes to Bass fishing.I need a good partner that does not have a pike take his tube every other cast.LMAO!
i'll work with anyone that knows Lake St.Claire as i only ice fish it and Erie in the summer for Bass.
Brent.
P.S i'll take ya fly fishing also ;D