Pre Fishing
 

I have heard a number of guys say they never pre-fish a tournament because
they will go back to a spot and not catch any fish. Some say its bad luck,
others say they don't want to "sore mouth" a bunch of fish.

Personally I think it is a lack of understanding of the changing conditions.
I have a couple spots I have done well at because I knew there were fish
there.

For example:

I had fished a weedbed with no success using finesse baits. I knew there
were fish there, and a lot of them because when I moved up over the bed I
could see them. I went back on a very windy day and fished over the top of
that weedbed with spinner baits and caught several nice fish.

In another location where I had a nice topwater bite earlier in the year I
noticed schools of shad moving through the area, but little or no topwater
action. Well, no feeding frenzy anyway. I fished it with deeper lures
instead of topwater and caught a couple nice fish, and had one killer break
off on me.

I don't see how having been out on the water and knowing what was going on
in those locations could possible have hurt my fishing. I admit I did not
fish them the day before a tournament, but I didn't really think prefishing
was about catching fish, but more about trying to understand what was going
on.

On the Lower Colorado River where I do a lot of fishing of late we have
another circumstance that enters in. The river rises and falls constantly
which affects the water level in all the back lakes along the river. I can
see if you find a good slack water bite in a back lake and then go back in
when the water is rising the fish will have moved, or gotten more
aggressive, or gotten less aggressive. I can see where that or other
changing conditions may make an angler perceive that they ruined a spot for
a tournament by prefishing it.

I disagree with them. No not completely. I certainly would not go out on a
Friday and hammer a spot I planned to fish for money on Saturday. I night
go look at the area and see if I could spot fish in clear conditions or
chart them in deeper water. I might hang out near a point or dock for an
hour or two to see if I could spot cruising schools of bait fish. Then move
on to another area to see what I could see. I might also use a prefishing
day to cut brush into some of those nearly blocked off back waters like this
channel

http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/...ckChannel2.jpg

that leads into one nice size side canyon, and then through an even more
densely brushed over channel that lead into three more back lakes. I
literally ran my 20' Baker up out of the water in the front going over weeds
to cut through some of these channels one day while exploring. I could not
see the water. My partner was in the front of the boat telling me which way
to turn the motor.

If I know there are fish back there I can take the time to get back there on
a tournament day. Especially on a day when there are a high number of
anglers and all the prominent and well known spots are getting flailed by
amateurs and pros alike.

--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

Many guys I know will pre fish with a hook that has been cut off at the tip.
This way, even in water you can't see through, they can feel the fish
without sticking them. The theory is that if you don't actually hook the
fish you might not turn them off to biting the next day. I rarely find the
time to pre fish, but I like the idea. Anyone else done this with any
success?

Rich P


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I have heard a number of guys say they never pre-fish a tournament because
they will go back to a spot and not catch any fish. Some say its bad
luck,
others say they don't want to "sore mouth" a bunch of fish.

Personally I think it is a lack of understanding of the changing
conditions.
I have a couple spots I have done well at because I knew there were fish
there.

For example:

I had fished a weedbed with no success using finesse baits. I knew there
were fish there, and a lot of them because when I moved up over the bed I
could see them. I went back on a very windy day and fished over the top
of
that weedbed with spinner baits and caught several nice fish.

In another location where I had a nice topwater bite earlier in the year I
noticed schools of shad moving through the area, but little or no topwater
action. Well, no feeding frenzy anyway. I fished it with deeper lures
instead of topwater and caught a couple nice fish, and had one killer
break
off on me.

I don't see how having been out on the water and knowing what was going on
in those locations could possible have hurt my fishing. I admit I did not
fish them the day before a tournament, but I didn't really think
prefishing
was about catching fish, but more about trying to understand what was
going
on.

On the Lower Colorado River where I do a lot of fishing of late we have
another circumstance that enters in. The river rises and falls constantly
which affects the water level in all the back lakes along the river. I
can
see if you find a good slack water bite in a back lake and then go back in
when the water is rising the fish will have moved, or gotten more
aggressive, or gotten less aggressive. I can see where that or other
changing conditions may make an angler perceive that they ruined a spot
for
a tournament by prefishing it.

I disagree with them. No not completely. I certainly would not go out on
a
Friday and hammer a spot I planned to fish for money on Saturday. I night
go look at the area and see if I could spot fish in clear conditions or
chart them in deeper water. I might hang out near a point or dock for an
hour or two to see if I could spot cruising schools of bait fish. Then
move
on to another area to see what I could see. I might also use a prefishing
day to cut brush into some of those nearly blocked off back waters like
this
channel

http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/...ckChannel2.jpg

that leads into one nice size side canyon, and then through an even more
densely brushed over channel that lead into three more back lakes. I
literally ran my 20' Baker up out of the water in the front going over
weeds
to cut through some of these channels one day while exploring. I could
not
see the water. My partner was in the front of the boat telling me which
way
to turn the motor.

If I know there are fish back there I can take the time to get back there
on
a tournament day. Especially on a day when there are a high number of
anglers and all the prominent and well known spots are getting flailed by
amateurs and pros alike.

--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

Personally, I let the seasons and water conditions (clarity, temps, etc)
tell me where the fish "should" be, and then I will fish those areas (with a
hook) , If I hit one , or if it is a bigger spot, a couple fish I will move
on . If I have to rely on spots that only really produce one or two fish I
won't pre-fish that spot. You guys know these spots, the stump submerged on
the nothing bank that produces a 3 or 4lb fish consistently :). We all have
about 10 or 15 of these on our favorite lakes :).
Now with all that said, I will give you a little background on myself, I
have never finished higher than 11th in a tournament, with a handful between
11th and 18th. So obviously my ability to find fish during tournaments
needs some improvement :).
I am excited about next season, I took the whole season off this year from
tournaments to concentrate on a few other things, and I am ready to go. It
should be an exciting year, and hopefully I will get to meet a bunch of you
guys from this newsgroup.

Take care,

Chris Rennert

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I have heard a number of guys say they never pre-fish a tournament because
they will go back to a spot and not catch any fish. Some say its bad
luck,
others say they don't want to "sore mouth" a bunch of fish.

Personally I think it is a lack of understanding of the changing
conditions.
I have a couple spots I have done well at because I knew there were fish
there.

For example:

I had fished a weedbed with no success using finesse baits. I knew there
were fish there, and a lot of them because when I moved up over the bed I
could see them. I went back on a very windy day and fished over the top
of
that weedbed with spinner baits and caught several nice fish.

In another location where I had a nice topwater bite earlier in the year I
noticed schools of shad moving through the area, but little or no topwater
action. Well, no feeding frenzy anyway. I fished it with deeper lures
instead of topwater and caught a couple nice fish, and had one killer
break
off on me.

I don't see how having been out on the water and knowing what was going on
in those locations could possible have hurt my fishing. I admit I did not
fish them the day before a tournament, but I didn't really think
prefishing
was about catching fish, but more about trying to understand what was
going
on.

On the Lower Colorado River where I do a lot of fishing of late we have
another circumstance that enters in. The river rises and falls constantly
which affects the water level in all the back lakes along the river. I
can
see if you find a good slack water bite in a back lake and then go back in
when the water is rising the fish will have moved, or gotten more
aggressive, or gotten less aggressive. I can see where that or other
changing conditions may make an angler perceive that they ruined a spot
for
a tournament by prefishing it.

I disagree with them. No not completely. I certainly would not go out on
a
Friday and hammer a spot I planned to fish for money on Saturday. I night
go look at the area and see if I could spot fish in clear conditions or
chart them in deeper water. I might hang out near a point or dock for an
hour or two to see if I could spot cruising schools of bait fish. Then
move
on to another area to see what I could see. I might also use a prefishing
day to cut brush into some of those nearly blocked off back waters like
this
channel

http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/...ckChannel2.jpg

that leads into one nice size side canyon, and then through an even more
densely brushed over channel that lead into three more back lakes. I
literally ran my 20' Baker up out of the water in the front going over
weeds
to cut through some of these channels one day while exploring. I could
not
see the water. My partner was in the front of the boat telling me which
way
to turn the motor.

If I know there are fish back there I can take the time to get back there
on
a tournament day. Especially on a day when there are a high number of
anglers and all the prominent and well known spots are getting flailed by
amateurs and pros alike.

--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

Prefishing is more than just finding fish, at least for me. I will boat around
and I will also just move along with a trolling motor and look/learn. This is
huge on water I have never fished and I learn a lot about any lake this way.

If I do fish, I won't fish specific items, like a lone stump, but I will hit
certain bays, cuts, grassbeds, docks, etc. based on time if year, water
conditions etc. I'm looking for a fish here and there..either visually or
catching one. Usually after a day of prefishing, I will have some patterns or
areas that I can beat up during the tourney. Still, when I find 'em, I leave
'em alone until the tourney. I know some guys that will beat water up
prefishing because they were having fun catching so many fish and then they
only get a bite or two off the same spots the next day in the tourney.

I can't complain about my prefishing his year. It helped me boat keepers in
every tourney I was in this year and nail down the clubs 1st place slot.

Brad
Brad Coovert, 2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
Please visit our sponsors:
http://www.geocities.com/greenfieldb...ponsorPage.htm
Indianapolis Colts over Tennessee Titans 33-7, 29-27 Go Colts!

Pre Fishing
 

Pre-fishing is absolutely necessary for any tournament, if for nothing else
than becoming acquainted with the lake and its major structure. When I fish
a new body of water, the first thing I usually do is lock on the 15-foot
contour line and follow it from one end of the lake to the other, or in
shallow lakes, I find the main channel and follow it while marking channel
intersect points. Then follow as many of those intersecting channels,
roadbeds, ditches, etc., to see where they take me.

I have learned a long time ago to focus on incoming water and its channel to
where it meets the main channel. Those channel breaklines and the first
90-feet of any adjoining flats or shallows will be statistically the most
productive. Regardless of time of year, I will start at the main channel and
work my way up the incoming water channel. Why? Because first and foremost
I am a smallie angler and smallies like current. Second, these fish are
more likely to be in an active state. Third, these fish are less likely to
be effected by changes in the weather - even if this incoming source starts
dumping in mud (breakline between the mud and clearer water can be killer,
especially around eddies).


--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

So you totally ignore seasonal patterns Craig? Huge mistake dude. You can
have your channels & 15 ft depths in the spring & fall. Any good map or
plotter will show you your channel intersections etc.

As for smallmouths, in the winter & spring they hate current.

Warren
--
http://www.fishingworld.com/MesaTackleSupply/
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com http://www.secretweaponlures.com
http://www.warrenwolk.com/ http://www.tri-statebassmasters.com/

"Craig" wrote in message
...
Pre-fishing is absolutely necessary for any tournament, if for nothing
else
than becoming acquainted with the lake and its major structure. When I
fish
a new body of water, the first thing I usually do is lock on the 15-foot
contour line and follow it from one end of the lake to the other, or in
shallow lakes, I find the main channel and follow it while marking
channel
intersect points. Then follow as many of those intersecting channels,
roadbeds, ditches, etc., to see where they take me.

I have learned a long time ago to focus on incoming water and its channel
to
where it meets the main channel. Those channel breaklines and the first
90-feet of any adjoining flats or shallows will be statistically the most
productive. Regardless of time of year, I will start at the main channel
and
work my way up the incoming water channel. Why? Because first and
foremost
I am a smallie angler and smallies like current. Second, these fish are
more likely to be in an active state. Third, these fish are less likely
to
be effected by changes in the weather - even if this incoming source
starts
dumping in mud (breakline between the mud and clearer water can be killer,
especially around eddies).


--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

Unless you have a ton of time to prefish, the act should be about *quickly*
eliminating as much unproductive patterns & water as possible. I got the
crash course in prefishing this past year, and I'll kick butt in the future
because of it.

The worst thing you can do is look at a practice day as a day fishing. You
don't want to "pound" anything hard. You're not looking for a place to
catch a couple of fish in a few hours fishing. You're looking for a place
to win a tournament.

To do this you've gotta cover tons of water & work baits that will catch
aggressive fish. Believe me, if you find a place like this the fish will
let you know they're there in a hurry.

As for not prefishing at all, lol.

Warren
--
http://www.fishingworld.com/MesaTackleSupply/
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com http://www.secretweaponlures.com
http://www.warrenwolk.com/ http://www.tri-statebassmasters.com/

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I have heard a number of guys say they never pre-fish a tournament because
they will go back to a spot and not catch any fish. Some say its bad
luck,
others say they don't want to "sore mouth" a bunch of fish.

Personally I think it is a lack of understanding of the changing
conditions.
I have a couple spots I have done well at because I knew there were fish
there.

For example:

I had fished a weedbed with no success using finesse baits. I knew there
were fish there, and a lot of them because when I moved up over the bed I
could see them. I went back on a very windy day and fished over the top
of
that weedbed with spinner baits and caught several nice fish.

In another location where I had a nice topwater bite earlier in the year I
noticed schools of shad moving through the area, but little or no topwater
action. Well, no feeding frenzy anyway. I fished it with deeper lures
instead of topwater and caught a couple nice fish, and had one killer
break
off on me.

I don't see how having been out on the water and knowing what was going on
in those locations could possible have hurt my fishing. I admit I did not
fish them the day before a tournament, but I didn't really think
prefishing
was about catching fish, but more about trying to understand what was
going
on.

On the Lower Colorado River where I do a lot of fishing of late we have
another circumstance that enters in. The river rises and falls constantly
which affects the water level in all the back lakes along the river. I
can
see if you find a good slack water bite in a back lake and then go back in
when the water is rising the fish will have moved, or gotten more
aggressive, or gotten less aggressive. I can see where that or other
changing conditions may make an angler perceive that they ruined a spot
for
a tournament by prefishing it.

I disagree with them. No not completely. I certainly would not go out on
a
Friday and hammer a spot I planned to fish for money on Saturday. I night
go look at the area and see if I could spot fish in clear conditions or
chart them in deeper water. I might hang out near a point or dock for an
hour or two to see if I could spot cruising schools of bait fish. Then
move
on to another area to see what I could see. I might also use a prefishing
day to cut brush into some of those nearly blocked off back waters like
this
channel

http://www.yumabassman.com/pictures/...ckChannel2.jpg

that leads into one nice size side canyon, and then through an even more
densely brushed over channel that lead into three more back lakes. I
literally ran my 20' Baker up out of the water in the front going over
weeds
to cut through some of these channels one day while exploring. I could
not
see the water. My partner was in the front of the boat telling me which
way
to turn the motor.

If I know there are fish back there I can take the time to get back there
on
a tournament day. Especially on a day when there are a high number of
anglers and all the prominent and well known spots are getting flailed by
amateurs and pros alike.

--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

90% of the tournament wins I've aver acheived -- from club tourneys to
sizable cash tourneys to season ending tourneys 25 grand or so on the line
-- have been won by hole setting. And I've rarely hole set a spot I didn't
discover, "prove" or predict based on what I learned in prefishing.

I have been blessed with a fairly reliable ability to gauge what I can
squeeze out of an area or spot without soremouthing too many fish.


RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Pre Fishing
 

You guys basically confirmed in my mind what I was thinking on the subject.
I have written a short article on my website (basically my inital post here)
on the subject, and I would like permission to quote you guys responses at
the end of it. If anybody wants to see... it is the featured article on the
front page.

Basically, After posting my opinion on a public news group, thes guys had
this to add,

Name
Post


Name
Post

etc....



--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

Never mind. I'll just put a google link at the end of the article. Then
anybody who cares can see any continued posts as well,


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
You guys basically confirmed in my mind what I was thinking on the
subject.
I have written a short article on my website (basically my inital post
here)
on the subject, and I would like permission to quote you guys responses at
the end of it. If anybody wants to see... it is the featured article on
the
front page.

Basically, After posting my opinion on a public news group, thes guys had
this to add,

Name
Post


Name
Post

etc....



--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Promote Your Fishing, Boating, or Guide Site for Free
Simply add it to our index page.
No reciprocal link required. (Requested, but not required)

Pre Fishing
 

Warren, I am not saying you are wrong, but each of us most go on our own
success patterns. When I fish "New Water", I will fish incoming water
sources, for it has proven to be the most successful for ME (Winter, Spring,
Summer or Fall). Remember I said the breakline plus 90-feet, which is an
easy casting distance, that includes plenty of room for slack water around
current breaks. I may not catch the biggest bag of the day, but I will come
in with a bag of fish, which is pretty good when fishing a totally unknown
lake or river.

--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

As for Warren's second post, I think he touched on something there. The
main part of pre-fishing or developing your pattern as you fish a body of
water over a multi day tournament is learning what not to do. I find that
by process of elimination you can learn how to avoid wasting time using
unproductive techniques. This past year my club had 3 2 day tournaments
(actually 2 separate tournaments on an away lake over a weekend) and all 3
weekends I managed to go from a 1 or 2 fish bag to either limiting or
winning on the second day. I would have had 2 wins except that I carelessly
fished out of bounds in my best tournament of the season. I would have won
that one by 4 pounds, but I went from a 2 pound day to a 10 pound day by not
doing what I did the day before.
And never listen to what your club members say is working, they will
generally try to throw you off even if you're friends. But then, you should
keep your secrets to yourself also.

Rich P

Pre Fishing
 

Gotcha. But I thought the object of entering a tournament is to win...

Warren

"Craig" wrote in message
...
Warren, I am not saying you are wrong, but each of us most go on our own
success patterns. When I fish "New Water", I will fish incoming water
sources, for it has proven to be the most successful for ME (Winter,
Spring,
Summer or Fall). Remember I said the breakline plus 90-feet, which is an
easy casting distance, that includes plenty of room for slack water around
current breaks. I may not catch the biggest bag of the day, but I will
come
in with a bag of fish, which is pretty good when fishing a totally unknown
lake or river.

--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

I believe there are many different pre fish strategies, but not pre
fishing at all doesn't compute to me:). On waters that you are very
familiar with, and have already done your homework, there would be times
when pre fishing wasn't a big deal. But on unfamliar waters, or very
rough weather conditions, I want to "test" some ideas before the
competion begins.
There are many times that conditions change from pre fish to tourament
day, so nothing is ever locked in. I look at it as a "warm up" not much
different from some other sports...get the feel for the "playing court"
g.
If you are worried about the fish....bass have short memories, and there
are probably plenty of fish left there that you didn't hook g. But not
hooking them is the way to go in my opinion.

JK

Pre Fishing
 

To me, it's a matter of putting your finger on the pulse of the fish and
especially the lake. When I say lake, I don't just mean the depression in
the earth that's full of water, I mean the web of interdependent life forms
that make up the aquatic community as well.

I can gain valuable prefishing info for a bass tourney by catching crappie,
pike, whatever. If I've got my finger on the pulse of the lake, I can get a
good handle on where and how to fish as conditions change.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Pre Fishing
 

Warren, you know it is. You also know I to fish to win. But if I am on
unknown waters, my primary objective is to be in the show (get into the
money). If I win, GREAT! If I can make it in the money I'M EXTREMELY
HAPPY! Even if I only win back my money I put out.

If I were fishing in the tour, my primary objective would be to make the top
40, then 30, then 20, then top 10, then to make the final 6. then to win
one. In that order. I would be extremely happy with myself to make the top
40, at least the first time. Then it would be to make the top 30 and so on.

--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

Sounds like Rick Clunn Zen stuff.
;-) Happy holidays! Joe Z.
"RichZ" wrote in message
...
To me, it's a matter of putting your finger on the pulse of the fish and
especially the lake. When I say lake, I don't just mean the depression in
the earth that's full of water, I mean the web of interdependent life forms
that make up the aquatic community as well.

I can gain valuable prefishing info for a bass tourney by catching crappie,
pike, whatever. If I've got my finger on the pulse of the lake, I can get a
good handle on where and how to fish as conditions change.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Pre Fishing
 

A guide I used to fish with on Lake Fork told me that as long as you weighed
in fish EVERY tourny you would be near the top at the end of the season.
Was a former touring pro, but tired of the travel. Guide was Mark Woodruff
out of Alba, TX. http://www.lkfork.com/
Bill

"Craig" wrote in message
...
Warren, you know it is. You also know I to fish to win. But if I am on
unknown waters, my primary objective is to be in the show (get into the
money). If I win, GREAT! If I can make it in the money I'M EXTREMELY
HAPPY! Even if I only win back my money I put out.

If I were fishing in the tour, my primary objective would be to make the
top
40, then 30, then 20, then top 10, then to make the final 6. then to win
one. In that order. I would be extremely happy with myself to make the
top
40, at least the first time. Then it would be to make the top 30 and so
on.

--
Craig Baugher

Pre Fishing
 

Joe wrote:
Sounds like Rick Clunn Zen stuff.


Yes and no. I'm not into the whole spiritual thing. Getting in tune with
the lake is a very palpable experience for me.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Pre Fishing
 

Rich is right. Take Boom Lake for instance.

I know a place there that I've only spent a few hours on, and I caught only
short bass there. But it's the best habitat I've seen on the lake. It
borders a flat, has a sharp dropoff into about 15' of weed-filled water.
There's tons of panfish, pike & small bass there. I know larger bass live
there...

Warren
--
http://www.fishingworld.com/MesaTackleSupply/
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com http://www.secretweaponlures.com
http://www.warrenwolk.com/ http://www.tri-statebassmasters.com/

"Joe" wrote in message
...
Sounds like Rick Clunn Zen stuff.
;-) Happy holidays! Joe Z.
"RichZ" wrote in message
...
To me, it's a matter of putting your finger on the pulse of the fish and
especially the lake. When I say lake, I don't just mean the depression in
the earth that's full of water, I mean the web of interdependent life
forms
that make up the aquatic community as well.

I can gain valuable prefishing info for a bass tourney by catching
crappie,
pike, whatever. If I've got my finger on the pulse of the lake, I can get
a
good handle on where and how to fish as conditions change.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Pre Fishing - True honey
 

Speaking of the Zen of fishing. Have you ever noticed that your gut
instinct stirs you to spots that don't look like anything, yet hold a ton of
fish. Most of my honey holes are spots that don't look like they would hold
anything, yet produce fish day in and day out.

On St. Clair, I have a spot that is near a channel, but there is nothing
special to the eye or sonar about it. But I can promise you Warren when you
come here on the tour, will give you 5-days of good fish. The problem with
this spot is that you don't know exactly when the fish will turn on, but
they will turn on evry day, and the magical couple of hours will be worth
the wait. Typically it is between 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

--
Craig Baugher