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