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)

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)

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)

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 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

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

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)

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

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)

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)