Like any fantasy, there's always chance - sometimes the best anglers completely zero. Sometimes the best plan goes down the drain. There's not much you can do about that.
My general strategy is to do a lot of research on the lake. Look at current guide reports, look at weather conditions, look at the lake forage, hot baits, etc. I then come up with a list of anglers that I know that do well under those conditions or with certain types of bodies of water and the like. I keep a running spreadsheet of anglers grouped with results under geographic areas, "tough" or "slugfest" tournaments, types of lakes, strengths, weaknesses, history, etc.
Then, I research previous Bassmaster and FLW tournaments on that body of water. If any of the anglers I came up with have done well previously there, they end up on my roster. If there's no history on the lake, like this next event on Cherokee, then I focus on local anglers and mix in a couple dark horses. HINT: there's some solid sticks in the E bucket that are a steal because they just joined the elite series.
I also will youtube fishing videos on that lake. I specifically want to know in general what types of baits and structure and water depth will dominate the event.
Yeah, I'm a nerd
