I will actually go against the grain on this one.... My typical strategy is to research areas that tournaments are typically won on the particular body of water that I am fishing. I am not meaning specific spots but more like a certain feeder creek or the lower end of the lake verses the upper end of the lake. Once I have decided on an area of the lake that on average has better quality fish, I will break down that area looking for a "pattern" based on the time of year and conditions that I have. After I have a certain pattern and depth, I try to run and gun to duplicate this as many times as possible in a day and keep my bait in high percentage areas. One thing that I will do 99.9% of the time is to make sure to revisit places where I have caught a "good fish." It is very common in my experience to catch multiple good fish from a certain piece of cover simply by giving it an hour to rest.
