Tips For Big Bass Tournaments

[basstracker44]

Any advice for fishing tournaments for just one big bass?  I am fishing a big bass tournament this summer with hourly weigh ins so you only need one fish.

I also fish a Wednesday night series where the single longest fish wins from 6-9 pm.  I always find decent fish in practice but come tournament time I have a hard time breaking the 17" mark.  Any help? - This is on the Madison chain in Wisconsin (natural lake)

[FlipnLimits]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Biggest and longest fish will be in Largemouth.  The Madison Chain is a fantastic fishery and both species are abundant and most chase the Smallies on rock piles there, if memory serves me.  Try Mud Lake for some Largemouth.  The mouth of the river and all the pads are fun to fish also.  Of course, with 3 hours to fish, I'd probably fish the rock piles.

 

FL

[basstracker44]

I do fish mud lake alot, but as the year goes on it gets hit pretty hard.  It's always a good place for numbers but not size later in the year. I usually just fish shallow and catch alot of fish and hope for a big one, but I don't know any big fish techniques.

[FlipnLimits]

With 3 hours to fish, I'd fish a jig or tube on rock piles.  It could be the best change you get for a nice Smallie in that amount of time.  All the lakes get fished pretty hard though. 

[gripnrip]

A shaky head with a 4" Zoom magnum worm.  For color, pick your poison.  

[WIGuide]

You can stick with the old adage of "bigger baits, bigger fish". In your Wednesday night league you don't want to go too big since you only have three hours, but if you throw something bigger you'll probably be eliminating some of the smaller fish but that's ok given the situation. If fish shallow, and you're dealing with heavily pressured fish go for the thickest cover you can find and try putting your bait places other people can't or just flat out won't.

[gulfcaptain]

yeah I would agree with WIguide.  Fish bigger baits, or fish in the nastiest weeds/cover that you can find.  Being from S. Cal, I would try a swimbait/wakebait.  Where you are, a 6-8" floating swimbait/wakebait/rat would be a good idea, maybe a MS Mini slammer, or try the whopper plopper. 

[basstracker44]

Thanks for the help guys!  Any advice for fishing deep for the dog days of summer or should I stick shallow?   I am pretty much clueless in anything deeper than 10 feet for bass haha.  Something I would like to work on this year but I don't know if its worth the time in deeper water and what to look for.

[UWBass]

Learn to fish deeper, basstracker, and try to get your smallmouth on. Smallies have long tails and I've had some of my best successes in weeknighters with smallmouths. There are also plenty of deep LM in Monona/Mud/Waubesa - just gotta get out of your comfort zone a tad. DD cranks, carolina rigs, jigs, tubes will all catch fish out deep. Don't be afraid to chuck a big ol swimbait too* (like 4-6", no California stuff).

 

*You may catch more esox than anything, but thats the way it goes when youre searching for bigger fish.