Fishing My First Bass Tournament Since 1987

[skeeter1980]

On Sunday a local club is having an open tournament,on a local lake.I haven't fished one since the 80's,but a young friend wants to fish it,and I have a permit for this lake.Neither of us has ever fished this lake.The cut off date for pre fishing is tomorrow at midnite,so i'm going hit it for a few hrs.We are in for a cold front Fri.night,dropping temps from in the 70's to about 69 degrees.No big deal there.But winds will be blowing 10-25.I've watche videos on this lake which is about 167 acres.It's full of pads and wood.Giving the conditons,where do you think we should start out first,pads or wood?The limit is 20 boats,so far they have 16 boats.A lot of guys who will be fishing,they know this lake.Hopefully tomorrow,I can figure someting out.

[Catch and Grease]

There is really no way to tell without fishing the lake, that's why its called pre-fishing your supposed to figure that stuff out before tournament day!

 

Whats the water clarity like in this lake?

[skeeter1980]

Stained to muddy

[WRB]

When you fish a tournament fish your strengths....what are you good at catching 2 to 3 lb bass? Do you think under good conditions that you can catch 5 keeper size bass? Answer that question and go do that.

Tom

Ps, 167 acres and 15 other boats means you mat be camping out on 1 or 2 spots, keep that in mind.

[Catch and Grease]

Stained to muddy

From my experience it seems that bass in muddy water like hard cover like wood and rocks more than stuff like grass and pads and won't move as far to get a bait. So maybe you could try some square bill crankbaits around the wood,

[Bluebasser86]

When you fish a tournament fish your strengths....what are you good at catching 2 to 3 lb bass? Do you think under good conditions that you can catch 5 keeper size bass? Answer that question and go do that.

Tom

Ps, 167 acres and 15 other boats means you mat be camping out on 1 or 2 spots, keep that in mind.

X2 on fishing your strengths if at all possible. During a tournament is not the right time to be trying to learn something new. I'd look for high potential areas on the map first and go straight to the best looking one if possible and beat it up. Fish should be tight to cover in stained to muddy water. 

[Lund Explorer]

On Sunday a local club is having an open tournament,on a local lake.I haven't fished one since the 80's,but a young friend wants to fish it,and I have a permit for this lake.Neither of us has ever fished this lake.The cut off date for pre fishing is tomorrow at midnite,so i'm going hit it for a few hrs.We are in for a cold front Fri.night,dropping temps from in the 70's to about 69 degrees.No big deal there.But winds will be blowing 10-25.I've watche videos on this lake which is about 167 acres.It's full of pads and wood.Giving the conditons,where do you think we should start out first,pads or wood?The limit is 20 boats,so far they have 16 boats.A lot of guys who will be fishing,they know this lake.Hopefully tomorrow,I can figure someting out.

 

So did you get on the water before the off limits period?

[bighed]

In my experience any time you have two types of cover your golden.  Especially if there is structure.  Are there pads and wood together?  Fish that first, especially in areas where there may be a bottom contour change.  The wind will also tend to position the fish on edges that the wind blows into.  So if you have a little drop off that are lined by pads and have some wood mixed in that the wind is blowing into you have a good spot to try.  As always, this is JMHO.  Good luck and above all else, keep it fun! 

[CDMeyer]

Due to wind pound the shore with spinners match the forage