New to Tournament Fishing

[bonzai22]

I have fished some down there in your area. My wife's family has a vacation house on the biloxi river and the fishing there is pretty tough. It's the only tidal fishery I've fished and I started doing my best when I noticed there were a lot of small minnows up in the shallows. I started throwing a micro chatterbait and actually caught the better size fish. I was throwing bigger baits before and wasn't getting bit so I guess if the bigger baits aren't working you can always try matching the hatch.

[Troy85]

On 2/12/2018 at 3:06 PM, Djamesbond3 said:

Oh I definitely want to just fish the bigger bass.  I want wins, I know sometimes only hunting for kickers will bite you but I want to wins.  I am just trying to figure out what tactic and where to find the bigger ones.

Thanks man.  Our next tournament is the 24th at the Jordan River over here in Bay St. Louis.  Hopefully I can find some bigger ones this go around. Then next month we fish lock one on the pearl which I have never even seen so may have to make a trip over there to practice.

I'm assuming its Lock 1 Canal side.  Last tournament I fished there, the guy that won told me that the navigational canal is the closest thing to a reservoir in SE Lousiana.  He says if you can find a pattern you can catch them up and down the canal.  

[Djamesbond3]

58 minutes ago, Troy1985s said:

I'm assuming its Lock 1 Canal side.  Last tournament I fished there, the guy that won told me that the navigational canal is the closest thing to a reservoir in SE Lousiana.  He says if you can find a pattern you can catch them up and down the canal.  

Is it primarily deep? I figure just being a canal its got to be sharp drop offs from the bank

[Troy85]

Average about 8-9' and it gets deeper near some feeder creeks.  Most of the shoreline is pretty consistent with the sharp drop off.  There are a few creeks that feed into the canal and a couple ponds attached, At the far end there are some old gravel pits that are 20'ish,  the water back there is usually very clear.  At lock one is where they do a Thursday night tournament, so all the fish get released there.

[Djamesbond3]

2 hours ago, Troy1985s said:

Average about 8-9' and it gets deeper near some feeder creeks.  Most of the shoreline is pretty consistent with the sharp drop off.  There are a few creeks that feed into the canal and a couple ponds attached, At the far end there are some old gravel pits that are 20'ish,  the water back there is usually very clear.  At lock one is where they do a Thursday night tournament, so all the fish get released there.

That's good to know thanks.  Sounds like ill bank fish in the morning and maybe I medium diving crank in the afternoon. I have to believe with this warm weather the spawn is coming here in the next few weeks

[Troy85]

2 hours ago, Djamesbond3 said:

That's good to know thanks.  Sounds like ill bank fish in the morning and maybe I medium diving crank in the afternoon. I have to believe with this warm weather the spawn is coming here in the next few weeks

Practice skipping, a lot of low hanging cypress trees.

[kingmotorboat]

Tidal fisheries can be tough, I fish a small one regularly

[Troy85]

17 hours ago, kingmotorboat said:

Tidal fisheries can be tough, I fish a small one regularly

I agree.  I fish them pretty much exclusively.  Fish usually bite good on falling tide, pretty good on rising.  Slack tide can be the killer, and you can't really trust the tide charts in SE LA, chart could say falling, but if you get a moderate south wind, it will usually cancel out and you will have very little water movement.

[kingmotorboat]

1 hour ago, Troy1985s said:

I agree.  I fish them pretty much exclusively.  Fish usually bite good on falling tide, pretty good on rising.  Slack tide can be the killer, and you can't really trust the tide charts in SE LA, chart could say falling, but if you get a moderate south wind, it will usually cancel out and you will have very little water movement.

Yup I'm in swla and that south wind is a killer some days

[Sam]

007, I thought you were in Alabama, but Mississippi is a great state, too.

 

Here is a pro's philosophy that I discussed with him about tournament fishing. When he tournament fished he won so many tournaments that he was barred from fishing some local ones.

 

He said that most guys want to put five in the well before they start upsizing their baits for the big ladies. That is not a problem in itself, other than you are taking valuable time to catch five small ones and losing time trying for the big ones.

 

The guy throws only 1/2 ounce jigs. That's it. On a Steetz rod and a Steetz reel, so he is into high cotton equipment. He has four color combinations from blue/black to an orange and red crawfish color.

 

I have his jigs and will throw them more this year than in the past. Why? Because I am one of those guys who want five in the well before trying for the giant ones.

 

The second problem you have is if you are a nonboater. The boater always gets the prime targets first, leaving you with a lower percentage of hookups. And you can get back-boated, meaning that you will not have the best angle to hit your targets. So if there is a big lady sitting there waiting for you, the guy in the front of the boat will probably catch or miss her before you get the chance.

 

If you are fishing as a team, the guy on the front of the boat goes for the five and you go for the lunker. That is a good way to fish a tournament unless the guy in the front of the boat can't catch a cold.

 

One last thing: the guy who won the tournament must fish that river a lot and probably has placed brush piles or Christmas trees in hidden places for his eyes, only. Since you only live twice, you need to watch where the guy fishes. If the guy is in politics, then you have to remember he is from Russia with love and will not tell where he is fishing.

 

You have to have the specter of good fishing habits to catch the big ones plus the strength to get skunked.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, kingmotorboat said:

Yup I'm in swla and that south wind is a killer some days

An east wind on the Chickahominy River in Virginia kills the fishing.

 

Might as well trailer the boat and go home.

 

[riverbasser]

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 10:36 PM, RyneB said:

learning how to fish focused with someone in my boat

struggling with this myself right now, fish way better alone

[Djamesbond3]

Yeah im prefishing tomorrow for the tournament next weekend and its supposed to be a rising tide and south wind so we will see what happens

2 hours ago, Sam said:

007, I thought you were in Alabama, but Mississippi is a great state, too.

 

Here is a pro's philosophy that I discussed with him about tournament fishing. When he tournament fished he won so many tournaments that he was barred from fishing some local ones.

 

He said that most guys want to put five in the well before they start upsizing their baits for the big ladies. That is not a problem in itself, other than you are taking valuable time to catch five small ones and losing time trying for the big ones.

 

The guy throws only 1/2 ounce jigs. That's it. On a Steetz rod and a Steetz reel, so he is into high cotton equipment. He has four color combinations from blue/black to an orange and red crawfish color.

 

I have his jigs and will throw them more this year than in the past. Why? Because I am one of those guys who want five in the well before trying for the giant ones.

 

The second problem you have is if you are a nonboater. The boater always gets the prime targets first, leaving you with a lower percentage of hookups. And you can get back-boated, meaning that you will not have the best angle to hit your targets. So if there is a big lady sitting there waiting for you, the guy in the front of the boat will probably catch or miss her before you get the chance.

 

If you are fishing as a team, the guy on the front of the boat goes for the five and you go for the lunker. That is a good way to fish a tournament unless the guy in the front of the boat can't catch a cold.

 

One last thing: the guy who won the tournament must fish that river a lot and probably has placed brush piles or Christmas trees in hidden places for his eyes, only. Since you only live twice, you need to watch where the guy fishes. If the guy is in politics, then you have to remember he is from Russia with love and will not tell where he is fishing.

 

You have to have the specter of good fishing habits to catch the big ones plus the strength to get skunked.

 

 

 

 

An east wind on the Chickahominy River in Virginia kills the fishing.

 

Might as well trailer the boat and go home.

 

I am trying my hardest to work on jig fishing.  I have a big problem with wanting to throw faster moving baits and im trying to learn patience with the jig

[Sam]

13 minutes ago, Djamesbond3 said:

Yeah im prefishing tomorrow for the tournament next weekend and its supposed to be a rising tide and south wind so we will see what happens

I am trying my hardest to work on jig fishing.  I have a big problem with wanting to throw faster moving baits and im trying to learn patience with the jig

As it is said, "patience my a**." Especially in bass fishing.

 

You have to be patient. Fish the jig like a crawfish, not like a shad, unless it is a swimming jig.

 

I used to fish with a guy until he passed away. He was a well known guide and an excellent tournament guy. One day we were fishing around an old duck blind and we went around that thing at least 20 times, throwing our Senkos.  Finally, I nailed a four-pounder. I thought we were going to spend the night going around that stupid duck blind.

 

Then, one winter we were fishing cold water and he "dead sticked" a Zoom moccasin blue finesse worm. He threw it towards the bank, lit a cigarette, and just sat there, not moving and smoking. Once he had finished his cancer stick he moved the worm a little and lit another cigarette.  And what did he finally catch?  A beautiful three pounder. After three cigarettes. I, once again, was ready to jump out of the boat.

 

During both episodes, I was frustrated as I like to move baits.

 

Patience. It is all in confidence and patience.

[WRB]

The difference detween recreational bass fishing and tournament bass fishing is you are competing against good bass anglers on the same lake at the same time. Lure choices are rarely what seperated winners from losers. The ability to make the right decisions quickly and understand why you are or you are not catching bass wins tournaments.

Tom