Tournament strategy

[Bogdan Putin]

Hi everyone I'm new to tournament fishing. Have my first tournament this July in Canada Sourthern Ontario. Would really like to hear some suggestions on my tournament strategy. Don't be afraid to criticize, only way to learn lol.

 

Fishing Strategy for any lake.

 

Alright lets begin with what we know:

• Weather

1. Cloud cover - Cloudy, rainy, or otherwise dreary conditions act as a security blanket for bass. Visibility decreases, bass feel more secure from predators, and they tend to roam much farther from cover. For that reason, it pays to turn up the trolling motor, pick up the power fishing technique of my choice, and start hunting for bites. Topwaters, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and swim jigs get top billing when the skies are dark, and because visibility is lowered, I shouldn't be afraid to turn to brighter colors to maximize the pulling radius of my baits.
2. Sunny conditions - When the sun’s out, bright light penetrates the water column causing bass to retreat to the comfortable confines of shady cover. Bass have a natural instinct to hide from predators, and sunny skies amp up this instinct, making them less likely to chase. To adjust, I need to focus my efforts on shady cover, and slow down to thoroughly and methodically fish each piece. Docks, laydowns, and matted vegetation are big keys, as they offer bass a shady spot to hide from the sun. Since they’re tight to cover, flipping, pitching, and finesse techniques using natural colors and live bait imitators should also be my go-to presentations. Lure color, use a more natural color for lures.
3. Rain - As the rain comes it brings with it a low pressure system. With the low pressure system the bass will have a harder time staying in deeper water due to the low pressure per square inch in the water and therefore will come shallower. The rain will also oxygenate the water better at the surface. The falling rain will also make it harder for light to penetrate the water. In this case I will use spinner bates and crank baits in 4-6 feet of water. Lure color chartreuse, white.
4. Wind - Windy days on a hot summer day are welcomed by bass. As the wind pushes the prey into windy banks and coves bass will travel longer distances to go after the pray. Also they will be more aggressive during this time as the visibility will be lower and they will have an advantage over the prey. In this situation fish windy banks and golfs. Use reaction baits such as spinner baits, vibrating baits and crankbaits. Lure color, white to slightly more natural color like silver.

• Water clarity

1. 1 Foot visibility - use chartreuse colors with vibration and noise baits.
2. 2-5 feet visibility - use chartreuse colors with vibration and noise baits, move to silver color if nothing is biting.
3. 5-10 feet visibility - use more natural color baits like brown or watermelon 

• Fishing Patterns by season

1. Using the idea that bass will create a home territory and that they will not travel more than 100 yards from their home and that as the seasons move along bass will slowly travel farther away from the spawning beds.
2. Spring - fish close to the spawning beds, look for cover and drop offs, weeds.
3. Summer - fish 50 yards away from spawning beds, look for cover and drop offs, weeds.
4. Fall - Fish 75 yards away from spawning beds, look for deeper water, cover and steep drop offs

• Fishing pressure

1. Obviously in a tournament there will be a lot of fishing pressure, look for remotely accessed point. In short term try and stay away from everyone else.

• Time of day fishing

1. Morning - right after blast off. This will highly depend on the overall conditions of the lake, weather and temperature. But lets play a scenario so you can tell me if I'm on the right track. 7:30am I will look to fish about 25 yards away from a spawning bed in approximately 2-4 feet of water somewhere close to drop offs and ledges. I will use a top water lure like a popper. In July I will use a medium sized top water to try and match the hatch. My partner will throw a buzz bait behind the boat.
2. Mid Morning - 9:00am I will move to 4-6/6-8 feet of water. Depending on the conditions of the lake I will throw a spinner bait/chatterbait and start locating fish. I will fish drop offs and ledges and underwater cover. My partner will fish crankbaits.
3. Noon to 2:30pm - 12:00pm I will get in the weeds, hit the docks, hit the shade hard. Depending on conditions of the lake I will fish Texas rigs, Jigs and creature baits. My partner will fish the same.

Thanks everyone

[scaleface]

Wow . You have a much more detailed  plan than I ever had . 

[Bogdan Putin]

Plan is good till nothing is working and the weather changes on you and all your pre-determined spots are taken lol 

But just wanted to get a feel if I'm even on the right track

[J Francho]

Once you've worked out what your fishing plan is either through pre-fishing or off the water analysis, and where you want to fish, then it's time for practice.  Map out your route or milk run, so to speak.  The Routes plug in for the Navionics phone app is really helpful for this.  You can get a pretty good estimate of how much time it takes to get from spot to spot.  That helps with knowing when you need to time-box a spot, and whether you have enough time to get to a spot, and back to the weigh in on time.  You can even set up a few alternate routes, should your fishing plan falls apart.

[Bogdan Putin]

That't really helpful thanks. I plan to make a run from Blast Off location to my furthest spot and time myself. Also will be timing myself from spot to spot as well. Will be running at tournament speed.

[scaleface]

On 2/28/2018 at 10:32 AM, Bogdan Putin said:

all your pre-determined spots are taken

That  was my biggest barrier . I would struggle to compete if forced to abandon my plan's and just go fishing . I got lucky a couple of times but usually made a no-show at the weigh-in .

[Bogdan Putin]

Well I will see how hard it is to adapt to the changing conditions. I guess I have to use what I know, make a decision on the fly and trust that it will work. From what I gather confidence is very important. 

Another good question would be do you go after the kickers right off the bat or do you try and get your limit and then go hunting. I mean you have about 1.5 hours of prime time in the morning. So how do you use that? Kickers or limit?

 

[scaleface]

4 hours ago, Bogdan Putin said:

Well I will see how hard it is to adapt to the changing conditions. I guess I have to use what I know, make a decision on the fly and trust that it will work. From what I gather confidence is very important. 

Another good question would be do you go after the kickers right off the bat or do you try and get your limit and then go hunting. I mean you have about 1.5 hours of prime time in the morning. So how do you use that? Kickers or limit?

 

I   didnt have to worry about that .The lakes I fished had a 15 inch minimum . Those 12 inch dinks     didnt help any .

[NHBull]

Wow, great detail!

Since this is the first one, I would try to understand the the lake.

Prefish 

Trust your gut

Have fun., and keep a log

[Angry John]

Of all your plan the distance from the bed idea I feel needs the most refignment.  Look at bass movement patterns and establish a more broad idea, that is refined during prefishing.  Early spring would be main lake points mostly deep, as the spring progresses the will move further in and more shallow.  Matt Allen just did an amazing spring movement video on tactical bassen that would be worth a watch.

[jbsoonerfan]

Catch 5 keepers as soon as possible, then worry about culling. Knowing you have a limit is a huge stress relief. Having 5 two pounders in the live well early is a lot better than having one 4 pounder.

[Bogdan Putin]

On 3/2/2018 at 7:05 PM, Angry John said:

Of all your plan the distance from the bed idea I feel needs the most refignment.  Look at bass movement patterns and establish a more broad idea, that is refined during prefishing.  Early spring would be main lake points mostly deep, as the spring progresses the will move further in and more shallow.  Matt Allen just did an amazing spring movement video on tactical bassen that would be worth a watch.

Up here in Ontario spawning will occur in mid spring, around May or so. From my experience I find that bass that will spawn will hang around the shallows Pre-Spawn into the Summer and they will start to go deeper as Fall comes. However I've caught numerous bass in 20+ feet as well. I think it's a preference of bass, some like to hang out and hunt deep some like to hang out and hunt shallow and use the shade to achieve cooler water. I think it's mostly which type you want to be fishing for deep or shallow and by shallow I mean under 10 feet. I personally find it more of a crap shoot when trying to fish deep. The fishing is harder, waves stronger, I don't know it could be what wins the tourney. I also think you have to stick to your fishing style as well if you're a deep fisherman go deep if you like your shallow water stay shallow. I think it might be just that simple. I also agree with the pre-fishing part as well you have to pattern the fish it will give you much more confidence also if your main strat isn't working you know how to adapt to stay on the pattern but just try something different. Fishing can change from day to day as well so that's why this fish keeps it so interesting for us anglers. The way I see fishing well you're pretty much hunting with your eyes closed trying to use all your senses to get into the head of this awesome beast.

[ww2farmer]

I just go fishing. 

 

I do things I like to do, in the type of water I like to fish.

 

I let the days conditions, and normal seasonal patterns dictate what I do............but that all goes out the window if the bass are not there, or not biting.

 

It works out pretty well. Sometimes I get spun out and have a bad tournament, but most of the time I am near the top.

 

FWIW...around here "spot guys" will do ok for a little while, but pattern and junk fisherman usually do well all season.

 

I never "trust" a spot. If you found it.......100 other guys know about it too. 

[Bogdan Putin]

14 hours ago, ww2farmer said:

I just go fishing. 

 

I do things I like to do, in the type of water I like to fish.

 

I let the days conditions, and normal seasonal patterns dictate what I do............but that all goes out the window if the bass are not there, or not biting.

 

It works out pretty well. Sometimes I get spun out and have a bad tournament, but most of the time I am near the top.

 

FWIW...around here "spot guys" will do ok for a little while, but pattern and junk fisherman usually do well all season.

 

I never "trust" a spot. If you found it.......100 other guys know about it too. 

Amen brother

Off topic, anyone know of a good online store for tackle? Good selection and pricing. Up here in Canada all we really have is Bass Pro Shops and it can get expensive fast specially in the spring when I'm restocking everything.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.