Please help me setup for my first Bass tournament Lake Fork.

[NALIP0351]

I am new to a multiple rod setup. Need some help with a 4 rod/reel setup. My brain if fried.Been saving my pennies for years and have been invited to co-angle in my first Bass tournament in a few months on Lake Fork. Any help would be amazing. This is the equiptment I have just purchased, then the internet took my confidence and made everything confusing. 

- 7' Zbone LMH mod/fast spinning 

- NRX 822s DSR 

- 1 Stella FJ2500

- 2 Metanium DC

[J Francho]

Here's a start.

 

 

[Smokinal]

My advice will be this:

I know you're excited and want to do well but keep your head about you.  Don't be afraid to swap baits if you're not getting bit.  Be versatile and try to narrow down a bait and pattern.  As a co, there's not a lot you can do depending on how your boater wants to fish.

Watch your boater; if he's catching fish, do what he's doing.  If he's not, do something completely different.

Again, don't beat yourself; keep a level head so you can think straight.

Most of all, just go have fun.

Keep us posted!

[NALIP0351]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

Here's a start.

 

 

 

[Bankc]

1 hour ago, Smokinal said:

My advice will be this:

I know you're excited and want to do well but keep your head about you.  Don't be afraid to swap baits if you're not getting bit.  Be versatile and try to narrow down a bait and pattern.  As a co, there's not a lot you can do depending on how your boater wants to fish.

Watch your boater; if he's catching fish, do what he's doing.  If he's not, do something completely different.

Again, don't beat yourself; keep a level head so you can think straight.

Most of all, just go have fun.

Keep us posted!

That's it, right there.   

 

Worry about reading the water and honing your techniques.  If you're not to the point where you know what's wrong with your current setups, and thus would know exactly what you want to change to, then you're not at a point where you need to be worrying about what you have, or fretting over what to get.  

 

Plus, it's your first tournament.  Don't worry about winning the whole thing.  Just focus on learning the in's and out's of being in a tournament.  Pace yourself.  Have fun.  Soak up as much knowledge as you can.  Worry about the gear and stuff later.  

[plawren53202]

Years back, I raced dirt track stock cars for a couple of seasons. Nervous before my first race, I asked one experienced driver what my goal should be for my first race, and his two word answer, succinct yet true, was "Don't wreck." In all seriousness, he said, if you drive it back on the trailer at the end of the night, then you've had a good first race.

 

Having fished my first two tournaments, as a co-angler, this past year, I think the same general thinking applies. You're not going to win the first time out, so just go out, soak up new information and learn like a sponge, and have fun. And "don't wreck," or do anything that really ticks your boater off. Beyond the Bounds on YT has some really good videos for new co-anglers that helped me a lot with etiquette and things to do/not do.

[GaryH]

Relax and enjoy your new adventure. You’ve been giving some good advice from the above posts .

since it’s your first time as stated already watch your partner to see if he’s getting hits or not. Then adjust accordingly 
Good luck let us know how you made out. I have a tournament down there in several months.

[Darth-Baiter]

10 hours ago, NALIP0351 said:

I am new to a multiple rod setup. Need some help with a 4 rod/reel setup. My brain if fried.Been saving my pennies for years and have been invited to co-angle in my first Bass tournament in a few months on Lake Fork. Any help would be amazing. This is the equiptment I have just purchased, then the internet took my confidence and made everything confusing. 

- 7' Zbone LMH mod/fast spinning 

- NRX 822s DSR 

- 1 Stella FJ2500

- 2 Metanium DC

You are off to a much better start than most!   
 

you have lures and stuff?  Your head is gonna blow clean off.  

[slonezp]

Same rods and same reels on all the rods each with line and brakes tuned to the presentation.

[lo n slo]

GOOD LUCK and let us know how it went.

[Catt]

YourLakeGuide Billy Lawson on YouTube does a weekly video on top 5 baits, setups, how to fish em, & areas.

[Swampdonkey fishing]

I don’t know what rod and reel to use but I know what lure to use, use a shad colored jerk bait or crank bait and pause every few reels with the crank bait, and pause in between jerks on the jerk bait.

[Deleted account]

"A parishioner knows that his priest is a big boxing fan so he gives him a present of two ring side tickets to an upcoming fight. The priest decides to invite one of the choir boys. They take their seats on the night of the fight, and as the first fight is about to begin one of the boxers kneels in his corner and does the sign of the cross. The boy looks over to the priest and asks "father, what does it mean when the boxer does that?" The priest looks at the boy and replies "Not a darn thing if he can't fight."

[NALIP0351]

On 1/22/2021 at 10:18 AM, Bankc said:

That's it, right there.   

 

Worry about reading the water and honing your techniques.  If you're not to the point where you know what's wrong with your current setups, and thus would know exactly what you want to change to, then you're not at a point where you need to be worrying about what you have, or fretting over what to get.  

 

Plus, it's your first tournament.  Don't worry about winning the whole thing.  Just focus on learning the in's and out's of being in a tournament.  Pace yourself.  Have fun.  Soak up as much knowledge as you can.  Worry about the gear and stuff later.  

Thank you both.....just want to impress my bro in law who is the pro......I will let you know the out come after memorial day...thank u

 

[Sphynx]

Versatility and confidence baits would be my big watchwords here, being able to cover the column, with baits YOU are confident in is going to make things more enjoyable for you, something like the venerable 7'MHF casting, a 6'8"MXF casting, 7'MF spinning, and a cranking stick chosen depending on what I'm expecting to walk into would probably be my choice, can drag bottom, burn a bottom presentation with a crankbait, swim a jig, crankbait, jerkbait in the middle, and throw both moving and stationary topwater presentations, in larger and more finesse applications with those rods, if they aren't having any of that then I guess I won't be catching them that day and will have to just tip my cap, and try to get them the next time...I'd probably switch out the shorter casting rod for my frogging rod during warmer weather.

[WRB]

SoCal angler traveling to Lake Fork Texas with finesse tackle. Tournament fishing isn’t a time to learn to fish new presentations. What are your 4 top presentation techniques are confident catching 3 to 5 lb bass with?

East Texas is similar to  Clear Lake, big lake with lots of Structure covered with aquatic plant growth. 

Tom

 

[jbsoonerfan]

23 hours ago, NALIP0351 said:

Thank you both.....just want to impress my bro in law who is the pro......I will let you know the out come after memorial day...thank u

 

 

I doubt he will be impressed if you don't know what you are doing on the water.

 

I have seen guys with the "best" new shiny driver on the market and couldn't hit a fairway if their life depended on it. I was not impressed even though they had a $600 club in their hand.

[Big Hands]

I'm a southern California guy that has lived in Los Angeles County my whole life, so if you're used to the fishing we do around here, it's going to be a completely different animal in many ways. But here are my takeaways from traveling to fish Lake Fork seven different times over the years, spending several days there each time.

 

The thing about tournament fishing as a co-angler is that you just won't know ahead of time what the pro will want to do, so I would suggest being prepared for a number of different techniques. 

 

As much as I love fishing all the crazy stuff we don't normally use much here in SoCal, finesse is not to be ignored at fork (relatively speaking). That dropshot rod could very well come in very handy. If you can stop by the Lake Fork Tackle Factory (that is literally at Lake fork and not to be confused with Lake Fork Tackle)  or Lake Fork Marina usually has them too, and pick up a handful of the 1/4 oz gold colored slab spoons that Joe Spaits makes, you will catch fish (all kinds) on them. If Joe's place is open, I recommend stopping in to have a chat with Joe and buy them directly from him. My biggest Fork (an 8.5 pounder) bass was caught on one with a spinning rod with 8 lb mono. You can cast them out and hop them back, or just jig them vertically. If you aren't having luck with other options and are fishing in 10' or deeper water, send one of those down, and you will get bit. Pro tip: Don't hop them too hard. If you haven't popped them too hard into the submerged timber, you can usually wiggle them around on semi-slack line and shake them loose.

 

From your description, you have two spinning rods, one spinning reel (Stella), and one baitcaster (Metanium)? The Z-Bone description is the confusing one.

 

You've already got that NRX dropshot setup, and that will work for dropshot and the slabs. 

 

I'm confused about the Z-bone; is that actually a casting rod? A MH casting rod (paired with the Metanium) is standard for lake fork fishing for many techniques you might encounter like texas rig, jigs, etc. Hard to go wrong with 17 to 20 lb monofilament for that rig.

 

If you're going for four rigs, the next one I would want would be a crankbait setup, so a rod a moderate action for throwing stuff like lipless cranks (Rat-L-Trap, LV500), and regular crankbaits like squarebills or other medium depth cranks.

 

The fourth rod is where things get tricky for me. Frogging has become super popular there and that is going to be a heavier, longer casting rod that is best suited for that. OTOH, it would suck not to have a jerkbait setup too, and that for me would be something 7' to 6'10" with a very fast action. If I simply had to choose, I thing I would make the fourth rig a jerkbait setup and use the MH casting rod for frogging (or make that second setup a Heavy action rod well over 7' and use it for frogging and t-rigs/carolina rigs/pitching jigs, which may not be ideal, but would work in a pinch for both techniques.

 

Now, for the truly hard part, LOL: What baits to bring.

 

Once you're at the lake, you're out in the country. There are several small tackle shops sprinkled around the lake, and Lake Fork Tackle is a bigger shop in Emory about 6 miles from the lake and that's about it. If a bait is hot, you may not find any in that area.

 

Fishing as a co-angler could be tough. The guy up front could be an awesome partner that will be someone you can work with, or could be a toolsack that couldn't care less if you catch anything. 

 

There's probably a few things you could be prepared for that would still let you fish no matter what the situation. The crankbait rod with either a lipless or squarebill would be one of those setups. A baitcaster with something like a carolina rig or texas rig worm or creature bait would be another, and that spinning rod with the slab would be another. 

 

As a fisherman that's 'not from around there', the biggest adjustment I had to make was realizing that in many situations (not talking about the spinning rod with 8 lb mono here), you simply cannot let the fish take line. You have to bust them HARD and keep them coming or they will wrap you up in the timber and it will be hard (but not necessarily always impossible) to get them out. 

 

I know this is a ridiculously long post and I might be completely full of crap on all of the above, but there's one last thing. If you can find some way, ANY WAY, to go night fishing, get some dark colored 10" worms and go for it. 

[galyonj]

8 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

 

I doubt he will be impressed if you don't know what you are doing on the water.

 

I have seen guys with the "best" new shiny driver on the market and couldn't hit a fairway if their life depended on it. I was not impressed even though they had a $600 club in their hand.

 

I'm far from a pro at...anything, but I think it would greatly impress me if my backseater BIL approached me and we worked out a plan for the day. Let me know what you're confident in, what you think you ought to bring, and together we figure out a way to make sure we're both contributing to the sack by working you through the options.

 

I guess what impresses me is people not letting their ego get in the way of success.

[jbsoonerfan]

1 hour ago, galyonj said:

 

I'm far from a pro at...anything, but I think it would greatly impress me if my backseater BIL approached me and we worked out a plan for the day. Let me know what you're confident in, what you think you ought to bring, and together we figure out a way to make sure we're both contributing to the sack by working you through the options.

 

I guess what impresses me is people not letting their ego get in the way of success.

 

That's why I wouldn't worry as much about how much I spent as opposed to trying to learn the best techniques for the season he will be going.

 

But other than that, why wouldn't these questions be asked to the pro BIL instead?

 

Wouldn't he know more than us? LOL

[Big Hands]

6 hours ago, galyonj said:

 

I'm far from a pro at...anything, but I think it would greatly impress me if my backseater BIL approached me and we worked out a plan for the day. Let me know what you're confident in, what you think you ought to bring, and together we figure out a way to make sure we're both contributing to the sack by working you through the options.

 

I guess what impresses me is people not letting their ego get in the way of success.

If it is a format where the co-angler's catch counts towards the pro's sack, then it would be likely that the pro will go out of their way to try to make you successful if they get the feeling you could contribute to their success. I don't know that any (or very many) major tournaments still utilize that format. If the pro feels you can help, they will put you to work. If they don't have much confidence in you and feel like it takes more work on their part than it's worth, then they'd prefer you just don't get in their way.

 

However, I took it that he is going as a 'co-angler', meaning he would be fishing with anyone except his BIL (decided by a random draw), and that the co-angler's catch doesn't count toward anyone else's sack. The co-angler is only fishing against other co-anglers in their own separate tournament within the tournament. The co-angler doesn't know which pro's boat they will fish from until the night before they fish with them in the tournament.

 

In this format, the pro doesn't really have any incentive to care if the co-angler catches fish, and may even prefer that they not fish in spots until the pro has finished casting to that target. Sloppy seconds so to speak. If the co-angler does as the pro asks, the pro will probably be more willing to 'share' whatever they see fit to share.

 

Ideally, they would get together with the pro the night before to discuss what they'll be doing, what the expectations for the day will be regarding what is 'OK' and what is not. 

 

Probably the healthiest perspective to have would be that the co-angler's tournament success shouldn't really be their primary objective. The primary objective should be that the co-anglers are there to learn from the pros (while trying not to get on the pro's way since the pros are presumably there to earn a living). I don't think the co-anglers stand to make much even if they do 'win'. I always took it that part of their entry fees would go towards the pro purse and that would be justified because the co-angler gets to spend a day on the boat with a pro and see how they do what they do first hand. 

 

There's no way to know who you'd be fishing with and that means there's no way to know with certainty exactly what baits would be ideal.

 

The BIL may or may not have any experience with that lake at that time of year either, and even he wouldn't know for sure what baits to have. If the BIL does have that experience, then I would also suggest going to them for advice. 

 

My $0.02

[galyonj]

13 minutes ago, Big Hands said:

My $0.02

 

Probably you're right. At any rate I'm showing my tournament ignorance.

[WRB]

I believe the OP was invited to fish a tournament with a partner in a team event....just a guess?

The 2 Spinning combos the OP listed are ideal for Castiac, Casitas and most SoCal lakes but useless for pounding the shoreline cover areas regardless of the  quality. 2 months is the end of March during the spawn cycles; prey spawn or early bed fishing.

This is the reason for my initial reply.

Still waiting for a reply to my initial questions; what are you skilled with?

Tom

PS, listen to Catt

 

 

[Catt]

On 1/22/2021 at 8:55 PM, Catt said:

YourLakeGuide Billy Lawson on YouTube does a weekly video on top 5 baits, setups, how to fish em, & areas.

 

Do yourself a favor & watch Billy Lawson's videos all the way up until a week before the tournament.

 

You will get real time information of what's going on at the lake from Billy & other local guides.

[Big Hands]

Also remember that Fork is a slot limit lake, meaning that you must immediately release any fish that measures between 16" and 24". A sack of bass that measure less than 16" will be worth more in the tournament than all the 3 to 5 pounders you can possibly catch. IIRC, you may only be able to keep one fish over 24" if you happen to catch one. 2 lb to 2.8 pound fish will be needed to fill out a limit plus a >24" kicker if you can get one.