Tournament Help

[RHuff]

 

Been fishing a few tournaments here and there and really this year was my first full season of fishing tournaments.. Good news.. I didn’t skunk  except for one tournament all year.. The problem is I feel like I’m stuck in a rut.. I either catch 5 dinks that get beat like a drum or only one or two “quality” or”winning” fish but can’t seem to get 5 bigs in the boat no matter what I do.. Help lol

 

I feel like i put a good game plan together and find fish when i prepare for a tourny and will catch one or two of the right fish but it always fizzles out…and the winning bags are caught doing similar things that I do… what do I need to do to fix it? lol

[slonezp]

Right place right time. 

 

Honestly, time on the water trumps everything. You have to have consistent spots. 

[Catt]

14 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Right place right time. 

 

Honestly, time on the water trumps everything. You have to have consistent spots. 

 

Pretty much it! 

[SWVABass]

You fishing as a co or boater? Big difference there. If you have a good practice and are on winning fish and it goes away tourney time something has changed. Start looking for structure near where you were catching them and try new presentations. Easy to say harder to do ha!!!!

 

one day derbies can be tough cause some dudes are swinging for the fences hoping to hit that homer. I noticed it a lot fishing BFLs this year, as a co I was not prepared for that. I was fishing for good finishes trying to qualify for regionals so at times made it tough but in the end I made it.

[RHuff]

I fished a tournament yesterday as a single boater on a man made lake on the New River..  Smallmouth dominate this river and lake with occasional largemouth mixed in… 

 

The water on the main lake was very murky from rain the previous evening.. I made a long run up river to seek clearer water. The main lake was 60 degrees and the water up river was 57-58 degrees.. Clearer, cooler, swifter water was my target. Being fall time and shad being the key forage this time of year started off in 5-8ft of water (clearest water) with a bandit 200 shallow crank in bone. I was running this sucker on the bottom occasionally ticking the rocks in the bottom… I switched to a 3.3 keitech in smallmouth magic.. nothing…  I switched to a frittside 5 in ghost morning dawn no takers… i slowed down and threw a dropshot with maxscent flat worm brown back and a green pumpkin maxscent general wacky rigged… No bites..

 

I fished all of these baits around bank cover and on the current edges out in the river channel.. Not a single bite..

 

I ran down river a bit to an inside turn with a steeper bank, rock and wood cover, and deeper water around 12-14ft. 3rd cast with the wacky rig a big smallmouth choked it a 3.22 keeper.. I fished about a half of mile same bait no more bites..and reran the same area a couple of times.. 

 

The water in this area was a little more muddier and about a degree warmer so I tied on a chartreuse and black back frittside 5… nothing… a white swim jig.. swimbait.. nothing… a spinnerbait… nothing.. a jerkbait… nothing

 

I finished it a single bass 3.22lbs.. which is the quality fish I need i just can’t seem

to ever get 5 of them… 

 

The winning bag was 15.8 

2nd was 14.6 

3rd was 12.4

Big bass was a 5.8lb smallmouth..

 

All three bags including the big bass were caught on the same stretch of water up river on moving baits… 

 

I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.. I feel like i’m making the right choices just not getting results 

[Deleted account]

12 hours ago, slonezp said:

Right place right time. 

 

Honestly, time on the water trumps everything. You have to have consistent spots. 

X3. It's about having confidence in a milk run, and sticking to it. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I agree with all comments so far.

 

You may not be doing anything wrong.  Doing the wrong thing can keep you from winning a tournament but doing the right thing does not guarantee success.  You still have to execute better that the other anglers who have figured them out.  That's where time on the water matters the most.  If you're on a pattern that can produce one good fish an hour you can win any tournament.  It can take several hours to know if you're on that pattern.  Knowing when to commit to a plan or look for an alternate approach comes with experience.  You also need to get lucky from time to time.

[TnRiver46]

I’ll tell ya what I do, fish for food and fun instead of money. 

[RDB]

Can’t speak specifically to smallmouth but it’s hard to make milk runs or fish honey holes if you are fishing regional tournaments at lakes with little history.  I would keep moving until you get bit, pay close attention to where you are getting bit, and try to run similar areas in other locations.  If you find you are getting bit on wood on 45 degree banks or docks in backs of creeks or the backside of main lake points, etc., look for other areas with similar features.  Find the higher potential areas and spend your time there.

[Catt]

22 hours ago, RHuff said:

All three bags including the big bass were caught on the same stretch of water up river on moving baits… 

 

I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.. I feel like i’m making the right choices just not getting results

 

They stayed, you moved...correct?

[Logan S]

It's hard to ignore dock talk and winning patterns...But the most important thing in tournament fishing is doing things your own way.  You can't catch other people's fish, even if you might be using the same baits on that day...

 

Try to focus on how YOU have the most success.  If you visualize it as a pyramid type chart for tournament success, this is the base.  You build on that by applying it to specific lakes and seasons, then more specific patterns, then even more specific patterns for larger fish.  I'm sure you could add a few more things too.  

 

When you enter a tournament, you are sort of forced to jump right to the top for that tournament day...So it's natural for things to be a little unstable while you work on that foundation.  Sometimes you can find some success, sometimes the wheels come off.  The more you do it, the more stable things will get .  

[RHuff]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

 

They stayed, you moved...correct?

 

 Correct, but only around 2 hrs before weigh in and only because I had not been bit yet .....I spent the majority of my day in those same areas.....  and when I moved it was only a short distance down river but still in the same general section 

[Deleted account]

15 hours ago, RDB said:

Can’t speak specifically to smallmouth but it’s hard to make milk runs or fish honey holes if you are fishing regional tournaments at lakes with little history. 

Little history = Give the entry fee $ directly to the locals

[RDB]

14 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Little history = Give the entry fee $ directly to the locals

Most anglers typically don’t have a lot of history (at least recent) on the regional trails.  History is typically not the determining factor.  IME, the anglers who have the biggest advantage are those who have the time to pre fish tournaments.  I have done well in many tournaments where I had limited to no history with the lake.

[Deleted account]

3 hours ago, RDB said:

Most anglers typically don’t have a lot of history (at least recent) on the regional trails.  History is typically not the determining factor.  IME, the anglers who have the biggest advantage are those who have the time to pre fish tournaments.  I have done well in many tournaments where I had limited to no history with the lake.

That makes no sense, pre fishing creates a history, and yes, one can do well just showing up and fishing, but I wouldn't count on it.

[RDB]

1 hour ago, Deleted account said:

That makes no sense, pre fishing creates a history, and yes, one can do well just showing up and fishing, but I wouldn't count on it.

Lol…I think most anglers know what is meant by having history on a lake.  When someone says they have history on a body of water, they usually don’t mean that history was 2 days ago.  I don’t think you will find many tournament anglers who say a day of pre fishing constitutes “having history” the way the term is used.  And that kind of history doesn’t typically lead to milk runs and honey holes.  Also, most don’t just show up to fish.  There is plenty of homework you can do without being on the water.

[SWVABass]

@RDB I believe what @Deleted account is saying “prefishing” is = multiple trips prior to the off limits to learn a fishery. Plenty of folks have history on lakes on regional trails, if they have been doing it for a period of time. And with it sounding like it’s a one day jackpot on a fall fishery might as well be wide open at that point. Fall fishing has them scattered doing multiple different things so I think it lends its self to a junk fisherman covering water vs a summer time ledge comp. Correct if I’m wrong @Deleted account

[RDB]

2 hours ago, SWVABass said:

@RDB I believe what @Deleted account is saying “prefishing” is = multiple trips prior to the off limits to learn a fishery. Plenty of folks have history on lakes on regional trails, if they have been doing it for a period of time. And with it sounding like it’s a one day jackpot on a fall fishery might as well be wide open at that point. Fall fishing has them scattered doing multiple different things so I think it lends its self to a junk fisherman covering water vs a summer time ledge comp. Correct if I’m wrong @Deleted account

Let’s get back to the OP ‘s question.  This isn’t about @Deleted account or me.  I disagreed with the statement that no history equals donations to the locals and milk runs are a requirement for tournament success.  People can decide for themselves what constitutes history.  I smoked a J at a fraternity party in college but I don’t feel like that means I have a history of drug use.