Tournament tackle packing

[GoneFishingLTN]

Do you to think it’s best to bring all the tools (rods) even if you are not proficient in them yet meaning should you bring a deep lipless because it’s a “proven” spring bait or not because you haven’t used it enough yet. 
 

Also should you only pack baits for certain season example in spring they are or should be moving up do I focus on deep baits if I hadn’t caught them on it this time of year.  
 

 

I understand that is what practice is for but I do not get to practice expect weeks before due to work and life. So with knowing this what is the best approach thank you

 

front of the boat and I have all tools needed 

[Fishingmickey]

Fish to your strengths, map study (Navonics web app). Keep it simple.

FM

[Choporoz]

What are your limitations?  Are you a co-angler?  Rod locker full?  Don't want to be tempted to tournament-test something you aren't comfortable with?

  

  Do not underestimate how fast you can go from bed-fishing to 'deep fishing'...like same day, even.

 

  You don't want to fish deep lipless, that's absolutely fine.  But you may want a 1/2 oz trap with you, anyway.  You can fish it in relatively shallow grass, or bounce it down points to 20'

  Not saying to throw low-confidence baits in a tournament.  I agree with @Fishingmickey to fish your strengths....but always work on trying to ensure that your strengths are varied....for season, water body type, depths, etc.

[Texas Flood]

I fished my first tournament a couple weeks ago and I brought everything but the kitchen sink. Now having said that, only 3 different baits(Jerkbait, Squarebill, Lipless) landed bass.

 

I will echo what @Fishingmickey said. Keep it simple.

[WIGuide]

A lot of times in a tournament you want to fish your strengths, but at the same time if your strengths don't match up with what will catch fish you have to make a choice of either grinding it out and trying to make your strengths work, or try something you might not be as good at but you think will work. 

 

Given the time of year, you might want to keep your options a little more open. Fish will and should be moving up, but they don't all move up at the same time so a lot of times you'll find fish in all stages of the spawn at the same time.

[Captain Phil]

Are you fishing in the front or the back of the boat?  If in the front, you should know in advance how and where you are going to fish.  If you are going to pay to fish a tournament, prefishing will make the difference between getting a check and being a contributor.  Fishing in the back is going to be tougher because you may not know what you will encounter.  I would bring three outfits. A heavy action longer rod for flipping, pitching, spinnerbaits and cranking. A medium action rod for soft plastics and a spinning rod for finesse fishing.  With this, you should be able to cover most situations.  You don't want to show up at the dock toting a gigantic tackle box.   Make up a tournament box with your best baits.  Bring some assorted leader material and hardware.  If this is your first tournament, enjoy yourself and don't overthink your fishing. Learning from others is a big part of becoming a champion.

[GoneFishingLTN]

Thanks everyone made a edit to the post yes it will be out of my own boat and I will be the front boater no time to pre practice but know what usually holds fish 

[Cbump]

I have everything in my boat but if I was limited on what I could bring I would somehow get the water temperature and go from there.

This time of year here It would be a flipping stick, squarebill, white chatterbait, spinnerbait. That’s about It. 

Oh and weightless senko always. 

[WRB]

You don’t have any limits on what to bring using your own boat.

What to use is whole different topic and always fish your strengths in a tournament. 

Yes seasonal plays a role during the spawn cycle. Location is dependent on spawning areas and nearby access to spawning areas until the cycle is completed.

Texas rigged worms, Senko’s, drop shot,swim jigs with Kietec swimmers all work well top to bottom.

Tom

 

[GoneFishingLTN]

31 minutes ago, Cbump said:

I have everything in my boat but if I was limited on what I could bring I would somehow get the water temperature and go from there.

This time of year here It would be a flipping stick, squarebill, white chatterbait, spinnerbait. That’s about It. 

Oh and weightless senko always. 

what would you do if the fish wasn't shallow quite yet where you could reach them with the above baits

[Cbump]

Put a jig on my flipping stick and go a little deeper. That would be water in the 50s here. 
 

If still in the 40s all I would have is jerkbait, a-rig, drop shot. 

[papajoe222]

If you're unsure what stage of the spawn the fish are in, cranks and jigs would be my first two choices.  You can fish them at any depth and one or the other will appeal to them based on their activity level.  If these two aren't in your comfort zone, a spinnerbait and plastic worm would also fit the bill.

If you're unlucky enough and catch them on the beds, Look for areas closer to the dam as the fish there may still be in pre-spawn. If fishing a natural lake, check out the staging areas the fish use prior to and after the spawn. The same baits mentioned are still good choices, but I'd opt for a suspending crank for post spawn fish.