Skunk, maybe its my nerves????????

[bassmaster8100]

Ive got this problem when it comes to tournaments, joined a bass club back in January, only got to fish three tournaments on the season which started over in September. Two of them were on bodies of water I had never been on but I did great in prefishing, and one that I had been on a few times did great prefishing it but I came to the weigh in empty handed. Skunked three tournaments then I ended up having to work alot of weekends, which kept me off the water for a while and just returned to tournament fishing last month which was on a lake I had never been on it was kind of a last minute decision to fish it, like Friday evening around 4:30 I decided hey I think Ill get up in the morning and go fish a tournament, had one fish almost to the boat and lost it. Im always nervous about the tournaments, just cant seem to find that comfort zone, when there is no pressure I do pretty good, but when its during a tournament, well I Suck. I mean Im no great fisherman and Ive got alot to learn yet but I usually do pretty well except in tournaments. Anyone else have this trouble when they started out on the tournament scene? I mean I dont know if its my nerves, the pressure to do well or what my deal is. Headed to my next tournament a week from Saturday, hopefully my luck will change. Any advice, suggestions or similar experiences anyone would like to share would be appreciated.

[5bass]

Relax. Dont start stressing out until there's 3 hours to go and you dont have any fish. I had bigger problems when I first started.....if I didnt have 5 to weigh, I felt like I failed. It was all about getting that limit. And dont get me wrong, it still is but these days I'm not nearly as hard on myself as I was back then. I learned to relax....but I dont like losing. You have to balance it out the best you can.

[Shad_Master]

Around this area the standard question is "how do the fish know it's Saturday????" - in all honesty it probably is nerves.  This goes away after a while and you will begin to pick up again.  My favorite saying is, "If I had to catch fish to be happy, I'd be a miserable $@& most of the time".  Just enjoy what your doing, the fishing will get better.

[fishfordollars]

You might try not to stick your fish on practice days. Check a spot and get the heck away from it until it counts. Been working for me a long time.

[Shad_Master]

You definitely don't want to stick 'em all on practice day, but you probably do need to stick one or two just to give you an idea of the size so you can know(?) what is holding there.  Just another story to show you some empathy - fished a tournament last weekend - we spent Friday locating brush piles in deep water (20-30 feet).  We would fish the piles until we caught one, GPS the spot, and move on.  Saturday, we spent the entire day on 5 different brush piles where we had caught fish the day before and the results were disappointing.  The following day there was another tournament on the same lake and the winner brought in over 20# from just one of the brush piles we had fished.  Now I know it couldn't be the fishermen - it had to be something the fish were doing -- right????

[bassmaster8100]

I may be making the wrong decision but this time Ive acutally decided to not prefish considering the weather has started changing over the last few days. Its starting to cool down, the lake is about a 3 hour drive from my house so Sunday would be only time I could prefish before the tournament and I figure in a week's time with the season's beginning to change there is a good chance the fish may move within the week. So Im gonna rely on my electronics and a map I have of the lake and determine where I think the bass should be based on the temps starting to drop. I mean would you go prefish if you knew the weather was beggining to change and the fish would probably be on the move????

[Tin]

1. Use you instinct!!!! That way you dont get frustrated after and think what if?

2. Use what you are confident in.

3. Never stick fish till you have to.

4. Said it before, I'll say it again... JUST GO FISHING!

5. Never have bananas in the boat... lol....  

Have a good time, be safe, and look at it as just another day on the h2o.

[Bassnajr]

Heh,

Just started posting and just got back into LMB fishing after a layoff of 15 years. I have my first tornament 10-28-07 and I am alittle nervous about...guess what??? Getting SKUNKED. But then I thought about this...... Your out fishing, maybe alone, maybe with a buddy..other people are working, or just don't have the finances to have a boat, equipment, etc. So you know what?? Whether we catch anything or not, WE ARE LUCKY!! Meet great people and swap stories. Don't be nervous...think how good you have it!!!! Maybe then you'll loosen up a bit and score heavy!!! Good luck!!

bassinajr

[Garnet]

See a lot of people get cranked on energy drinks, diet soda ect. Ussally the wrong kind of energy.

Garnet

[bassmaster8100]

Morning of the tourney I like a nice breakfast because I dont stop to eat during tournaments I know some who do but I dont stop that long other than that I usually stop off for coffee on the way to the lake but thats bout it for me.

[Garnet]

For some reason we get thinking that tournament day is something specail.

Normal fishing days we would have the trolling motor on 20% check deep, check shallow, go here go there and find some fish not think to much about it.

For the most part thats the way we should fish tourneys. It just take practice and confidence.

So get a real good handle on your practice/fun fishing days and try to mimic this on tourney day.

Garnet

[rfrazier]

See a lot of people get cranked on energy drinks, diet soda ect. Ussally the wrong kind of energy.

Garnet

Lol i'll admit im waking up at 3:50 tomorrow for a tournament, and just purchased a few cokes and starbucks frappuchinos. You wouldn't expect any less from a college student would you?  

[Tin]

For me its Diet Mountain Dew and Cheez-its   Another college student.

[rfrazier]

cheez-its are pretty dominant, but im rolling with chewy granola bars and some 24-hour mexican takeout.

[bassmaster8100]

well i guess ill be waiting another month, ended up having to leave this months tourney early, had a little accident, my partner caught me with a crankbait to the back of the head while i was up swapping lures, hook was pretty deep so I ended up at the hospital getting it removed......better luck next month maybe

[Needemp]

I know plenty of time has gone by since this post started. But I know what you are talking about. I have learned this year that you need to have some good spots that hold fish at specific times of the year.

In the summer time, I find that prefishing can be a waste of time because the fish just flat out move around too much. They are here today and gone tommorrow. The most common thing I hear in all tourneys is "We caught them yesterday, but they were not there today." That is a very valuable lesson. For one thing, if you find them in prefishing, you convince yourself they should be there during your tournament. Then you spend all day fishing for fish that should be doing what you think they should be doing, and you are not 'listening' to the fish. I think that kind of thinking is a bad idea. What I want to do is find out what seasonal pattern they are on, and then what specific structure, cover and forage they are feeding on. Then come tourney day, if they are not where they were, I will look close by. But you have to be prepared to adjust everyday and even during the day.

[dhuffnmu]

I was almost in the same boat as you were when I first started tournaments. Not quite as bad but still getting my butt handed to me. What made me turn it around the fastest was hating to lose. I see people all the time that accept losing. Me I say NO WAY! I do not accept losing anymore it is not an option if it happens it happens but I am not happy about it. A good fisherman around my parts told me once that you have to hate to lose more than you like to win. Everyone likes to and wants to win but there are some that hate to lose more than others and that's what counts. I started taking that approach and it has worked. Secondly nothing can replace time on the water and I mean nothing. Time on the water is crucial to success as well as that killer attitude.

Do not think prefishing is a waste.  In summertime is when bass especially largemouth are the easiest to pattern.  However, don't get caught up in I caught them here yesterday FISH THE MOMENT.  Let your instincts and experience guide you through the day.  After a while you will be amazed at how you make decisions on the fly that more times than not lead to success.  This though comes with that all important time on the water.  Summer bass usually are consistant and easier to catch.

Stick with it do not give up.  Remember "quitters never win and winners never quit"

[FD.]

I started fishing tourneys about a year ago and had the same issues.  A few things that helped me.

Prefish the lake not just your spots.

limit your choices on locations to just a few and fish them thoroughly.

slow down and fish.   Dont let the pressure of catching fish make you fish too fast.