Your tournament Technique

[ike]

I am posting this post up because i want to know what kind of techniques and bait do you guys use in your tournaments and how long do you stick to it before you change it, i just want to know so i am better prepared for my tournaments from know on. And usually our Tournaments are 4hours long.
Thank you very much guys.

[Rebbasser]

Ike, use what has worked in the past for you-don't let yourself get psyched out by what someone else is doing or using. Easier said than done-it is real easy to fall into that trap. Use the baits you have confidence in and worry about what you are doing, not what someone else is doing. BUT...don't get so dialed in on one thing you don't try something different if you need to. As far as how long to stay with something-that's something you have to decide-there really isn't a right or wrong answer.

[ike]

Thank you very much for your advice.

[JB]

Another quick note, don't always trust the comments another angler says when you ask"what they hittin' on"..you won't get a truthful answer until
after the weighin

[1FASTLASER]

Jb pretty well covered it and words of wisdom on the what there hitting. What I try and due on every tourney is catch a limit first off and as quick as possible. Dont care about the size just a limit. Then I back up rethink what I was catching them on and try and figure out what I can do to increase the size of the fish. Dont really call this a technique but a stratedy. I normally use a search bait to get the limit. A bait that will work in the conditions you are fishing and get fish in the boat quick. Then normaly its the jig that comes out and start getting into the deper water of deeper into the cover.

[WIbassfisherman]

Cover water with a power fishing bait first like a spinnerbait, crankbait, etc. Your first fish can tell you a lot in regards to size and year class present in the case of largemouths. You can also see what structure and cover they may have been relating to. I don't slow down until that first fish and then I will drop a buoy or a waypoint and fish that area throughly by fancasting the same bait and then slowing down to another presentation. If you catch them shallow off a dock, rip rap etc., see if you can find other similar docks or patterns within the rip rap that you can go down the bank and duplicate. The 2nd fish will confirm that you've unlocked a pattern.

In four hour tournies, I suggest fishing fast, unless you have found concentrations of fish during practice.

[JB]

man livin in the south must be nice! I've never had 5 fish in over 300 tourneys, closest I've come is 4 fish several times, in state and regional federation tournies... having 5 in the weigh line tanks would be a dream come true for me! We often catch lots of fish, but to get 5 that are over 14 inches can be tough on these pressured waters... It would be nice to cull every now n then huh laser

[bassnman30]

JB I tell ya, it is tough on alot of people to weigh in a sack of 5. I've been fishing tournaments for about 20 yrs. Weighed in a limit only a few of those times. Granted I have fished with guys who if they didn't get a limit, then it was a bad day. Wish I was like that !

[zooker]

ike the only true ever told during a tourny is what is hauled out of the live well at weigh in..


zooker

[bassintom]

i never hesitate to tell the truth about what i'm using during a tourney...i'll even give them the bait and tell them where and how i'm working it.i have even been known to give up my hot spot to someone with nothing in their livewell.i have done it more times than i can remember.
that said..throw a 4"red shad power worm,t-rig lightest weight you can get away with.adjust your presentation to the conditions.the bait in 9 out of 10 of my tourney wins is that worm.

[lizardsrule]

Well are you the backseater, or the front seater? And is this a team tourney or a individual one. If it's individual, and you are in the back, just hope you don't get Bassintom as the boater rotfl. Anyways you may not have a choice as to how or where you fish if you are in the backseat position, and if it's not a team tournament, you can bet the guy up front is gonna try to catch all the fish first.

Lizards

[flfireman]

Or do what I do. Relax and have fun. Catch what you can catch, enjoy the time on the water.

[1FASTLASER]

Originally Posted by JB

man livin in the south must be nice! I've never had 5 fish in over 300 tourneys, closest I've come is 4 fish several times, in state and regional federation tournies... having 5 in the weigh line tanks would be a dream come true for me! We often catch lots of fish, but to get 5 that are over 14 inches can be tough on these pressured waters... It would be nice to cull every now n then huh laser

The short 4 months I lived in Ohio i myself found the bass quite unwilling to hit so I sympathize withya on the limit JB. The waters I did frequent where Pymatuning (spelling is prolly not right) and a few smaller ponds. CLEAR water and HIGH pressure bass=TOUGH BITE

[bass kicker]

this has helped me alot as well

my first tournament is may 7 on lake erie in new york cant wait to fish it

[JB]

the guys in my club always liked the indiana lakes over ohio, I think they were better thought out than some of the old hand dug lakes like
st. marys..I like them all tho.

[Rebbasser]

just hope you don't get Bassintom as the boater rotfl.

Tom, did you backseat Lizards?

[zooker]

lol


zooker

[bassintom]

i'd never do that...he was on the front of the boat at all times.to be honest with you i was afraid to get near that stick steer thingie....lmao!
i think he was referring to the fact that i'll tell anybody what i'm getting them on..maybe not...ask him.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by bassintom

i'd never do that...he was on the front of the boat at all times.to be honest with you i was afraid to get near that stick steer thingie....lmao!
i think he was referring to the fact that i'll tell anybody what i'm getting them on..maybe not...ask him.

Rotflmao, that thingy is a stick, and it steers the boat dangit Let me make it very clear, Tom did not back boat me, he was in the back, even though I did offer the front more than once, he was on vacation he kept saying. Now I know he was nervous on my boat LOL. I was referring to his comment(nope not gonna repeat it ) about his backseaters during tourneys. They are fishing against him in these tourneys, so you get the idea

Lizards

[Fish On]

Originally Posted by JB

Another quick note, don't always trust the comments another angler says when you ask"what they hittin' on"..you won't get a truthful answer until
after the weighin

Except when your with my partner. LOL He was calling everyone and giving our pattern out. We still won with an 18lb bag and set a record for biggest bag of bass. 18 is decent for NY. I thought we were done once he started calling like everyone.

We were fishing post spawn on weed beds with jigs. Not many weeds but everyone in our club thought they were dead. So he used jigs and I used crankbait(DT) and jig.

[bassnman30]

A couple years ago as a back seater, I won the overall points championship. When being a back seater, all that you do is fish.
I'm thinking about selling the boat and going back to being a co-angler !

Don't want to hear it Zook !

[JB]

I won the angler of the year for the federation ohio chapter from the back of the boat too. Won by one fish, probably only about 1-2 lbs between me and the next guy.