tourney co-anglers

[usngsm2]

I am a non-boater and fish tourney's every chance I can. Unfortunately I am usually fishing a new body of water and without prefishing it I am basically going in twice as blind. That bothers me alot, not being in the back of the boat but not prefishing the body of water that the tourney will be on. Is there anyone else who finds themselves in the same situation or am I the only one? I am Navy, so my schedule right now is very demanding and I have a tourney on lake Toho this month.
Depending on whom I am fishing with will dictate what I jump out the gate with however I intend to bring
1 c/b and s/b rod
1 c-rig rod
1 worm rod
1 topwater
1 flipping/frog
and maybe one spinning set up.
Any suggestions to help me in this upcoming event? I have heard that most of the time it's a c/b bite that wins but also topwater works well.
Depending on water clarity, which is usually clear in florida I will definitely try a trap but its the early morning bite thats really hard for me to figure out. What about you?

[Rebbasser]

About the only help I can give you is encouragement-Lizards would be one of the guys to ask about fishing Florida. Your rod setup looks ideal-you have the bases covered pretty well.

[BassAddict]

Tournaments I've watched on TV alot of the guys were flipping plastics with a 1 oz. weight to punch it through the thick mats of vegetation at Toho. Dean Rojas caught a monster bag of fish there flipping to bedded fish a few years ago. Guess it will depend on who you pair up with and what their style is. Only advise I can give you is be prepared for anything but especially for the normal patterns for the times of year your going to be there. Good luck to you!

Eric

[Hef]

Fellow squid, as another guy who tourney fishes from the back of the boat and is at the mercy of uncle sam, I do get a little more nervous than usual if I didn't get to prefish a body of water. Trust your instincts and you'll be alright. I've never fished the big Florida waters, but your rigs look like you have most the bases covered.

CTR1

[adamchasejones]

If anyone knows any tournaments near memphis, I would be more than willing to pick up a nonboater if they know the water..or hell..even if they dont we'll figure it out.

[JB]

You really don't have to know the lake if its your first year, the guy you draw may or maynot know the areas too..but most boat owners have someone that they have heard from on spots to go..so If its the first year for you and the boater has spots, throw as close to targets as possible and pick spots a tad dif. than the guy up front has already thrown too..
If he stays out to far, tell him. The biggest mistake I've seen with new anglers is that they are afraid to throw that lure up in the structure, (trees, fallen timber, rocks etc) because they don't want to risk getting hung up and have the boater get all mad...
Also, don't get too sucked in by what he's throwing or recommends, Stick with what works for you, but if you do notice everyone is catching them on spinnerbaits(for example), then try whats working for the masses..
After the first hour or so, I'd slow down and start picking apart any thing in the water that looks "Bassy"....I'd have me a ratLtrap tied on just in case your boater wants to crank in a spot thats deeper than all the crankbaits in your box..I'd also have either a worm, jig, or plastic for upclose fishing stucture.. Another rod for some topwater in the early part of the tourney, depending on time of year and water temp. If its the first tourney of the year, I'd have a couple dif. crankbaits tied on, many bass chase baitfish in the spring..and always have a spinnerbait tied on all day IMO

[lizardsrule]

JB has some good insights. Don't get uptight about not prefishing, because 90% of the time you are gonna be fishing somewhere else other than where you prefished anyways. Check local info on water temps and basic info. There are so many different waters, that for some reason 1 bait is better than anything else. I would have a weightless plastic tied on, even though your boater may not ever go slow enough to use it, they have always produced fish for me. A shallow, squared billed crank would also be tied on, with a spinnerbait. Topwater here in florida is hit or miss usually miss with me LOL. However it's definately worth the effort early. Prop style, and chuggers for topwaters have produced better than others, even though the buzzbait did produce later in the year for me. If fishing heavy mats of course the frog, but I prefer floating lizards when I can use them. Just fish to your strengths, and pitch to all the wood you can find. Look for areas where the vegetation stops and starts. Last weekend with the cold front the fish were on wood, without any vegetation around. Sometimes they are at the edges of the vegetation, and later in the summer they are in the vegetation. Just remember it's fishing, not a exact science. Learn new techniques and patterns from the boater if you can, and just go fishing. Most guys are decent, and will help if possible, without giving you all the fish rotfl. Good fishing, and above all else HAVE FUN!

And thank you for your service, I appreciate you and all your fellow military.

Lizards

[usngsm2]

Well this is my set-up

G-Loomis s/b rod with curado d (7.1:1) and berkBG 15#
the s/b will either be white db willow or my fav white /chart/blue indiana

Allstar WR1 with Revo Sx (6.4:1) weightless Zoom Z-Nail water/red or tiki color same on a gammy 4/0

6'10" Shimano Crucial Md/hvy and Shimano Curado D (7.1:1)for traps mainly yozuri or texas worms.. I have this Bass Assassin Motor oil chart tail that I read about and really want to give it a try. Same # test

6'8" Shimano Crucial med/ extra Fast with Shimano Curado D (5.1:1) for topwater/ jerkbaits. I have had greater than great success with rapala's skitter walk in chart bone

7' Shimano Crucial med/hvy fast action with Curado B (greeny's 6.3:1 ) trying to decide whether to use braid with a mono leader or #15 p-line for c-rig and yums buzz'n frog in white belly/green back or Stanely rabbit in all white with 5/0 Owner Extra wide Wide gap

7 med/hvy redbone and daiwa advatange 153 (6.3:1) with 65# stren braid for flipping/pitching and Dean Rojas frogs. Really anywhere I need braid

Finally a Shimano Crucial med/hvy medfast 7' c/b rod with Shimano Citica D (5.1:1) with one spool of stren 10# high impact and the other 10BerkleyBG. This one really puzzles me becuase of course your limited to the number of rods as a co-angler you can have but I have a "glass" rod that is 6'6" that I have been c/b fishing with longer that I believe will give me more "feel" yet the curcial will give me more range and distance. The cranks I will be using is a duel medium diver in firetiger, some shad colored Dt and the old risto raps.

Depending upon the weather conditions leading up to the contest I may not bring my spinning outfit that I use for wacky rigs and tubes. I was told that you should never leave home without one and mines have become my favorite. I am probably not as keen as some of you are but I play to win everytime. I will say that I pay close attention to the weather five days out. I have other set-up but these are what I intend to bring. I also have a wooden popper in bone with a prop on back that has done well for me. I have some of those berkly sabretail bugs that haven't produce notthing for me and maybe that will be the ticket. I will c-rig them if neccessary. If you see any adjustments I need to make let me know and again thanks in advance.

[Rebbasser]

Good calls on the setups.

7' Shimano Crucial med/hvy fast action with Curado B (greeny's 6.3:1 ) trying to decide whether to use braid with a mono leader or #15 p-line for c-rig and yums buzz'n frog in white belly/green back or Stanely rabbit in all white with 5/0 Owner Extra wide Wide gap

Definitely braid. With a C-rig you usually get some pretty good distance, and the sensitivity/lo stretch of braid is a real asset. I use braid on mine with a fluoro leader. I would also use braid on the frog-braid lets you get a good hookset and also get the fis out of cover better than you can with mono.