Whats your strategy to find tournament winning fish? 2024
Eric Peterson reply :
What do you do to find fish that will win you the tournament? From past tournaments on that body of water you know what it takes to win. X amount of pounds. But how do you try to make it happen?
BrianinMD reply :
Varies greatly depending on location, weather, time of year, etc
chadmack282 reply :
It's a secret!!
LOL
N Florida Mike reply :
One thing I did was FISH.Instead of constantly running and gunning, I would go to a good area and just fish slowly through it all.Having your line in the water the most gives you an edge.
I came in 3rd in one tournament after we had motor trouble on a st johns river tournament.We could not fix the motor so we just ran the trolling motor from the ramp up the river until it was time to get to the weigh in.
We actually fished a lot like they do on MLF.Just fish grass and docks and get as many fish as possible.Dont worry about size- that comes if youre doing the right things.
Catt reply :
Go big or go home! 
ww2farmer reply :
If I knew that answer, I'd win every one!! LOL
Mike L reply :
On 6/20/2016 at 6:15 PM, ww2farmer said:If I knew that answer, I'd win every one!! LOL
There's no answer to your question specificly...All you can do is upsize your offering, fish in what can be called the best taget rich environment in your lake, and use all you've learned about all the where's, how's and when's...And for me at least don't press. Make smart decions and go fishin.
If you come up with a better way, you can adopt me!
Mike
fishballer06 reply :
I usually find my bigger fish on off shore structure. But again, every lake is different.
scaleface reply :
I had some success in tournament fishing and won one event with 500 boats . I tried to have a plan A and a plan B . Plan A is usually a spot . Plan B is usually an area .There can be more than 1 plan A and B . If I started to run around the lake trying to get lucky I was done .
mrmacwvu1 reply :
Most of the tournaments that I fish are on the Ohio river. We all know the water and everyone from the ramps go for the same spots. We do as well to a certain degree. However we have mapped points and structures over the years that look like we are fishing in the middle of nowhere. I also dumb down my approach. I keep enough lures on to cover the various depths where we fish. The more time that you are changing baits the less time a bait is the water.
My partner fishes the front of the boat and I fish the back. If we are beating the bank and he has a jig tied on I usually have carolina rig on and i am fishing away from the bank in 10 feet of water. If he is burning crankbaits I am fishing spinnerbaits buzzbaits or swim jigs.
I always try to fish the same speed as him just different baits. If he starts killing them then I might switch. If I start killing them then I make him switch. We fish team events and we don't have ego's on tournament days. That is for practice days and when we rotate front of the boat.
Most of all we have fun. We enjoy each others company and are not afraid to get skunked looking for the big kicker.
RichF reply :
On 6/20/2016 at 12:48 PM, Catt said:Go big or go home!
100% agree with this. I always fish to win not just catch a limit. No finesse crap for me during a tournament. Five 12 inchers will never win an event on the bodies of water I fish so why bother wasting time trying for those when you know you have to upgrade them all.
I also agree that the numbers of quality fish will be offshore. Bank beating will get you a lucky big one every now and again but I never rely on it.
scaleface reply :
15 inch fish minimum here and a limit of keepers will often win the tournament .
Mosster47 reply :
I have three rules. If I decide on a spot/area I fish it a minimum of an hour. Some guys have a ton of success running around, but I don't do it.
Second is to fish areas other people aren't. Even in a small club tourney the "great" spots get hammered. I'd rather be on decent water that is unpressured over good water that is pressured.
Lastly is to have fun. I'm very selective in what tournaments I fish now. If it's too serious, too crowded, well known the fishing is going to suck that weekend, or just any other scenario where I wouldn't go fun fishing I'm sure as hell not paying money to go do it.
scaleface reply :
KVD won a classic with 12 lbs . I think Nixon on one with 18 lbs .
Take what the water will give up . There will be only one winner . Second , third , fourth... to me , is much better than going home empty .
fishballer06 reply :
On 7/27/2016 at 11:52 PM, scaleface said:KVD won a classic with 12 lbs .
Being from Pittsburgh, I'm ashamed of this...
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 8/2/2016 at 4:12 AM, fishballer06 said:Being from Pittsburgh, I'm ashamed of this...
Don't feel bad, @gardnerjigman and I won our weeknight tournament last Thursday with 7lbs 9oz and got big bass with a 2lb 1oz whopper, and we had a 5 fish limit. Sadly enough, this is over 2.5 pounds more than what it's taken to win on that lake in the past.
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 8/2/2016 at 7:15 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Don't feel bad, @gardnerjigman and I won our weeknight tournament last Thursday with 7lbs 9oz and got big bass with a 2lb 1oz whopper, and we had a 5 fish limit. Sadly enough, this is over 2.5 pounds more than what it's taken to win on that lake in the past.
Just over five pounds won the tournament last Sunday, and big bass was only two pounds. The bass completely shut down for the tourney day, before getting back to normal the day after.
everythingthatswims reply :
On 8/2/2016 at 7:15 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Don't feel bad, @gardnerjigman and I won our weeknight tournament last Thursday with 7lbs 9oz and got big bass with a 2lb 1oz whopper, and we had a 5 fish limit. Sadly enough, this is over 2.5 pounds more than what it's taken to win on that lake in the past.
A tournament is the only thing that can make a lake with that size of fish fun (for me at least!)
I can go catch 5 keepers in a tournament and be happy, but if I go out fun fishing and only catch a handful of 12-15" bass I usually wish I had gone elsewhere!
J Francho reply :
I find that to win, everything must go right. It means the fish are there from pre-fishing, and your plan you developed in practice is executed without a hitch. It means you don't drop good fish, and don't miss bites. From there, I find it's all about adjustments, when something changes. That can mean the bite, the weather, current, water conditions, and all the above. I have a TON of second places, and just a handful of wins. It's not easy to be that consistent, on any level.
scaleface reply :
I just read an article by Hank Parker here at Bass Resource . He stated consistency was the key for him .He cashed checks in something like 78 per cent of tournaments and said with consistency come wins .
TK5 reply :
I will actually go against the grain on this one.... My typical strategy is to research areas that tournaments are typically won on the particular body of water that I am fishing. I am not meaning specific spots but more like a certain feeder creek or the lower end of the lake verses the upper end of the lake. Once I have decided on an area of the lake that on average has better quality fish, I will break down that area looking for a "pattern" based on the time of year and conditions that I have. After I have a certain pattern and depth, I try to run and gun to duplicate this as many times as possible in a day and keep my bait in high percentage areas. One thing that I will do 99.9% of the time is to make sure to revisit places where I have caught a "good fish." It is very common in my experience to catch multiple good fish from a certain piece of cover simply by giving it an hour to rest.
Catt reply :
A 5 bass 20# sack on my home waters will not put in the money!
scaleface reply :
On 10/8/2016 at 6:02 AM, Catt said:A 5 bass 20# sack on my home waters will not put in the money!
In my waters it wiill most likely win .
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 10/8/2016 at 6:02 AM, Catt said:A 5 bass 20# sack on my home waters will not put in the money!
On 10/10/2016 at 10:10 PM, scaleface said:In my waters it wiill most likely win .
In my waters 12-13 pounds is all you will usually need to win! Sometimes even less!
J Francho reply :
I've won a couple with just three fish, lol. Those days were under horrible conditions, though, and many boats came in empty handed or just gave up altogether.
OKprofisher reply :
The trophy fish are in cover and are lazier than the smaller bass. The big bass wait for the baitfish to ambush their prey.
pawpaw reply :
I have gone into many tournaments confident that i was on winning fish only to find that things had changed over night, one way or another. Some days I was able to adjust and get back on them, other days I was not. I would say that most of my best finishes have been on days when I started out not exactly sure of what I needed to do to get on winning fish. I just kind of fished by the seat of my pants, let the day play out and made adjustments as the day progressed. This strategy is not ideal or one I would prefer but is the one I am usually faced with the most.
I guess what I'm saying is to prepare the best you can to get a strong pattern and even a back up pattern. Then don't get shook up if you have to throw it all away and junk fish. At least it should be a little easier to find where they went when you know where they were. If you don't get on anything in practice, stay calm and keep at it. Lucky beats good all the time.
gulfcaptain reply :
#! Do your homework. Find out as much as you can about the body of water you're fishing in.
#2 Fish in the present and not in the past. Just because you caught them there before doesn't mean you will again especially if the lake has changed...IE weedbed then but not now, water down or up 25+ feet or more (S.CAL thing....lol) time of year.
#3 Have a stratagy, fish what the lake gives you and pay attention to the signs on the water. If you were catching them in one place the day before and you go back and it doesn't feel right and conditions changed.....odds are it's time for plan B. Have a plan B, C, D....etc. Find different areas that hold fish and the baits that will catch them. Find a pattern or two, or three. Also try and have a plan where you're not running from one end of the lake to the other. Have your areas planned out in advance as to what rotation you're going to fish them and if you have a finishing spot what time you need to leave your last spot by to give you time to get there and fish it.
#4 You get a limit in the boat, start fishing for the kickers. Yes it's better to show up with 5 5llbers, but it's still better to show up with 5 2lbers then ZERO fish. Once you get that limit in the boat it helps calm you down and lets you fish. Means you're getting bites which will keep you fishing and your confidence up, lack of bites makes you second guess your fishing stratagy unless you know you can get 5 bites on th bait your fishing and are fine with that.....but remember those 5 bites have to count.
Most important thing you can do is fish YOUR STRENGHTS. Tournament days are not days to try something new.
And remember, If you panic you might as well take your boat to the ramp and go home because you're already out of the game.
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