tournaments are taking 25 to 30lbs to win? I will typically fish for 5 quality bites all day, but if I’ve found an area with quality tournament fish in it, you can bet I’m going to spend some time in that area come game day. Have confidence in your prefish but also be flexible and know when to leave. Which leads us to our next question.
When is it time to leave an area? I know it’s hard to leave an area, especially when you see them on your screen but I’ve always gone by a 10 minute rule. I tend to let an area “Rest” for a little while after I’ve caught a couple of fish out of it and then I will “Milk Run” it again later. When fishing large flats, it can be very hard to cover that area in that time frame, but I would suggest marking your best spots on the flat and going to them directly, instead of fishing up to them. Hit specific targets within the area that you have found during your practice and this will help you to cover a large area in a short amount of time. In my experience, fish tend to bite right away if they are ready, so let them tell you what’s going on. If the fish quit biting what you are offering them, try mixing it up a little and throw something a little different or maybe of a different color. Sometimes a slight change could be all the difference needed to get that school fired up again.
I have found over
the years that
by listening to myself
and letting my
instinct take over, it’s almost like checking off items off of a to-do list. Just get them out of the way so that they are out of your mind, especially during practice. If you’re driving past a point and saying to yourself, that looks good... STOP! ‘Cause all you’ll be doing is staring at the spot from across the lake, wondering if there are any fish on it. Just get it out of the way and be done with it. Remember, practice is the time to educate yourself. Try to answer as many questions as you can during that time so when game day comes, you already have an idea of what is going on and you won’t be guessing.
Sometimes the game plan doesn’t always work out, but it’s better to have some kind of clue and adjust, rather than having nothing at all to go off of and be reduced to just winging it.
Like some of you, looking back at some of my past tournaments I can always recall a moment afterwards where I end up saying, “That decision paid off” or “That was a good call to stop there.” That was you letting your instincts take over. Feels good, huh? See you guys next issue and until then, Catch a Giant for me!
Issue 1 April 2011
Lifetime Memories!
Vacations, Weddings, Graduations, Pets, etc. A canvas print makes
a great gift!
Transfer your photo to canvas and turn any moment into a beautiful memory as if it were
hanging in a gallery.
www.visionsoncanvas.com
45
https://visionsoncanvas.com/store2/order_canvas_WBspecial.php