PREPARE TO PANIC
The Two Necessary Ingredients for
Every Angler’s
Story & photo by Jody Only
P B A O N X IC
M
ost every tournament fisherman has
faced the moment when their livewell
is filled with only four fish and the clock
is rapidly ticking toward their weigh-in time or when a limit is in the boat but there is one last
dink to cull that could make the difference in a win, a
cash or going home empty-handed for their efforts.
Changing weather conditions, a tough day on
the water, a boat breakdown, breakin’ one off or any
number of factors can play into the cause of being
just one good fish away or even just one keeper away
from the ultimate goal of a tournament angler.
Regardless of the reason, in the eleventh hour a
good angler will already have prepared to panic.
Many have heard the 2003 Bassmaster Classic
champ Michael Iaconelli talk about his “panic box”,
many have even seen him pull out his Plano inscribed
with the words “Panic Box” across the top with a
black Sharpie and many know that inside is what he
calls his favorite “hard times baits”. Iaconelli refers to
his “panic plastics” and states, “little tiny plastics are
always the cure for tough fishing”.
Some agree. The 3-time U.S. Open champ Mike
Folkestad also suggests a downsized delivery when
struggling for a bite and opts for a 4-inch worm.
Fishermen that have been “on those fish” with Delta
Guide, the Fishing Instructor Randy Pringle on a tough
day have heard Pringle push “getting medieval on
‘em” by scaling back your speed and offering up a smaller presentation. Pringle notes, “If you really have to get down and dirty on ‘em, an 1/8th Zappu and a 4 to 6-inch Berkley hand poured PowerBait Finesse Worm will hold you in the strike zone longer and keep an angler from spookin’ the fish.”
While the above examples show a tangible aspect of what to do when your Plan A and Plan B have failed, FLW tournament angler Ken Mah expounds on the “panic box” theory, offering other ways an angler can prepare to panic. With five top-10 FLW finishes on the Delta to his credit, Mah has shown he can adapt to much of what the tidal water fishery throws at him. Only several weeks ago, he weathered the rapid changes of the 3-day EverStart as the conditions ranged from flat calm to wind ravaged waters causing found patterns and planned strategies to go down the Delta drain.
A seasoned angler, Mah reached into his own proverbial “panic box” and pulled out the first and most important item …confidence. As he explained, an angler’s panic box is twofold. There is the symbolic portion and there is the physical. “When things aren’t going as planned, when the backup plan to your backup plan isn’t working, when there is 30-minutes left and you need one more to win or one more just to survive, you need to focus on what you have faith in,” stated Mah. “You have to find your confidence and you have to tie on your confidence bait.”
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