A 10 lb, game day fish from Clear Lake.
Photo by Kyle Wood.
Coupling lake images with the time of year that he will be on the lake, Borofka starts developing technique strategies. The conditions for tournament time are also an important factor that he searches for. “The time of year and the average weather expectations can be looked up easily,” he said. “I can fine tune for a more exact forecast later, when the event is closer; but ahead of time, I can prepare for a typical type of climate that the fish live in and that I will face. It can tell me about when the fish are more actively feeding, when they are not, when they are in spawning phases, etc.”
PAST EVENTS
He also researches past tournaments. “Previous winning weights and tactics are something that can give you a good start in preparing for what is ahead,” he explained. “If I look at the top-10 weights, including big fish and then average that out, I know what size fish I need to be looking for. Finding out the winning lures tells me if reaction baits or finesse baits were used and if the winning fish were caught deep or shallow.”
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Aside from tournament websites, Borofka also employs information from local tackle stores. “I’m not saying that I get specific details, but I can start to get a picture of the area and a feel for what I’m going to do, so that I’m not going in blind,” he explained. “On top of that, I also use social media to reach out to locals that share information. Even back in the day when MySpace was out, I was doing that and it helped me quite a bit on a few very key things that were productive for me.”
He noted that details that he gets from social media must be “taken with a curve”. “It still is dock talk, but I use what I know about fishing and put it together with their information to get to my own conclusion. A lot of people post and share about big fish and I can use that with tournament information and lake conditions and find a big fish areas.”
Without saying exact locations that his research has revealed, Borofka stated that he has been able to decipher kicker locations in many fisheries and holds multiple Big Bass trophies to prove his big bass prowess
MAPPING
Using his Lowrance electronics to study fisheries at home, Borofka makes general waypoints taken from his research to guide him when he arrives. “I
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