MaxiMiZiNG yoUR pRE FIsh
learn it’s infrequently won from the “secret” spot no one else knew about and much more common to win off a “community hole” or commonly known location by the angler who found the fish better, found the right bait combination, or just timed it right. Keep that in mind as you study your map and mark your locations.
Now you are ready to hit the road and hit the water. i like to spend at least half a day looking for out of the way locations within a few minutes of the launch ramp. There are usually plenty of fish in the area due to “recycling” (catch and release) and this gives me an area to start quickly, finish the day on, or go to in the event of unforeseen mechanical problems. it’s always nice to sit on the water awaiting blast off and look out at a set of points or a rock pile knowing there are quality fish that are close to me.
Don’t spread yourself too thin. The problem I have with any more than two days of pre fish is not so much the lack of water i covered, but that i’ve usually located fish in several different areas, on several
different baits and at several different depths making me stress and still trying to decide which way i’m going to run come blast off. in order to maximize your efficiency, try to focus your tournament day in a general location. one or two river arms, maybe a pattern like running points or just fishing main body areas following the wind. You won’t catch fish running across the water at 70-mph; so the more time spent with your trolling motor in the water and fishing where you know there are fish, the better chance you have of connecting and cashing that check.
Keep listening to the Bassmaster pros or the top echelon of FlW anglers and you will hear time and time again that they use reaction baits to locate schools of fish with limited pre fish. i am in firm agreement with that, if you can get the fish to hit reaction baits, or at least follow the bait and reveal their locations. i have found in actuality though, that happens for me, half the time at best. on the waters i visit. The other half of the time, i have to use finesse or at least bottom or vertical types of baits - ones that the bass in a more neutral mood will come over and eat. The choice is yours of course; but several of my favorite reaction baits, for locating schools of fish include topwater, rip baits, crankbaits, mini or magnum swimbaits and the trusty Fluke. For the less active fish, i usually reach for a nail- weighted Senko, dart head, drop shot rig and the Carolina rig. Unless there is a lake specific color the fish are really eating, i keep my selection very simple. Natural baitfish or crawdad colors work everywhere. one of the similarities all these baits have in common is their ability to be fished fast as well as extremely slow. even the dart head which is ultra-finesse, can be fished in a rapid “shake, shake, shake” fashion as it swims down the bank or it can be cast out every 20-feet, left to fall to the bottom, shook a couple times and reeled back in, all the while
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