5bass

Yeah sorry about that. As many of you know, I work overseas and do not get much time at home (2-3 months stateside). When the motor blew and the weather wasn't looking favorable on Friday we decided to head back home a day early. I at least got to spend one more day with my wonderful girlfriend before I left again. I hope that next years trip falls on a date that I will be back in the states. It was nice to meet everyone and hope to see y'all again. -Jim Yeah, you guys were like ghosts. I saw you one minute, then didnt see you for a couple days. ;D Anyway, it was good talking to you just before you left. Tough luck on the blown motor at Ky Lake but it looks like you've rectified the situation in a big way. Nice lookin rig man!

Come on down! The dock bite is about to get ripe.

No need for apologies, this thread is intended to be a "go to" type of thread for anyone looking for prefishing pointers and strategies. I feel like if you're lucky enough to get practice time before a tournament, you should make the most of it. Hopefully this thread will help some members do that. Lots of good stuff here so far, let's keep it going.

Good win guys! By the way, some guy named Burley told me he was holding a bass catching clinic in WV sometime in mid-June and you guys were the first two on the sign up sheet. Any truth to that? I may try to make it as well.

Good post Blaine. I agree 100%. Please Release Me and Catch and Release are both outstanding products. I use one of the two everytime a fish goes in my livewell. Congrats on the win by the way!

Way to go fellas!

I think any tournament, even team tournaments should only be allowed to weigh 5. It makes the competition overall, a whole lot better.

This is for boaters and non-boaters. I know the non-boaters practice can be somewhat limited but please chime in anyway. What is your plan? How did you come up with that plan? What do you do first? Etc.... Let's hear it.

Definitely interfering. Two weeks ago at a public ramp here, our weigh in was at 3pm. There is only one dock in the middle of two launching lanes so tying up somewhere and weighing your fish is not an option. Everybody (all 30 of us) had to get our boats out to weigh. We came into the very small cove where the ramp is and everyone was idling around waiting to get their boats out. I noticed only one of the two lanes was being used, causing a MAJOR backup. In the other lane was a jet-ski. Tied up right in the way and nobody around. Well, 15 minutes later, Willie Wet-suit comes boppin' down to the dock and everybody starts giving him some, well, we'll call it 'advice'. Evidently, he launched his jet ski and had to put on his wet suit in his truck and while he was doing that, he got a call on his cell phone that he just had to take. Give me a break man, the last thing you should do is launch your boat or whatever it is you ride in. Get everything together first, then launch your boat. I can understand when new boaters or older folks have a hard time getting their boats on or off the trailer and I'll often offer to help them get it done quicker but some people are just oblivious to whats going on around them and have no cares except for themselves.

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Right on. Nice lookin' fish.

#1 by far......Tombstone #2 Slapshot #3 The Longest Yard (original) (2nd one aint bad except for Michael Irvin being in it)

LOL!!

Way to go Patrick! Nice work! Is that a public lake? Private lake/pond?

Atta boy Mike! Kick 'em with the other boot! ;D

Dont let 'ol Burley fool you. He lulls the fish into a hypnotic state with his carolina rig prowess and they just cant resist his powers. He was fishing on the very back of the boat behind me (with lipless bait) and Jimzee (with spinnerbait) and was taking us to school with the c-rig. Jimzee and myself did our best but we were no match for Burley and the c-rig domination. About the lipless baits, I throw them in open areas like across points, across flats, parallel on breaklines, parallel against the bank in early spring, just anywhere I can make a really long cast. I would say grass as well but I rarely ever get to fish any grass.

What 'all' button are you talking about?

Burley can tell you where to fish lipless baits.

The females should be within sight of the beds. Just because you may not be able to see them doesn't mean they're not there or very close by. The first breakline, like Burley said is a good place to look. Turn your trolling motor way down and look way ahead of the boat. The females will sometimes just drop straight down to the bottom, just out of sight when they see/hear a trolling motor coming. Turn off your sonar too.

I agree, and sometimes I do better if I don't practice at all. Just glance at the map, ride around until I find something that looks good and go fishing. I do. There are so many variables that affect shallow fish in the spring. Deeper fish (summer, winter) aren't affected as much as shallow fish. The water temps and levels are fluctuating daily, weather is very unpredictable, water is often stained or downright muddy, fish coming in trying to spawn, fish going out, fish going everywhere but not really doing anything that an angler can key in on....this is especially true when the bucks are making beds and the females are waiting on just the right moment to move onto the bed. Sure, you can pick off buck bass all day long but I don't really consider that a 'pattern'. I'd have to say winter is the easiest, then summer. In the winter, if you find the major concentrations of shad (which isn't hard) the bass will be there. You've basically got two different baits that will catch them on almost every trip in the winter.....jigging spoon and jerkbait. Leave the rest of your tackle at home. In summer, the fish locations are very predictable but there are so many different baits and presentations that you have to weed through to get a bite. Once you start getting bites you can load the boat in a hurry though. If you can nail down that one bait and color they want, it's on!

When you prefish will you try to find a bite for different parts of the day? No, not usually. If you have a productive and successful practice you'll be on a bite good enough to last all day long. Will you look into a variety of areas so if you need to make adjustments tournament day you have a feel for those areas? Yes. Scouting 'different' areas is important whether you are trying to locate similar water to run a pattern you've discovered or just get a feel for unknown areas, like you said. Whenever I get practice time on a strange lake, I look at a map and decide which areas fit into the seasonal time frame that I'm fishing. This eliminates most of the lake. If you discover a pattern in one of your spots, the next similar spot you check should get smaller. Lets say you go into a creek and you've got 4 big creeks marked on the map to scout. In the first creek you go down a bank full of laydowns and it transitions into a rip-rap bank, then into a string of docks. You catch fish on the rip-rap but not on the laydowns or docks. Then you fish some more rip-rap banks in the same creek and catch more fish....well, the next creek you scout, you can ride right by the docks and laydowns and head straight for the rip-rap banks. Thats what I mean by your areas getting smaller. You eliminate stuff until you're down to one thing that works all day. That's what a pattern is all about. Once you've established a pattern, its always good to try to devise a back up plan in case the weather turns on you. This involves the same areas you marked on the map (because now you know fish are in there), you just have to find another way to catch them. If the weather turns it's doubtful the fish will just totally vacate the area, especially if there is deep enough water nearby. Once you get onto something (find fish) in practice, its a good idea to start switching baits, colors and presentations. It will help you fine tune your pattern.

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