sort of hypothetical, since a lot will change between now and tournament time, but wanted to get the views of some of the knowledgable people on the board.  I have a tournament in a couple weeks on the Mississippi River and was out prefishing this weekend and also went out one day the weekend before.  Had some really good success, but got myself to a point that I don't know how I would approach tournament day.

 

Think it will take about 14 lbs/day for 2 days to win, unless someone has 2 exceptional days in a row (very possile), so that is my goal.  That being said, I reaaaally need to have limits both days to have a chance in the final standings. 

 

Prefishing I found one area with the right fish and had 13-14 lbs on my best 5 (out of 6 keepers) from that area, but I fished it pretty hard to get those fish and I don't think I could pull a limit out of there 2 days in a row.  I found one other spot with lots of fish, but mostly the aggrevating kind (1/4-1/2 inch short of a keeper) and a few nicer ones mixed in. This second spot is a little ditch next to a flat thats full of bait fish, with a deep hole right next to it.  I had 8-10 fish (3 keepers) in 20-30 minutes the first time I fished it, but only one keeper and one short when I fished it for about an hour this weekend.  To add to the confusion, I caught 2 1/2- 3 pound fish in 6 or so other spots, but they were the only keeper fish I could get in those areas.

 

Like i said, a lot will chnge between now and then, and I plan to get back out once or twice more and look at some new water/check to see if those fish are around.  Assuming the tournament was this coming weekend, how would you approach?

 

My thoughts were that day 1 starting in the first spot is an absolute must and hopefully the same number and kind of fish are there day 1, but what to do on day 2?  Do you grind it out and hope for the good bites in the creek, or start there and abandon the spot to run and gun the others, knowing that most of them are not hidden or in unusual spots, so many of those areas may have been fished hard on day 1?  I'm sure there would be other ways to approach it, but those are the 2 options that crossed my mind as I was thinking about it yesterday.

In my opinion if you have even remotely decent competition you better go wherever you think you can put a good bag together. I dont know what that fishery is capable of, but my tournament this weekend, if you dont have 15lbs you wont even make a check and this is in the highly pressured NE and PA of all places. Most people would think 15lbs should win it this time of year but dont for a second doubt someone bringing 20+. Ive personally never had a bag like that, if I break 10lbs I feel like I have done ok but in reality thats only a 2lb average. Why waste time weeding through 50 fish to come in with not enough weight, if you know those big fish arent there, dont bother.

Go with #1

I need to back peddle a tad. If this is a points race then you must bring in 5 of any size

I need to back peddle a tad. If this is a points race then you must bring in 5 of any size

That was my biggest problem. I'm normally not a person to "waste" time looking for 5 average keepers if I know a spot with good fish. Much more likely to bring 2 good fish to the weigh in than 5 small ones. Being a points race though, I may approach this one differently.

Either way, we're a couple weeks from tournament time yet so I'll probably (hopefully?) have a better overall idea of what my plan is as I get a little more time on the water.

Pre-fishing too far ahead can cause you to fish "memories" instead of current conditions, something that's always tempting especially when the pressure is on and you start to panic a little. If you think you can pick up a quick limit then look to cull, why not. If you expect to struggle for a limit you might as well go big or go home. 

Pre-fishing too far ahead can cause you to fish "memories" instead of current conditions, something that's always tempting especially when the pressure is on and you start to panic a little. If you think you can pick up a quick limit then look to cull, why not. If you expect to struggle for a limit you might as well go big or go home. 

Agree completely here ...

 

I always focus on getting my limit and then cull my way up.