Tournament Fisherman... Help!

[Gilligan]

OK we are making the big plunge and fishing an upcoming USFA tournament. My partner and I both fish walleye quite alot and know the water we are fishing, but would be nice to hear what is going to catch us by suprise on that big day from the fisherman that have been there and done that. Thanks!
PS if our competition with the Blue Lund from Binghampton is watching - - - you can't read this!

[Todd_NE]

You will find that there is no way to cover every possibility, be prepared but don't go crazy trying to do everything.

Treat the experience as a learning one and try to keep your emotions and temper under control. Tournament fishing CAN change mentalities. Some guys get ultra serious, some get mostly serious, some are mellow. No matter how much you've fished with someone, the relationship aspect in a tournament is the most important.

Work out a pre-fishing plan and a game plan for the tourney. Have fun and try to learn, the most important part is to get in the habit of FINISHING tourneys, too many guys want to leave early if they weren't successful - it's happened to me and you feel you're at the mercy of your partner, especially if they have the boat.

Some guys are good "fun" partners, not good tourney partners.

Stick to your strengths as fisherman and approach the water as if there are fish biting somewhere, and of the right size, make decisions together, and have fun.

I'm lucky to have Reelman as a partner, but we stress out too - more so when we're doing well than poorly if that makes sense. Boat control, spots to fish, how to fish all take on importance. Learn how you can make the best decisions.

I also think you need to act like a tournament fisherman in the good sense. Be professional, overly courteous, respectful, ethical, and represent your sport well. Tournament angling gets scrutiny from fellow contestants and other recreational anglers. Be the guys that make people like tournament fisherman, not despise them.

If you really want more info, do some reading. I particularly like Doug Burns and Daryl Christensen's books on fishing/PWT tourneys. Must reading for tourney guys I think.

Have FUNNNNNN!

Todd_NE

[FJH1]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-06-00 AT 10:02PM (CST)[p]I love fishing tournaments and I am fortunate to have a partner with the same mentality as myself. We have fished together for over ten years and we're both really competitive. As the other post said, some people react differently in tournaments - some get super serious and some get mellow. It's not too good if you become cut-throat serious and your partner becomes laid-back mellow. If you've fished together for some period of time you will probably know how each person is going to react to pressure.

Set a game plan the night before. My partner and I approach a tournament with a pretty well set game plan based upon our pre-fishing. For example, we'll say that we will stay on our first spot for one hour unless we catch a legal and then we'll evaluate the situation from there; are there fish here, are they good enough to win it, will better fish move in based on pre-fishing? Sometimes fish will turn-on for ten minutes and shut off for 45 minutes. If you've pre-fished and know the water pretty well you will be willing to wait out these lulls until the fish turn back on.

Make decisions TOGETHER and live by them. I have seen teams literally come to blows in the boat because they can't agree on a plan. No tournament is worth this.

Don't give up. Six weeks ago my partner and I fished a tournament with about 68 teams. The tournament ran from 7:00am to 3:00. At 12:30 we had yet to catch a legal fish. We had ran to all of our hot spots and could only pull short fish. We agreed to hit one of our first spots that we both have a high degree of confidence in. We were on fish immediately and ended up cashing a 5th place check. If one of your spots duds on you, don't give up on it - check it later on.

Approach your first tournament (and lots there after - lol) as a learning experience. You might want to fish this tournament as though you were just out for a day of fishing. You said you know this water. Do you usually catch fish? If so, you may not want to change too much. If you know spots where you usually can catch fish, you might want to wait out these spots because you have confidence in them. If you get excited and start running and gunning you may come up empty handed.

Don't get on me for this one, but observe what others are doing. I remember a tournament on the Illinois river where my partner and I were dragging around a skunk in the box. There were plenty of boats around us, but we couldn't hook a stupid fish. Several teams were bringing them in hand over fist. One boat came past us (they ultimately one the tournament) and said "how are you doing?" we replied "bad" and they replied "why?" This was a good question, WHY were we doing bad? On our next pass we observed what this team was doing different, we had been blinded by pride and too stubborn to change. We made the necessary changes based upon this teams subtle prodding and we also started putting nice fish in the boat. We didn't cash a check but we learned something even more valuable - be observent in a subtle way and don't be to stubborn. Roll with the changes.

Last of all, have fun and be SAFE.

Best Regards,

FJH

[EYE-GUIDE]

That makes me laugh remembering the first few tournaments. Here is a couple of blunders to stay away from (From experience)...
#1 Don't forget to pull up the kicker at take off, it makes for bad hole shots!
#2 Make partner take off hat, and put it between his/her legs. No turning around for hats!!!
#3 Have partner secure number placard after take off! Things leave the boat at 55 MPH!
Have fun! USFA puts on a good tournament here in MN. You will have a good time.
EYE-GUIDE

[Slow Poke]

I to will be fishing my first tourney (SWT) in 2000. I know the rules say that you must be in by 4 pm. How do they tell everyone is in on time? Do you have to check in?? If so how? Also anything else i should know about take off/weigh in. Thanks

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I'm Gilligan's partner. I've fished quite a few club bass tourneys but this will be my first walleye shindig. I think that both of us are serious about weighing fish but don't think that we'll get carried away to the point of exchanging blows (he's bigger than me). Hey Fred, it's almost time! I'll probably be hitting the lake for at least one day this weekend with a buddy, I'll try to find you on the water so we can exchange notes. I'm starting to get psyched.

[Juls_WI]

>I to will be fishing my
>first tourney (SWT) in 2000.
>I know the rules say
>that you must be in
>by 4 pm. How do
>they tell everyone is in
>on time? Do you have
>to check in?? If so
>how? Also anything else i
>should know about take off/weigh
>in. Thanks

There is usually a check-in boat on the water. Each boat is given a board with a number on it. You hold up the number as you pass the check-in boat.
I don't know how the SWT runs their tournies, but this is pretty common practice.

Juls

[Schmitty]

#1 thing to remember is to have fun.

Don't make it to be work or you will get sick of it in a hurry.

USFA puts on verry nice events and all the contestants are good fisherman so take your time and enjoy the day of fishing.
It's hard to beat a day on the water with a good friend and fishing partner it remind us why we go to work every day.

[Chad]

I have learned a cople of things.

1-Not catching fish pre fishing is OK. You have learned what not to do the day of the tournament.

2-Keep an eagle eye out. You can learn more by watching other boats catching fish. Be very observant while pre fishing.

3-You and your partner should go over a game plan the night before. Try to stick to it but also dont be afraid to stray from it if the weather and fishing conditions dictate.

4-These are "FUN" tournaments so, Dont be a jerk. We share some info with anyone. We may not tell them the exact location and presentation but we will give anyone something to go one. Maybe something like the bite has been deep? We feel everyone is here to learn and it is everyones job to help everyone else learn and have fun. It's not fun getting skunked!

5-Dont forget your rain gear. It always rains on tournamnet day!

[Competition w/ Blue Lund]

Sorry Gilligan..I peeked!

[Gilligan]

THANKS! Some great stratagies. How about some insight into the rules please. How do you select order to leave launch area? Heard of some tourneys that if you prefish an area you got squatters rights to the spot. Got disqualified once from a crappie tourney for missing a rule, hope to do better this time.

[Gilligan]

OTTA be a rule about that! :o

[Gilligan]

You can relax, partner. I assure you it won't come to blows as you are in better shape and much younger! Be careful though when you bend down to the water washing your hands off!

[Eyez]

The launch order is usually the same as the registration order. The director will split the teams up into flights, up to 50 boats per flight. The flights are staggered, so there will be different take off and return times for each flight. Pay attention to what yours is. I saw a guy get dq'd cause he came in with the wrong flight.

You won't find anything like squatters rights in USFA. It's pretty much whoever gets there first. Don't be afraid to share a spot though. In the SD division I fish, the boundaries are sometimes small enough that it's almost necessary if you want to get on fish. Just don't crowd anyone, be courteous, and observe the rules that you normally follow when fishing around other boats. At the pierre tournament this spring we had half the field all fishing within a mile of each other. And remember that non-tournament boats always have the right of way, even if there's 150 tournament trailers trying to launch, let the non-tournament guys go first.

The rules meetings are usually pretty good. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't understand, and pay attention when others do. Odds are someone else has the same question.

Oh, and one more thing. Don't be afraid to help the other guys and gals out there. These tournamets are fun, and if you want to succeed on the tournament trail, you need friends. I know of no better way to make friends than to help each other out.

Good luck and have fun!

Eyez

[Todd_NE]

How do you select order to leave launch area?

Varies - typically by flight all at once, or individual numbers where you go in order 1, 2, 3, etc.

Heard of some tourneys that if you prefish an area you got squatters rights to the spot.

Ya, sure (sarcasm lol).... And how big is the area, at anchor or trolling, how many pre-fished it, were you seen, did you see "them", did you leave a marker with your name?? It isn't ethical to crowd someone's spot unless they invite you in. If two guys are pre-fishing a point together and you see each other, I would be comfortable if the spot IS big enough to fish there. I hear stories about sharing spots and have done so myself. Fact of life is sometimes your milk run of spots will have boats on 'em when you get there - tourney or recreational guys. It happens. If you are leading or doing well in a more than one day tourney, you will generally get a crowd the second day - unfortunate, but it happens.

Read and understand the rules, know your times, limits, etc. Pay attention in the meeting and be conservative with measuring, travel time, distances to other boats.

Don't make this too hard.

Todd

[Oops....]

And don't get all wasted at the bar the nite before. This has a tendency to cause you to leave the ignition on... Right D:)
You might also want to remember to bring the NET and a few advil just in case you didn't follow my first idea!

[Eyez]

We won't even go there... I think everyone has to learn some of it the hard way... :)

[rubberjig]

MAKE SURE TO PUT THE PLUG IN!

[Lawrence and Brian Ecklor]

Although this year doesn't prove it, only three checks in seven tourneys. One thing is more important to me than anything else. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Get the maps, talk to the locals and bait shops, watch this internet thing for clues, and yes don't be afraid to sniff some exhaust in practice. Then prefish as much as you can. The water you fished yesterday or last week is different today. Guide customers are still amazed when the first couple areas we fish don't produce
and then the third or maybe fourth stop fills the boat. And "don't leave your bite" if you are catching keepers, keep catching them till ya got your five. Then go do your hog hunting. Most people dont't realize it but if you catch five walleye every week you will be pleasantly suprise at the end of the series and pick up some nice checks along the way. LAWRENCE

[jbird]

There are two techniques many tournament fisherman use.
1. The run and gun
2. stay and pray

Both have proven themselves to be quality tech. for me.
The run and gun aproach I use mainly for prefishing only spending 15-45 min at a spot. We have found that were there are one or two walleyes there are others. I don't like overfishing an area. If I catch one legal I leave the area.
I will come back later during the week to see if the walleye are still at that spot only staying 45 min at the max.
This system will help you break your water down alot.

Stay and pray is usually what we do during the tournament. Our main spot will will pound until we feel we have no hope. Usually 2-3 hours depending on the day and if we have other fish going.

I fish the winnebago system and its alot of water to cover like someone said earlier, you can't cover it all. Don't get discouraged and stick to your pattern. When I first started to fish tournaments I got burned acouple of times trying to swich in mid stride. 9 times out of 10 its not going to be in your favor.

last but not least have fun and make new friends.
jbird