Essentials

Don't sweat it too much. Just have a decent base and figure it out once you get there. You won't need to start the season with a thousand cranks. Start out with many of the common ones. Rapalas, Frenzies, Reef Runners, Maybe a few Kabooms. Folks on the internet will give you a hard time when you ask questions like this because they hold professional anglers to some lofty expectations. Pros are just normal guys/gals just like anyone else. If an angler wants to pay the entries they can be called a pro too. We all learned by asking questions. So ask away, you'll find enough good advice to get you pointed in the right direction. I would also post questions focused on the individual waters themselves in reference to what may be needed. That way you'll be able to narrow it down a little. Good luck in your first tour of duty.

[Chad]

Some advise.....Keep it simple.

Moke sure you have lures that cover the various depths. Shallow, medium and deep.

Then make sure you have some different shapes and the basic colors.

Dont get caught up on the color thing. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th consideration to make after Depth, Size, Action, etc....

It's funny how you'll hear guys on the tourney stage say if you didn't have on an xyz in orage you could not get bit and then the next guy says it was an ABC in blue.


ChadM

[Chad]

Some advise.....Keep it simple.

Moke sure you have lures that cover the various depths. Shallow, medium and deep.

Then make sure you have some different shapes and the basic colors.

Dont get caught up on the color thing. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th consideration to make after Depth, Size, Action, etc....

It's funny how you'll hear guys on the tourney stage say if you didn't have on an xyz in orage you could not get bit and then the next guy says it was an ABC in blue.


ChadM

[bdirks]

Getting info from professional fishermen/women once you declare that you will competeing against them is like trying to get blood from a Turnip. Good luck. If you did some research on the web alone and on this site alone you will get some good answers to you question. Remember a few days ago, someone asked about the "slow death rig"? The response to the question included commentary on its beginnings, on the Missouri River System, especially Lake Oahe. It told you the components, a sinker or bouncer, a leader, and a gold Tru-turn Aberdeen hook or the new Mustad "Slow Death" hook, plus crawlers. They even gave you the speed of .3-.5 mph. Gary Parsons even commented and added that he plus a bunch of othe pro's used it on Bull Shoals, including the winner. You could also look in the past issues of the FLW Walleye magazine to see that Shannon Kiehl(sp?) a pro from ND and a frequent angler on the Missouri River system, said that he thinks you can always find walleye in 15 ft of water in reservoirs, not just those on the Missouri River, almost year round. His bait of choice was a bottom bouncer and an Aberdeen hook with a half a crawler. Also, a few years ago Nick Johnson won the FLW event on Bull Shoals casting Rainbow Trout colored stickbaits. I know that Mark Courts won Mobridge a couple years ago in the hot summer heat pulling "Mooneye" colored Ripshads. Also, on todays NextBite episode C Parsons and K were fishing north of Mobridge using double stacked Gulp minnows on a jig. Now unless you have your head in the sand you also know that the huge problem on the Missouri River Chain is low water. Their old forage base was Smelt but with low water levels comes higher water temps, bad for Smelt but good for Shad. I am no "pro" but I found that information in 2 minutes on the web.

[bdirks]

Getting info from professional fishermen/women once you declare that you will competeing against them is like trying to get blood from a Turnip. Good luck. If you did some research on the web alone and on this site alone you will get some good answers to you question. Remember a few days ago, someone asked about the "slow death rig"? The response to the question included commentary on its beginnings, on the Missouri River System, especially Lake Oahe. It told you the components, a sinker or bouncer, a leader, and a gold Tru-turn Aberdeen hook or the new Mustad "Slow Death" hook, plus crawlers. They even gave you the speed of .3-.5 mph. Gary Parsons even commented and added that he plus a bunch of othe pro's used it on Bull Shoals, including the winner. You could also look in the past issues of the FLW Walleye magazine to see that Shannon Kiehl(sp?) a pro from ND and a frequent angler on the Missouri River system, said that he thinks you can always find walleye in 15 ft of water in reservoirs, not just those on the Missouri River, almost year round. His bait of choice was a bottom bouncer and an Aberdeen hook with a half a crawler. Also, a few years ago Nick Johnson won the FLW event on Bull Shoals casting Rainbow Trout colored stickbaits. I know that Mark Courts won Mobridge a couple years ago in the hot summer heat pulling "Mooneye" colored Ripshads. Also, on todays NextBite episode C Parsons and K were fishing north of Mobridge using double stacked Gulp minnows on a jig. Now unless you have your head in the sand you also know that the huge problem on the Missouri River Chain is low water. Their old forage base was Smelt but with low water levels comes higher water temps, bad for Smelt but good for Shad. I am no "pro" but I found that information in 2 minutes on the web.

[tj1n]

bdirks...is giving you some good info.

Another couple ways to gain the knowledge on unfamiliar waters is to:

1. Contact the DNR /G&F for the area.
2. Look for more localized fishing websites, such as: http://southdakota-outdoors.com (Mobridge) for the locations you'll be fishing. You'll find the locals more willing to share general info.
3. Contact the baitshops in the areas you'll be competing.
4. Find a local that might be interested in prefishing with you and contact them well in advance to help the info search and or provide upfront info.

Don't worry about people giving you grief...for this or that.
Continue to ASK QUESTIONS and look outside the box. The guys/gals that put in the time and effort reap the rewards.

Travis J

[tj1n]

bdirks...is giving you some good info.

Another couple ways to gain the knowledge on unfamiliar waters is to:

1. Contact the DNR /G&F for the area.
2. Look for more localized fishing websites, such as: http://southdakota-outdoors.com (Mobridge) for the locations you'll be fishing. You'll find the locals more willing to share general info.
3. Contact the baitshops in the areas you'll be competing.
4. Find a local that might be interested in prefishing with you and contact them well in advance to help the info search and or provide upfront info.

Don't worry about people giving you grief...for this or that.
Continue to ASK QUESTIONS and look outside the box. The guys/gals that put in the time and effort reap the rewards.

Travis J

Thanks for the input guys, it's appreciated.

[Stacker1]

Waht circuit are going to fish? How many other tournaments have you fished?

The only compition is the fish.
If you can beat them the rest is easy.
Shad Raps reef runners and floating rapala's should do you fine.