Me and a friend are fishing our first bass tournament next Sunday. It's the first of 8 that we will do over the next 6 months. Even though there isn't a lot of money on the line, we're still a little worried about throwing up a goose egg at the weigh-in. Anyone have any tips to maximize our time on the water? We spent the weekend on the lake and found a small pattern to go on.
Know what to use when and fish your butt off. The successful teams are the ones who are willing to dedicate a lot of time and effort to the tournament. If it's possible, fish the lake the day before.
Coffeen Lake. It's one of Illinois power plant lakes, but the plant isn't running, and the bite is tough. We caught them on traps and chatterbaits today.
I fished that lake once with my dad and his best friend who was a like a Godfather to me. I will try to call my Dad to see if he remembers the exact location, but we hit the lake around March and fished the submerged stumps with Carolina Rigged Lizards in Motor Oil. I remember that we also used small rattling beads that were pushed into the lizards. The area we fished was not that far from where we launched from what I remember. Larry has won tournaments on every darn lake down that way but he is no longer with us That day we all caught a limit of fish and in typical Larry fashion we let them go when we came in to trailer the boat.
I think we also used pumkinseed lizards.....I will call my Dad tomorrow if I remember, the old goat never forgets what was used and where we fished. PM me the other lakes you are fishing, my Dad and Larry won a lot of MidWest Bass tournaments down that way in the 90's before dad moved to Bull Shoals area near Flippin, AR.
I fished tournaments exclusively for about four years. when I practiced I would not spend more than 30 mins on one location if I didn't have a pattern. If I had a pattern I would spend the day trying to replicate it across the lake, or trying to find a secondary pattern in case the first shutdown on me. Hope this helps
Stick to your pattern...if you desire so you can go to my fishing buddies website Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club forum...post your question there and those guys will help you out greatly! http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...5f32DQ&usg=AFQjCNHlgs9AJRABr-xgp_-GSiSa6gwp2Q
I just got a new bass boat in the fall and joined a fishing club this year for the first time and also have my first tournament in a few weeks. It's pretty exciting, but it also makes me a little nervous at the same time. They're also starting to move shallow and eat traps and shallow cranks pretty good around here, which is good, but it means you're not going to be the only one catching them. I think the hardest thing for me is going to be knowing when to leave biting fish that may not be the size you need to start looking for the right bites. Good luck!
But, try fishing flats with stumps with suspended jerkbaits, or if the water is cold like it should be, fish a lipless crankbait and spinners.
I use to fish the BFL circuit. Guy I work with is almost pro now. If you have any rock banks or jetties with wind blowing on to them crankbait the crap out of it. Also as Someone said before if you know ho to use a Carolina rig they are deadly on flats and points. I also always had a medium sized spinning reel set up with 8lb test and a lizard rigged like a texas rig. Those are awesome for stumps an brush piles. Now days the new craze is the "Alabama rig" don't know if it's legal for you to use or now. Couple circuits have began to outlaw them. Good luck!
You may also want to try this rig if they don't make it illegal to use. As they have done on the FLW and Bass Masters Tournament.
one trick I learned if the bite is tough and you have stumps or laydowns etc. take a weightless Trick worm and work it like you would a senko, cast or flip it to the structure and let it free fall on slack line, very important to watch your line for the strike, the smaller profile and slow fall will entice the lockjaws to eat when it is right in front of their nose. I have truned a bad day into a check using this little trick
Scott, Talked to my Dad, turns out that his best bud Larry worked at Coffeen. Pops said to stick to the Northwest area of the lake and throw a Carolina rigged lizard on any submerged stumps, points, etc. Green Pumkinseed and Watermelon were their two best colors with some success using red shad as well. They also did ok with Rattle Traps, Texas rigged Lizards and Jibs on structure. He said make sure you find water that is at least 50-55 degrees and he was surprised they were fully shut down. If you fish Shelbyville, Clinton, Rend or Clinton let me know as well. My dad won several tournaments on Shelbyville and I fished with a guy on Rend that won the Midwest Bass Classic.
Find a pattern...For example, tree tops in 20+ft of water, sunny shore line with rocks, up in tight on the trees. Repeat and cover as much water as you can. If you find a good school of fish do NOT leave them if they stop biting stay close and keep rotating back in they will likely turn on and off. Dont get stuck on one bait if its not working try something else! Hope this helps just a little off the top of my head.
How many boats will be in the tournament? Do you have a lake contour map that you can scan/share with us? What are your current water temps? I looked it up online, and it's apparently 1,100 acres. I can't find a publicly available contour map, but maybe you already have one. If not, get one for every water you plan on fishing, whether it's paper based or electronic. On a small lake like this, it's going to be critical to find a handful of good spots where you can duplicate a pattern because if you don't get to your spot first (likely when there are limited spots and a lot of boats) your going to be fishing leftovers. Get me the answers to the above questions and I'll do my best to help you........if you can get me a lake map I can probably help you a lot more.
