In the early days of competitive fishing there were a certain few who excelled; a handful of pros who were always in the winner’s circle. Below these few, on the ladder of fishing excellence, was a mass of individuals who were soaking up every tidbit of information that drifted down through the ranks or that was put into ink. Of course, the cream still rises to the top, but there is a whole lot more cream in the urn of professional fishermen nowadays than there used to be. The average weekend fisherman is more knowledgeable and better equipped than the pros of yesterday.

What this means, is that in every level of competition, whether it be pro tournaments, or in local club tournaments, there are now many excellent fishermen out there who have the capability of winning any tournament that they enter, on any given day. In other words, the level of competition is a lot higher than it used to be. This being the case, anyone who expects to do well in tournaments on a consistent basis cannot afford to leave anything to circumstance. There are many variables in the course of a day’s fishing that we have no control over… but there are variables that we can control if we use a little forethought and preparation. In short, learn to control the controllables.

Equipment

Keep your tow vehicle in good running order. A major breakdown on the road to the lake will not only cause delays in getting to the lake but will generally cost more than if it were to be fixed before it breaks. Delays infringe on valuable practice time and will have a negative influence on your mental attitude toward your game plan.

The boat trailer is a “behind the scenes” item of equipment that suffers a lot of negligence in maintenance. It is the vehicle that transports your boat to and from the lake, but above that, your boat spends much more time on the trailer than on the lake. More boats are damaged on the trailer while being transported to and from the lake than they are while on the water. Check the bunkers frequently for rotting and for bolts that have vibrated loose. Check the bearings at least every twenty thousand miles and repack them at least once per fishing season. Verify that the trailer lights are in good working order each time you hook up to the trailer.

Select a boat that is fishable. I am continually amazed to see folks trying to compete in boats that are totally unsuited for competition in layout and design.

Electricity and water do not mix. As a result, the electrical system is the one area of your boat that will probably give you the most trouble over the years and require the most maintenance. Oxidation of electrical connections can be reduced by cleaning the connections with a wire brush and applying a good oxidation inhibitor at least once a year. Oxidation inhibitor can be purchased at most any electrical supply. Start with the battery connections and work out, brushing or scraping all electrical contact surfaces and applying the inhibitor. Don’t overlook the trolling motor plug, depth finder connectors, and fuse blocks.

Some tournaments refuse to weigh dead fish. Others penalize your total weight for fish brought to the scales DOA. Make sure that your boat has a good aeration system in it’s livewells and be sure that they are in good working order. Weight is too hard to come by and you certainly don’t need your weight penalized by having dead fish. Aside from your personal loss, you owe it to your draw partner to have your equipment in good shape so that he takes no penalties. If you support catch and release, the other benefits are obvious.

Carry a spare of every thing. Carry a spare trolling motor prop, shear pins, and shaft nut. Have a spare prop for your big engine as well as an extra thrust washer and nut. Bringing all this extra hardware along will do you no good if you don’t have the proper tools or the knowledge of how to use them. Be a good boy scout, “Be Prepared.”

Be a good house keeper. You will perform much more efficiently in the tournament if everything is in it’s place. If you don’t have to dig and hunt for a particular lure or skirt or whatever, you can go right to the item, re-rig, and be back fishing much more quickly. Strive for efficiency. Strewn and scattered fishing rods cause tangles, get broken, and get in the way when landing fish. If you are not using all those rods, stow them. If you must keep them out on the deck, keep them laying in order and in their place with the tips inside the gunwale. Rods sticking outside the boat get hung up on brush, docks, and other objects or are otherwise in the way.

Give your rods and reels a good inspection prior to tournament time. Make sure that the guides are in good repair. The oxide rings inside the guide on our modern rod are extremely hard and abrasion resistant. On the down side, occasionally they will crack. This small break is almost impossible to see without close examination, yet if not found will almost certainly damage your line upon fighting a fish. A real easy way to detect these cracks is to pass a Q-tip cotton swab through the eyelet, rubbing it around the circumference of the ring. Any rough spots will readily snag the swab as a dead give away to potential problems.

Organize lures in tackle boxes according to type and purpose. In other words put shallow cranks with shallow cranks, spinners with spinners, topwaters with topwaters, etc. so that you don’t have to rummage through several different areas in finding a particular bait. Planomakes a variety of small organizer boxes with various sized compartments that do a great job of keeping hooks, sinkers, split rings and the like in order. Label boxes with labeling tape or a permanent marker so that you know what is inside each box without having to look.

Physical Preparation

Competitive angling is physically demanding. The individual who thinks that fishing is a passive sport, has never fished as one must, to find himself in the winner’s circle. Most professional tournaments consist of two practice days and two or three days of actual competition. Just being on the water for the duration of the tournament, battling the heat of summer, the cold of winter, the wind, and the rain, is physically gruelling.

Anglers are sometimes required to travel eighty to one hundred miles, one way, by boat in weather conditions that destroy equipment and give the body a brutal beating.

Standing on the deck of a bass boat, while maintaining a competitive level of concentration for five days, under the best conditions, requires a lot of physical stamina. Just as in track and field events, the participant who is better conditioned has an edge over their opponents. The angler who is physically fit will make more casts per day and will fish more efficiently than the angler who has not spent time in the local gym playing racquet ball or jogging. In addition to the obvious effects, an angler that is physically exhausted will have a much lower level of concentration on his fishing.

Spend some of those long winter nights lifting weights to condition the arms and wrist for better rod handling. Play racquet ball or tennis to develop quick hand reflexes. Ride a stationary bicycle, walk, or jog to build up legs and knees for long days standing on the deck of a bass boat. As fishing time gets near, especially in hot weather, spend as much time out of doors as possible to condition your body to the heat. Work in the yard, mow the lawn with a push mower instead of a riding mower, and avoid air conditioning. By doing this, the heat will have much less impact on your fishing during the heat of the summer.

Get plenty of rest. Fishing days start early in the day and by the time boats are refueled, batteries charged, reels respooled, and lures tied on, the evening is wearing on. Leave that partying to off season, you will not perform to your full potential if you have not had enough rest.

Mental Preparation

Fish the tournament, mentally, prior to getting to the lake. Make a phone call or two to find out general information about the lake. Try to ascertain things like whether the lake is high, low or normal level, if the lake is clear or muddy, or if maybe there has been an abnormal amount of rain. Don’t try to find specific information like certain areas to fish. I have found that you don’t get the truth very often, and even when you do that, a person is seldom ever successful trying to fish someone else’s pattern. Get general information, things that will aid you in establishing your own patterns.

Based on seasonal patterns, study your map for areas that should hold fish. Try to select small areas that have several representative types of structure and cover in them so that patterns can be established.

Establish a game plan for your practice time. Try to have a good idea what steps you are going to take in eliminating water, so that you can transform a game plan for practice time into a game plan for tournament time. Plan your practice time carefully because tournaments are won or lost during practice. Invest practice time wisely because your performance in practice will have a direct bearing on how well or poorly you will do in the tournament.

Whenever an individual attempts to do something better than anyone else, there is a certain amount of preparation involved. Tournament fishing is no different. How well an individual performs in competition is directly related to how much time and effort has been put into preparation before tournament time. Prepare to win.