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Pre Fishing
I have a buddy tourney this Saturday and will be pre-fishing a few hours
tomorrow a.m and Friday a.m. I did this tourney last year and we put up with
the snickers and jeers of "Those Fancy Rigged Bass Boys" for riding in "My
Wife's bathtub" as they called it. We finished 7th out of 22 teams.Question: I have not done too much prefishing for tourney's, On small lakes
would it be better to just rig up without a hook to see what the bass are
going after without hooking them? Any pre-fishing I've ever done I always
hooked the fish, But with this lake being an electric only very small lake I
am thinking otherwise. These may sound like stupid questions but I really do
not know. I would love to place in this tourney on the same 9 foot 6 inch
bathtub that we took out last year with the cooler for a livewell. Any
suggestions? Idea's? Regards, |
alwaysfishking
Jun 23
2004
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| If you already know the lake well, and considering how much you fish
currently, I wouldn't bother the fish with pre-fishing. You'll be on them
when the time comes. No sense in spooking them with what you might be using
in the tourney. My two cents... |
Andrew
Jun 23
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| >currently, I wouldn't bother the fish with pre-fishing. You'll be on them |
Thundercat
Jun 24
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| Harry said it in a mouthfull. My bass are stupid, these bass include
smallies, different lake that I'm not use to fishing and fish that are under
heavy pressure daily |
alwaysfishking
Jun 23
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| Well then... That's a horse of a different color! :-) As I see it, pre-fishing can be done, but I wouldn't load the boat like you
might in a normal day of fishing. If you decide to fish, just don't hammer a
spot after you catch one. Move on. Maybe try the pattern on one additional
similar spot, then move on to another bait and presentation and see if you
catch more. I have pre-fished with Brad Coovert, from the group, before,
and he is really good at not molesting his fish, once he's found them. It
can be hard to resist that temptation!!! |
Andrew
Jun 24
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| personally, if the lake is as small as you make it sound, I would go out,
but I wouldn't fish at all. I would check the quality of weeds, life on
different structure. You can really figure out a lot by observing without
ever really even seeing a "bass". If you understand their habits, and
you have experience catching fish there, then I wouldn't chance hooking
a fish that could mean the difference between a check and a donation. Good luck! Chris |
Chris
Jun 24
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| IMO, pre-fish your lake, regardless of size. You will learn a lot about the
lake, structure, cover, water and fish without ever setting the hook. I
usually catch a fish or two, but will stop hooking fish and then will just fish
for bites to find a pattern OR just motor around looking for similar spots. It
really helps to learn about a lake. If you can sacrifice baits such as spinnerbaits and jigs, make some prefish
tools. Cut the hook points off OR cover them with hard plastic tubing if you
don't want to do that. You will feel the strikes, but will will not hook the
fish. If you're fishing plastics, turn the hook point down with pliers or bury
it deep into the bait to avoid hooking the fish. I've gotten fish all the way
to the boat without ever hooking them...they just would not let go of the bait! If you're pressed for time and have little time to prefish, you may just want
to motor around and look at what the lake has, but getting some bites will
really help you narrow down your search for fish. Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com |
sweepers
Jun 25
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| Thanks for the advice guys. I'll let you know how we do in the tourney |
alwaysfishking
Jun 25
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