Tournament pre-fishing strategy

Let me state right up front that I DO NOT TOURNAMENT FISH! Got nothing against it, admire people that do, but just too much like work for me. My question is: why would you catch, keep and cut the sides off of a bunch of fish right before a tournament, especially the larger ones that might be caught again and go toward helping your total weight in the tournament. I always thought the reason to pre-fish was to find fish locations, patterns, techniques and bait preference in preparation of how to fish in the tournament. If you need fish to eat, why not keep the smaller ones? Enlighten me please.

U are exactly right! !!! BRM and I fish several tournaments a year the days we pre fishing all fish are returned to be caught again. If we catch 3 or 4 in that area we will move on to another spot !!!!! Our thing is KEEP THEM ON FRIDAY U CAN'T CATCH THEM ON SATURDAY !!!!!

I have heard that one strategy is to go fish areas that you know your competitors fish and catch the fish out of that area and relocate them or keep them so that they can not weight them in. I am not speaking from experience, just what I have heard speculated.

Good question. I dont hit em real hard right before a tournament. If a spot is producing good fish I will catch two or three, toss em back and get outta dodge. I may keep some smaller ones for the grease. This rarely works out for me tho. They never cooperate for me on game day. Thats prolly just because I caint feesh tho!

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Originally Posted by D10

I have heard that one strategy is to go fish areas that you know your competitors fish and catch the fish out of that area and relocate them or keep them so that they can not weight them in. I am not speaking from experience, just what I have heard speculated.

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Hogwash. With the pressure the lakes have today it's a rare thing to find a SECRET spot. Usually all the boats find the best spots and fish close to each other. No way can a team fish out a competitors spot. Jerry and I concentrate on OUR spots, and what WE do, not someone else's. It's always a horse race as to who catches the bigger fish. It's not about numbers at a tourney, it's about 7 bigger fish than anyone else.

i used to catch and release all fish when prefishing but in my opinion and speaking from past experience it has never helped me to release em and catch next day, never works that way, find an area they are using keep a few or release em and move on, just dont over fish the areas that are producing the big ones and it wont hurt thing to catch em before the tourney

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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

Hogwash. With the pressure the lakes have today it's a rare thing to find a SECRET spot. Usually all the boats find the best spots and fish close to each other. No way can a team fish out a competitors spot. Jerry and I concentrate on OUR spots, and what WE do, not someone else's. It's always a horse race as to who catches the bigger fish. It's not about numbers at a tourney, it's about 7 bigger fish than anyone else.

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It may not happen or it may happen. I would imaging that it would be more effective in smaller lakes than larger Corps lakes. But I agree with you Bill. An angler would be better served to concentrate on finding fish for themselves, rather than trying to disrupt the plans of a fellow competitor.

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Originally Posted by D10

It may not happen or it may happen. I would imaging that it would be more effective in smaller lakes than larger Corps lakes. But I agree with you Bill. An angler would be better served to concentrate on finding fish for themselves, rather than trying to disrupt the plans of a fellow competitor.

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If the crappie population is large enough in a lake to hold a tourney, I seriously doubt that any one team could hurt someone else's chances. How many fish come out of the pool at Conway each year? Some know it better and either catch more or bigger fish, but NOBODY is going to fish it out. [emoji57]

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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

If the crappie population is large enough in a lake to hold a tourney, I seriously doubt that any one team could hurt someone else's chances. How many fish come out of the pool at Conway each year? Some know it better and either catch more or bigger fish, but NOBODY is going to fish it out. [emoji57]

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Good point Bill. I that I know is that I worry about having a good time and catching some fish and not what everyone else is doing. Wish I had more time to fish a few more tournaments though. :)

I am with Crappie Greg and CMJ on this. I also know some real good fisherman, (ain't mentioning any names) who will keep a cooler full of Big Uns just before and consistently go right back on Tourney day and do very well. In todays tourneys like Bill said most spots are known, and if you throw back that 2 lber who says one of your competitors isn't going to catch it.

In pre-fishing I am looking for an area that will produce winning fish weather I keep them or not. And so far this year it has not paid off either way but I will keep trying and maybe one day I will hit the Jackpot.

I don't tourney fish either (I ain't quitting at weigh in time, sorry! :))...........But, this raises a question I've had for years.

How many danged crappie ARE there in good crappie producing lakes? Seems almost unbelievable the numbers that come out of some waters, and all adult fish. IF these were Bass and we were eating them, Bassmasters and I Dunno Whoelse would be trying to crucify us. So, crappie are clearly different. But.........just how many are there??????????????????????? How many is enough???????????

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Originally Posted by Cmj

Thats prolly just because I caint feesh tho!

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Originally Posted by Buckrub

I don't tourney fish either (I ain't quitting at weigh in time, sorry! :))...........But, this raises a question I've had for years.

How many danged crappie ARE there in good crappie producing lakes? Seems almost unbelievable the numbers that come out of some waters, and all adult fish. IF these were Bass and we were eating them, Bassmasters and I Dunno Whoelse would be trying to crucify us. So, crappie are clearly different. But.........just how many are there??????????????????????? How many is enough???????????

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Catch and release isn't working on the bass in Sardis. Ain't nothing like it used to be, and nobody eats the green carp there, they throw em back. Don't know where they went.

As far as crappie, there has to be millions of em D10 should have a better perspective of that.

Im not sure why Bass is any different than Crappie when it comes to catch and release. They spawn WAY more eggs than a Crappie, and predation has to be somewhat lower with Bass than Crappie. Angler harvest, to a certain degree, is good for Crappie populations. Why not Bass?

I dont know how many crappie come out of Lake Nimrod, but seems not enough.. If I catch 10 crappie on Dardanelle, 8 will be keepers and 2 of those 8 will be nice ones, 2 will be throwbacks. At Nimrod, if I catch 10 crappie 5 will be too small to keep and 4 of the others will be just barely big enough to fillet= maybe one 12 incher. I am no crappie pro, but looks like you would accidently catch some decent fish ocassionaly on lake Nimrod.( Yes, I know Nimrod catches 12 inchers consitantly, but I am talking about the normal fisherman) I know some do, but the odds are against you at Lake Nimrod. I think the crappie are over-populated and stunted..

After the CACA record catch at Dardanelle this past weekend, I think you know where to go for quality fish in the springtime. I just wonder where they go the rest of the year??

I wonder if D 10 can shed some lite on crappie surverys on those 2 lakes as far as numbers and age structure.....

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Originally Posted by goblerblaster

I dont know how many crappie come out of Lake Nimrod, but seems not enough.. If I catch 10 crappie on Dardanelle, 8 will be keepers and 2 of those 8 will be nice ones, 2 will be throwbacks. At Nimrod, if I catch 10 crappie 5 will be too small to keep and 4 of the others will be just barely big enough to fillet= maybe one 12 incher. I am no crappie pro, but looks like you would accidently catch some decent fish ocassionaly on lake Nimrod.( Yes, I know Nimrod catches 12 inchers consitantly, but I am talking about the normal fisherman) I know some do, but the odds are against you at Lake Nimrod. I think the crappie are over-populated and stunted..

After the CACA record catch at Dardanelle this past weekend, I think you know where to go for quality fish in the springtime. I just wonder where they go the rest of the year??

I wonder if D 10 can shed some lite on crappie surverys on those 2 lakes as far as numbers and age structure.....

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I can tell you why most people dont catch lots of quality fish on Nimrod. It has a gazillion dink Crappie in it and you can catch em just about anywhere you drop a jig or minnow. The "normal fisherman," as you call us, will begin catching these fish and assume we are on the correct pattern, spot, etc. At the end of the day we may or may not end up with a decent mess. But just like any other lake, the bigger fish on Nimrod will be in certain areas, on a certain pattern, and you have to figure out what/where it is. Nimrod does so well there because he has fished it enough to know every pattern in the book, and that if he starts catching dinks right away, then its time to move.

I will keep whatever I catch pre fishing if I need some to eat if not I throw them back just like I do when I'm fun fishing. When the freezer is full no need in bringing any more home. The only diff between pre fishing and fun fishing I won't fish a spot as long I catch a couple real good fish off to the next spot till I can put a few spots together of good fish.

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Originally Posted by goblerblaster

I wonder if D 10 can shed some lite on crappie surverys on those 2 lakes as far as numbers and age structure.....

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Not in my district but I will try to get some info tomorrow.