Do you feel you’re ready for your first fishing tournament but would find it helpful to understand exactly what’s asked of you? Help is here! Many anglers compete against one another in these tournaments, and the most common one is Bass fishing tournaments, as they are available to fish for almost everywhere.
Rules and regulations
The first thing you must understand is every tournament has its rules and regulations you cannot be lenient towards. Prepare yourself with the knowledge of the rules so you do not get disqualified and can also strategize effectively within the given parameters. The fishing rules could include:
The size of the fish and which fish to catch specifically
Permitted fishing gear and methods
It’s procedures and times
Boundaries of the areas you’re allowed to fish in
As for local fishing rules :
- Must have the important license requirements
- Catching limits and the seasons you can fish in
- Know which areas are restricted
Many tournaments follow the International Game Fish Association rules (IGFA), so you should be aware of their points.
Fishing reports
Keep an eye on the online fishing reports and popular fishing areas on the tournament spot, especially if it’s a lake or water body you haven’t been on for a long time or ever. Studying fishing reports is helpful because some reports specifically reveal what type of structure or areas the fish are staging on. After learning them you can look at your contour maps, find the major creeks, and decide where to start. Knowing the weather forecast will give you an idea of what to wear and might even indicate how the fish will behave in that weather. You can use weather apps to your advantage when preparing for the tournament. With rain and wind in the forecast, you can use a fishing rain suit to stay warm and comfortable.
Game plan
Once you are aware of the location and conditions of the tournament, you must start your strategy on how you should successfully play out in the tournament. This can be done by studying the maps and charts, reviewing the updated fishing reports, being aware of the weather forecast and water temperatures, and identifying potential fishing spots. To familiarise yourself more with the tournament, check if you will be allowed to fish in that area’s water body. Understand the area, experiment with different techniques and baits, identify the spots where schools of fish rest, pay attention to how the fishes change their behavior throughout the day and keep detailed notes on them, and finally, practice which techniques can help you in catching more fish. Doing all these can help you boost your confidence and your abilities. This could be gathering information about the tournament by pre-fishing.
Backup plan
During your pre-fishing, you should also find alternatives that may help you during the tournament if your primary spots are occupied, weather conditions change, or what other techniques you could employ if your main technique isn’t helping. Keep your gear back ready with multiple gears such as rods, reels, lines, and, of course, various sorts of baits and lures. Make sure to keep your boat in top-notch condition, and always check the machinery or boat equipment so they don’t fail you in the middle of the tournament. Keep a backup trolling motor, spare props for your boat motor, and additional batteries for electronics. Conduct a thorough inspection of the engine, fuel level, trolling motor, fish finders, and GPS units. Most anglers may forget this part, but always sharpen your hooks, as a dull hook can lose you a fish or two. Who doesn’t love an organized set? Surely organize your tackle box for easy access during the tournament.
The big day
All your preparation comes down to your performance on the tournament day. Try to reach the as early as possible to the tournament site with plenty of time on your hands; double all your equipment and review your game plan, but be ready to adjust if conditions change. Manage your time effectively by knowing when to move to the right fishing spots, which you should know from your pre-tournament practices. If you have a fishing buddy with you, remember to have clear communication with them as it could be of great advantage, and a tip would be to use technology like satellite texting devices to stay updated on conditions and different strategies. Doing one tournament easily prepares you for the next and upcoming plans to participate in more as you will have ideas and strategies from the first competition; you can also learn from past mistakes and avoid them in your future tournaments.
Something to remember
Your mental and physical health also plays a big role in this. Be sure to eat well before the tournament and get plenty of sleep the night before so nothing can distract you from focusing on the swimmers you’re going to target the next day. Stay hydrated and practice proper sun protection to avoid fatigue. Exercise regularly to build stamina for long days on the water, and this should be practiced from your pre-tournament days, which in turn could easily become a habit for the big day to come. Tournament fishing requires making numerous decisions, and getting enough sleep in the days leading up to the tournament can help you make the right decisions, as fishing and strategizing require mental toughness. Another way to help you from making mistakes on the water is retying all your lures and putting new lines on your reels before the competition. This means you won’t have to spend valuable time re-spooling your reels. This practice doesn’t need to be done every day, but be mindful that there is enough strong line on your reels to last throughout the long tournament days. Once your line becomes hard and brittle, causing it to lose abrasion resistance and flexibility- it’s time for a line replacement.
Higher priced products are generally most abrasion-resistant which you’d need for success on the water. With restful nights of sleep and your equipment ready for anything, all that’s left to do is hit the water.