Practice Does Not Make Perfect By Bernard Williams

All too often anglers take to the waters on tournament day with an “Ideal Game Plan”, only to find conditions have drastically changed from their pre-fishing / practice days. Then panic sets in and they freak out. “What am I going to do? The fish were all over here yesterday; where have they gone?” I’m here to tell you that nothing should be set in stone. Sometimes it’s best not to have a game plan and just go fishing. Treat tournament day like it’s a practice day and take away the pressure. I know that’s easier said than done; however if you follow along with my writing it may just cause you to refocus on the moment at hand.



Pre-Fishing and Tournament Fishing

I’m more interested in getting a clear picture of what the fish are doing today rather than what they were doing during pre-fishing. What I mean is, sure I want to find the fish during practice, no doubt. However, my primary interest is finding a spot that I can get on that produces good fish for the entire tournament.
Sometimes anglers hold onto practice experiences too firm and long. You’ve got to let pre-fishing experiences go, recognize the things have changed and fish the conditions of today. What worked in practice will not work on tournament day when factors change.

Recognize What Has Changed and Make the Adjustments

The changing factors in fishing are water clarity, weather conditions, fishing pressure, locations, temperature, current and more. Your practice days may be picture perfect; come tournament day, everything has reversed. Sometimes maybe only one or two of the factors have changed and you didn’t recognize. Each day is different no matter what season you’re fishing. The angler that recognizes what has changed the quickest and makes the necessary adjustments are the ones that are the most successful.

My approach when elements have changed is forget about practice and go with the current conditions and where you think the conditions have moved the fish from practice to tournament day. Say the wind was calm during practice days and now it’s blowing 30 mph. You’ve got to find protected areas that hold fish. If a heavy rain has caused an increase in current or muddied the water; you’ve got to find a pocket just outside the current or find clearer water.

Have Confidence In Your Skills – Use Your Fishing Instincts

You must have that instinctive confidence in your fishing skills. You can’t let what other fishermen tell you change the plan you’ve already set. You must believe in yourself and your skills and not rely on what other fishermen may be trying to feed you.

I’ve seen fishermen listen to others and completely forget about what they’ve discovered during practice. I know; I’ve been that person. Did it pay off? Absolutely not; it’s something you’ve got to grow out of. I’m not saying you shouldn’t listen to basic reliable information; I’m saying you need to sift through it and not let what you hear be the deciding factor in picking your spots. In other words, find your own hot spots.

It’s nothing wrong with picking a spot on tournament day that you didn’t practice or a place that looks productive. That’s how you found fish in practice. Your gut feelings are just as important as your knowledge of the lake. When you go with that instinctive feeling, it will make you feel much better in the end, whether you had success or not.



Know What’s Under the Water – Increase Your Efficiency

I’ve gotten to the point where I try to learn all I can about a good spot. I try to find out what makes it such a good spot. I side-scan and record the entire area. I can come back home and look at it on my computer in side-scan, down-scan, or sonar mode. I can find and mark every brush pile, ditch, roadbed, laydown, stump or depression. By doing this I know what’s down there.

Learning what’s down there has another advantage; it gives you added confidence to believe not only in the spot but believe in your fishing skills. This added knowledge will increase your chances and your catch ratio. Staying in an area is much easier when you have complete knowledge of what under the water. You can make every minute of fishing count.

Current Environment Controls the Fish’s Tendencies

I’ve learned to completely change my methods from practice and find an improved way to catch fish on tournament day. A bait or presentation change can cause the fish to stop ignoring your lure on tournament day. Changing to a completely different lure can also trigger a strike.

Most of the time they didn’t relocate from the area; they may have shifted their position and your presentation is not as effective. You’ve got to realize what circumstances have changed and try a different presentation that will cause the fish to turn on.

Don’t Stay There Too Long

If you have confidence a spot will yield good fish, you got to decide how long to fish it. You’ll need several good spots to catch good fish. Spending too long on one spot will definitely keep you from fishing all your spots.

If a spot is paying off, by all means, fish it for all it’s worth. If you’ve caught several good fish, it’s nothing wrong with picking up and moving, keeping in mind you may return later.

Don’t Overlook the Obvious



I’ve started out on tournament day headed to my starting spot and see something too good to overlook; I don’t hesitate to stop and fish these spots. It’s called not overlooking the obvious. It’s like something inside your head saying, “Hey dunce; stop here. This is what are you looking for?”

When you see birds diving, large balls of baitfish, or baitfish being thrashed on the surface; you would be crazy not to check that spot, game plan or not. You should always stop and give it a try. We’ve only have to catch a limit fish and who knows; that monster may just be on this spot.

Conclusion

I make a lot of instinctive or gut decisions fishing. I make them pre-fishing too. Making these knee-jerking decisions is how I find fish pre-fishing; why not do the same on tournament day. A game-plan is just that, a starting plan. Every good coach I know makes major adjustments to their game plan as the game goes on. Some even throw their game plan out the window and make major adjustments to their offenses and defenses based on what the other team is doing or to take advantage of the obvious. You have to do the same if you wish to be successful not just on tournament day but fun fishing too. Bernard