Keep it simple. Boat prep is a good one for sure. Someone mentioned preriggin like a bass tournament. That works. Have everything ready before stepping in the boat. Our little Crappie.com tournaments is a great place to start amd you will learn a lot from some great fisherman. Get in and fish one with someone from the board that has fished a few before. We usually have a person or two looking for a partner. Our rules are real simple. You can only use one pole at a time per person. May change that next year to allow spider rigging. You can use jigs or minnows or both t the same time. Which is working right now for bigger fish. Start fishing at 7 and be at the weigh in line by 3 with your best alive 7 fish to weigh in. Lot of fun and the winners will tell how they caught them when finished so everyone can learn from them. If anyone has trouble on the water my number is 660-822-6001. I will get help on the way be it me or someone else to get you back safely. If rigging in a tournament that allows it i like to have plenty of pre tied rigs ready for a full day of fishing. But I also take along single poles for dipping just in case. Nice to have a backup plan just in case. If anyone has any questions about our CDC tournaments just shoot me a PM. We have one this coming Saturday at Bucksaw from 7-3. I will be taking the entries at the pavilion from 6-7. It is $25 and $5 optional big fish. If anyone needs a partner to fish one also let me know. I may know of someone.