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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | What do you do when pre-fishing for tournaments.
Do you pull your baits away from fish?
Do you catch them so other will not have the chance?
Will you target areas you fish in the tournament?
Do you fish areas like your spots while pre-fishing and save the others spots for tournament time?
I prefer to fish spots I will fish in the tournament the day before and pull baits away from the fish.
I also will fish and try to catch fish in areas I think will kick out fish against me, not to burn others fish but to gain confidence in my patterns and baits that I plan to use in the tournament.
Saturday I have to guide and will try to get my clients fish in areas that I know will produce fish. This will give me the confidence in my bait selection and lower the chance of these fish being caught against me on Sunday.
What are your stratigies before tournaments? |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | I do not prefish any differently than I normally fish. I fish to catch fish, peiod! Call me greedy, call me selfish, I just want to catch as many fish as I can. When they come in the boat is completely up to them.
I really don't believe in the "burning fish" argument. If its a good spot and the muskies are using it there will be more than one on the spot. If you're planning on "saving" a fish, there are a lot more factors than just your catching it that will turn it off. You can not stop it from eating the next sucker that swims by, and that may just be enough to turn it neutral for the following day.
I'm a sucker for setting the hooks, and besides prefishing is all about patterning fish in my opinion. What better way to hit on a pattern than taking a picture of one the day before. |
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| I fished a tournament and caught a 45" fish ten minutes into the day, coming back to the spot eight hours later only to witness what I believe is the same fish for another contestant.
The fish was in their boat in less than 20 seconds, my tired fish was caught and measured twice in the same contest. This fish was hardly a "burned" fish. I try to catch as many as I can every time out , no matter what. fish on! |
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Posts: 69
Location: Toledo | Pre-fishing I am looking for patterns and finding the fish. I would never pull a bait away from a big fish. A big fish is a big fish! I might pull it away from smaller fish, but once I have a good spot I go look for another. I believe you want as many productive spots as you can find, so you can stay away from the spots with excessive pressure.
"The Musky Shakes"-Mark |
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| I try to catch the fish. I had a father and his 14 year old daughter and her 12 year old brother out and all three of them caught the same 40 inch Muskie on the same lure in 6 hours. A fish is going to feed when it is hungry no matter if you caught in earlier that day or the day before. My thoughts on this subject for what it is worth. Bob |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I used to remove the hooks on my pre-fish A spots and just tease 'em. |
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| Steve takes 'em off...
I forget to put 'em on... 
Embarassing but, actually happened once. But only once!
B |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I like to fish the spots I want to fish, pull baits away if I can see fish following and never figure 8 or "c" by the boat. |
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Posts: 136
| It's just me but the day I pull a lure away from a decent fish because of a tournament will be the day I never fish one again.
One more cast...
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| I fish the same way while pre-fishing a tournament. I was entered in a tournament on Lac Vieux Desert and just after launching and going across the lake to check in, I was checking some equipment and a new spinnerbait a buddy of mine made for me. To make a long story short I boated a 43" just a half hour too early. I was just as happy with that fish as I would have been had it counted. I run into people all the time asking me if I was the guy who caught a fish too early. I probably should have pulled it away and come back an hour later when it would have counted, but we all know that there are no guarantees in muskie fishing. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I guess you could say it depends on how far in advance you're pre-fishing as well. The day before a tourny, there's no way I'm going to burn a fish. But then again, who's to say some other boat isnt going to come along behind me and catch it?
Some guys look for a specific fish they've seen in the past, I look more for the area that holds fish and its conditions. If I'm out 3 days to a week sniffing around, I'm more willing to catch a fish. The day before, never. |
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Posts: 925
| Even if it is "pre-fishing" ... I am still fishing.
My goal when I am fishing ... to catch fish.
Enough said. |
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Pre-fishing for tournaments/catch or pull bait away?