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Posts: 101
Location: Liberty, IN (OKI Tri-State) | Pre-fishing Pros & Cons
With the 2015 Musky Tournament season just beginning to get underway... Muskies Inc Chapter Challenges, IMTand the PMTT OPENER in just two weeks to name a few, I was curious what those of you who fish at that level feel about the importance of pre-fishing an event and it's relationship to your finish/success rates? Do you worry about the possibility of negative impact on the Tourney bite by 'sticking' fish in the days and hours prior to ease out come Tournament time?
I'm a pre-fishing practitioner by nature but have been uncomfortably forced to drive straight to the ramp and hit the water running on occasion with mixed results and wondered what others felt about it's overall importantance in the scheme of your Game plan?
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Posts: 1041
| I'll be fishing Pewaukee for the first time this year when I hit the Pewaukee Classic (through Muskies Inc.). I know the lake pretty well, so I'm not worried about not pre-fishing it. But then again, the Classic isn't a cash payout event and the sign up fees are crazy cheap for all that you get. $50 early bird, or $55 gets you fishing, awards payout, great chicken/beef dinner and a door prize.
So, no, pre-fishing isn't overly important to me for that event. If I feel like I don't know where to go, I'll just follow jdsplasher. 
All kidding aside, though, if I were in a PMTT event or something more serious, then pre-fishing would be a must. You gotta at least see the weeds, know the water temps in different parts of the lakes and make a few casts to see what is getting them going.
Edited by vegas492 4/6/2015 10:41 AM
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Posts: 2331
Location: SE, WI. | ^ Geoff; I pretty Much SUCK in May. Your waisting your time if you follow me!!! :( Aside from that, Prefishing is huge when trying to figure out where and what the highest percentage of active fish are using! Oh ya...and why? JD
Edited by jdsplasher 4/6/2015 1:23 PM
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Posts: 215
Location: Wisconsin | I was always worried that, when pre-fishing, I would "burn" a fish if i hooked into it. Now that my left shoulder no longer lets me even think about a tourney, i jsut sit back and enjoy the sport |
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Posts: 95
| Pre fishing for me isnt really about fishing much at all. It's about looking for forage, marking weed lines on key areas with precision on gps, finding inside turns on structure, checking water temps and thermocline in different areas of the body of water. You don't need to fish to know where they are but if your not out doing your homework someone else is and they will have the edge to win. I learn more about a body of water on the days that I never wet a line. |
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Posts: 1220
| As long as the Pewaukee guys are sharing, I'll remind them of last year's convincing Third Place finish done with no pre-fishing whatsoever. A relatively small field voted early in the morning to limit the cash awards to only three places. When only 2 teams ended up with fish, an absolute nail biter of a drawing was held for the remaining prize. While the hushed crowd held their breath and waited, a quiet confidence built up within my deepest parts and I knew we were destined to win the coveted prize. No prefishing, no fish to slime up my net, and another whole year of confident internet postings and happy sponsors. This was never as difficult as made out to be. Just show up and fish! Or....follow the really good guys to their spots and then inch-in on them till they move off. Ignore how they look at you....everybody's just trying to have a fun day on the water. |
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Posts: 1300
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | What esoxriebe said!! Never believed in stabbing a fish that could win it for you. |
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Posts: 2389
Location: Chisholm, MN | If you stab a fish, no one else will catch it either |
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Posts: 400
Location: Wisconsin | I think it is very important. Maybe not neccesarily fishing hard for prefishing, but definitely getting in the boat and finding exactly where weed beds have grown or not. Ill go over spots with my graph as well as just observing the spots from my boat, in order to mark inside turns, pockets or points in the weed beds that have historically been good spots.
Even if I am just fishing for fun on the weekend, I really like to go over my spots before and check out how the spots are layed out. Its amazing how much spots can change even in a weeks amount of time! |
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Posts: 53
Location: Bemidji | I agree with those above. Observation is the best prefishing. I may fish an unfamiliar area just long enough to see a fish - weather it's a follow or not. A surfacing fish, or a spotted swimmer is good enough for me to put my game plan together.
Then if I want to dial in on baits, I'll do it in more known "community" areas where if I stick one it won't bother me as I don't plan to fish there during the tourney anyway. |
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Posts: 1220
| On a more serious note: The whole idea of "burning fish" is not exactly lost on most of the tournament crowd. The fish they are (Stupidly??) giving a sore mouth on Friday afternoon are not the same fish THEY are attempting to catch on Saturday morning, it is the fish they believe YOU are trying to catch Saturday morning. It's not that different than Aaron Rogers looking for the one-on-one matchup with an injured D-back......taking unfair advantage versus smart competition is often in the eye of the beholder (competitor). I'd prefer shutting down the water on Friday (like one new trail is doing) or letting people do what they think is best. I like a kick'n minnow with no hooks for pre-fishing, but not many are going to look me up for advice on how to win tournaments. |
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Posts: 101
Location: Liberty, IN (OKI Tri-State) | Some thoughtful feedback.. I'm in agreement with the majority on observations and gaining familiarity with current conditions being the primary benefit of pre-fishing an event.
Marty's point is well taken with me. I have fished different species Tournaments over the years including the PMTT off and on for 15 years and know what he is talking about. There are some guys that do indeed intentionally 'hard fish' areas with the intention of negatively affecting a competitor's go to spot... arguing the strategic vantage... even if only to get into another competitor heads and screwing with THEIR game plan.
Thanks for sharing your opinion and good luck this season. |
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Posts: 219
| We prefish everyday...because we just like to fish... but we don't figure 8 any fish. I had a low 50's fish follow on Cass one year the day before the event...I did not figure 8 her...but should have...never to be seen again. Boooo! But we go forward with the fact that the more you know, the more you know.... :). Then rely on Luck... HA! |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Ahhh, The Pre Fishing Dilemma...
I've fished about 50 Events in the last 9 yrs. and have went from fishing 3-4 days before a Tourney, to only 1-2 days of prefishing.. That being said, my experience has dictated that "you should not BURN a fish on a good "so called spot".... I now drive around more to "Check things out"... ie, The direction of the Wind right before the Event,. Baitfish location, Attitude of the Birds, Water temp and Currents, Weeds, inside and outside turns, drop offs,... and where other guys are prefishing. Be Observant.
Also, Past History of a Tourney is a real good thing to study up on..... What bait ,when ,how, what Color, technique, deep vs shallow....ect. If the last top 10 Teams caught fish on say Bucktails 50-60% of the time, chances are you need to keep a bucktail WET more often than not.
Study the water and don't waste time while on the water.
Most important to me,.... is to have Fun and Enjoy the Experience of fishing with the Best Muskie Hunters on the Planet.
I Love muskie Tournaments, mostly because of the Awesome people that are involved with them.
Jerome |
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