written by The Lost Anchovy edited 4.21, 2019
Introduction
I’m excited when the Kayak Fishing Tournament season starts in earnest in spring. There are lots of great fishing tournaments in Northern, Central and Southern California and making time for each one alone can be daunting.
These events are great places for season anglers to meet and greet familiar faces and old friends. It’s an even better place for beginners get to know the community and learn a thing or two from the veterans. Don’t be fooled! When tournament day comes around it’s game on!!
Let’s be honest competitively fishing in Tournaments is hard! There are many factors that go into preparing yourself to take on potentially 50-100 other kayak minded anglers laser focused on taking the home the trophy. I hope these tips will help you get the “W”.
Let’s get started!
#1 Pre Fish the Tournament
If you are lucky enough to be able to Pre fish a tournament – do it and get the lay of the land! Fish move and they move often. Their feeding habits can change almost daily and taking the time to pre-fish a tournament will give you the up hand on other anglers. Nothing is promised but having a snap shot of the situation before game day can’t hurt.
Pre fishing the tournament also allows you to check your gear and electronics for any potential breakdowns before tournament day. Taking the extra time to get the lay of the land, mark potential GPS points and perform equipment checks will put you in the diver seat on event day.
#2 Move Quickly
Moving quickly and execute the game plan. Pre fishing the tournament will provide you a general sense of what will happen on game day, if conditions remain the same, but be able to adapt if it doesn’t.
If a potential honey hole was producing yesterday but doesn’t produce today – MOVE! Time is important and being in the right spot with the right offering is essential to placing.
#3 Try different gear/ bait and tactics
Fish are weird. Heck I’m weird! It’s true. =*( I’m a lost anchovy in a big open ocean — It’s dangerous. Adapting and changing gears is important to finding a winning strategy against the weird behavior of fish.
Research cost low viagra http://amerikabulteni.com/2012/05/14/new-jerseynin-bir-sehrinde-yururken-telefonuna-mesaj-yazanlara-artik-ceza-yazilacak/ indicates that workplace substance misuse is on the rise. Regardless of how perplexed of male pattern baldness you are, that can be a difficult request. “In this present reality, it’s extremely hard to inspire anyone to apply anything twice per day,” says buy cheap levitra Zeichner. “Do as well as can be expected.” Pills: Propecia 4/5 PROPECIA PILLS: PROPECIA There’s one other FDA-affirmed treatment: finasteride, which is sold under the brand name Propecia. For this reason the Graduated Driver License law levitra sale has been created, to help teenagers understand how to drive smart and safe. When you find a trusted source it’s a good idea to use it wisely and get the highest quality, name-brand drugs and prescription products at savings that our potential clients deserve. amerikabulteni.com levitra generico ukSometimes predatory fish, such as Salmon, are actively feeding on balled up anchovies. In this case mooching anchovies around the bait ball would be a good tactic to take. Another example is trolling. Sometimes fish are not aggressive when attacking bait, in this particular instance try trolling flashers and lures that activate a reactionary bite. Do what it takes to get the bite.
The idea is to be flexible and adaptable. Do what works and discard what doesn’t even it worked — Yesterday.
#4 Look for life and activity
If you have read my other article, Seven Best Kayak Fishing Tips To Catch More Fish,
One of my tips is to look for signs of life and activity. Areas that produce fish tend to have a different feel and aura around them. There is a lot more clamoring from the wild life in the area.
Pelicans and sea gulls are anxious, sea lions are diving and bait can be seen running for their lives. In the bay, when the halibut and stripers are hungry, baitfish can be seen exploding on the surface.
#5 Have multiple set ups
This last step is very much a given. Most competitive anglers will have a multiple set ups ready before tournament day. Taking the time to be prepared before hand will reduce wasted time and costly mistakes on tournament day.
Reference: https://centralcoastkayakfishing.com/cc-slam-down/
Note: Ryan puts a good tournament down in the central coast each year, and it has grown year after year. Kudos to his team.
The ability to change gears quickly without tying new leaders or making new set ups will provide you more time to fish.
Conclusion
Fishing in a tournament can be intimidating. The bigger the tournament, the bigger the prizes the more intense the situation becomes. I take these events in stride and try to enjoy the time meeting old friends and making new ones while keeping my eyes and ears open to learning new things. There is always the element of “LUCK” that can’t simply be ignored, but isn’t that what makes it fun?? Good Luck and tight lines — TLA