Winners Tips and
Tactics
Jer Kretzman
1st Place
Date:
September 12, 2004
Lake:Mississippi
Weather Conditions: Sunny ,
70-80's, High SW winds.
Q:What was
your game plan before starting?
A: To get 5 big smallmouths.
Q:How much pre-fishing did you
do and did it help?
A: I pre-fished 3-8 hour days and 1-4
hour day. It helped me a lot. An angler
can really have a great edge if he has
the time to really learn what the fish
are doing on that particular lake (or
river) at that particular time of the
year. The most important thing the
pre-fishing did for me was give me the
confidence I needed to fish my spots
thoroughly.
Q: Where did
you catch your fish?
A: Every fish I caught were relating to
underwater rock points and ledges.
Q: What baits
worked and why did you use them?
A: I caught every fish on a Rapala DT-6.
I used the crankbait so that I could
cover a lot of water fast and show my
lure to as many fish as I could before
they seen any other anglers’ lures.
List 5 tips to help others
catch more Bass
1. You have to pre-fish,
just because you’ve caught them
there before doesn’t necessarily
mean that they are going to be there
again. The more spots you can go to the
better your odds are.
2. Stay focused and relaxed.
Being relaxed allows you to fish your
spots and your bait the way they should
be fished. Besides your out to have fun
right?
3. Be versatile. This is
probably the most important thing when it
comes to fishing a circuit. The same
thing doesn’t always work on
different lakes and different times of
the year. The more techniques you master
the more successful you will be on
different lakes.
4. Watch, listen and learn.
Learning different techniques from
watching other anglers and then
practicing them, I believe, is the most
efficient way to improve. It’s kind
of like hands on.
5.
Have heart. You have to love what you are
doing to be able to consistently fish to
your ability. Don’t get me wrong we
all love to fish and I know that. But you
can never slack off and take the easy way
out.
Chuck Fields
1st Place
Date:
June 27, 2004
Lake:Rabbit Lake
Weather Conditions: Overcast some sun,
mid-day storm, 60-70's, No wind.
Q: What was
your game plan before starting?
A: My game plan was to
fish extremely slow because the fish
had not been going for me during
practice.
Q: How much
pre-fishing did you do and did it help?
A: I pre-fished a few hours on each side
of the lake. I started on the pit
side, and it was very slow, so I went
to the lake side.
Unfortunately, the bite was even
slower for me on the lake side
Q: Where did
you catch you fish?
A: I fished near areas where fish had
spawned. This meant finding
bottom areas with sand &
rubble. I felt that most of the
largemouth that I found were in a
post-spawn transition
Q: What baits
worked and why did you use them?
A: I flipped jigs and
plastics in reeds and rushes and worked
them slow, sometimes deadsticking the
bait for up to 60 seconds.
List 5 tips to help others
catch more Bass:
Join a Bass
Club. I've fished with the
Baxter Bass Snatchers since 1978,
and have learned a great deal
from some great fishermen.
Be versitle.
I've had to fish differently in
each of the first three EXCEL
tournaments this year.
Tune in to the
calander period (life cycle) of
the fish. This is
especially important in the
spring.
Pay attention to
detail (sharpen hooks,
re-spool,etc). Most
Minnesota tournaments are won by
a few ounces. Loosing just
1 keeper fish can really hurt
you.
Get a good nights
rest.
Brian Brown
2003 TOC Champion
Date:
September 21,2003
Lake:Gull Lake TOC
Weather Conditions: Overcast, 60-70's,
Little Rain
Q: What was
your game plan before starting?
A: To fish classic fall patterns. Some
shallow stuff and deep coontail.
Q: How much
pre-fishing did you do and did it help?
A: I haven't prefished any of the Excel
Tour events except pelican lake. I took
information from others how had prefished
and put together a game plan.
Q: Where did
you catch you fish?
A: I stayed on the south end of the lake.
I caught a limit deep on crankbaits,
tubes, and jig worms. Then switched up to
shallows, fishing docks and inside
weedline on steep breaks.
Q: What baits
worked and why did you use them?
A: 3 fish including the big bass I
weighed in came on a Tournament Tackle
5" tube, the other two fish were
caught on a pop-r. I use the tube because
they're a confidence bait and the pop-r I
had tied on from an earlier trip and just
decided to throw it and started catching
fish. There were alot of bait fish at the
surface and the pop-r was a perfect
match.
List 5 tips to help others
catch more Bass
1.
Practice Practice Practice
2. Have confidence in what your doing
3. Learn from everything you can. Videos,
magizines, other anglers
4. Learn to trust your sixth sense, if
your gut feeling is to do something do
it.
5. Use GOOD equipment - you get what you
pay for in fishing
2004 winners tactics
coming....check back this summer
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