Tips for the 2012 season and the Kingston Open

Having returned home this past weekend from spending a couple weeks at the cottage with the family, I wanted to post a quick recap from the Kingston Open and share some important tips that we as anglers probably don't spend enough time considering. My tournament ended with a 10th place finish and almost 60lbs of smallmouth weighed in. As usual the tournament was run with the highest of professionalism and was extremely competitive. Everyday the tournament brought a new set of challenges and each day I relied on different areas and techniques to contribute to my bag of fish. With that said their were some keys to my top ten finish in this tournament that I wanted to pass along to everyone reading this post. 1) First and most importantly is a reliable sonar and gps unit. Given the abundance of deep water shoals, breaklines, flats, etc, I relied heavily on my Humminbird 998 side imaging unit to locate the structures that were holding fish for this tournament. Furthermore, I used my gps mapping screen to plan my routes to and from my zones each day. With the winds and waves that Lake O is known for, planning routes between spots where you can avoid running at a 45 degree angle into the waves was key in maximizing my fishing time, and saving my equipment from any unecessary abuse. 2) Losing or breaking off 1 fish, can make a huge difference in your results and your paycheck in a tournament of this size. You need to ensure you are using the right rod, reel, and line set up for each application you are fishing. Using too stiff of a rod on a jerkbait, or too soft of a rod on tube jig, will drastically influence your landing ratio in a tournament. For new anglers to the sport especially, the Technique Specific line up of Crucial rods from Shimano take alot of the guess work out of this part of your preparation. 3) Although pre tournament preparation is not the most intriguing part of our sport, it is one of the most important and does not get paid enough attention too. I have been guilty of this myself. Here are some items to think about next time you are preparing for competition day: a) Spool up with fresh line the night before. When you ask yourself whether or not you need to change the line on a reel, that means you probably do, so spool it up! b) Check your drag before storing them away for competition day. c) Check your rod guides for any knicks. d) Ensure you have enough rejuvenate formula (or other), and that your culling system is together and ready to use since the last tournament. e) When you have a specific set up that is catching the fish, have another rod rigged up exactly the same. You are going to lose valuable fishing time if you damage your line and/or the rod and reel on your primary set up, and have to scramble to put something else together. This does not usually bode well for the confidence factor either. f) Ensure your batteries are fully charged and ready for tournament competition. I have run Everstart Batteries for the past 2 years, and they have never let me down. If your batteries are starting to show signs of wear and tear and not lasting for a full 12 and 14 hour day in practice, its time to start looking at replacing them. The last thing you want to do is run low on battery power during competition day and have to alter your gameplan as a result. Good luck out there and keep em pegged. Barry