The Crown Jewel of the best tournament anglers

[Wizard]

How do top anglers almost always put themselves in position to win? Watch the great anglers from the first BASS tournament of long ago to the formats of today's elite events. These icons of angling remain on top over a large period of time. KVD, Larry Nixon, Rickey the Legend and others...Roland Martin (I hated to say it but the man's famous around the world).
ALL of them had the knack for finding fishing areas away from the crowd that not only held bass but RELOADED quickly with new bass. Imagine finding an area like that where you could fish one place all day and catch bass. Never leaving and running to a different area. Never searching for bass. What if it holds up a second day or (gasp) even the third day? An angler that could do that would be a tough rascal to wrestle money out of his wallet.
Did you get all of that? GOOD!  You found a jewel. Hoo Rah! But, you only found a black sapphire...not a diamond. Now, how to find not only a diamond but the Crown Jewel Diamond. It is the research and preparation time spent off the water. Simple ideas: learn the seasonal migration patterns of prey, current flow and breaks, all the things you told yourself you would learn...but haven't. Now is the time to fish but also consider why the bass did or didn't bite. Use the knowledge when you're off the water. Maybe one day you will look at a lake map and smile. You might say to yourself, "This is what that old fool on UB was telling us''.  Tomorrow, I'm going to catch a whole lot of bass.

Wizard

[Oldfart9999]

And these big guns did it while having a fleet of boats chasing around after them. I remember the stories of KVD having a navy chasing him around a lake, if it was good area it was loaded with boats the next day so he had to find a different area. Too bad folks that used the pros to find fishing spots because they were too lazy to do the leg work are a bunch of real low lifes.
Rodney

[chrisD46]

*There are some talented young guns on the Bass Masters & MLF Tours today - but of all those : Jacob Wheeler , Jordan Lee and Ott DeFoe amaze me the most ... Their consistency is extraordinary !

[rb-nc]

First those guys KNEW where the fish were, for that time of the year. So most of the top guys would get to the lake a day or two ahead of practice. You couldn't be on the water, but you could drive the roads by the lake. They would have their maps and mark things they could see. Water color at each end of the lake, levels and such. That way when practice came they knew more of where NOT to go than most of the field. LAter on the guys rented small planes to fly them over the lakes. Also they had uncanny confidence in their lures. They RARELY changed baits on the water. Nixon was the first to be great at everything. Back in the day when they could take people fishing with them in practice I was lucky enough to get to go a few times. They wouldn't take gas money. All they asked was that I fished one or two baits and nothing else. If I caught one they immediately stopped the boat and started asking questions about where the fish was,speed everything. I was with a pro one time doing this and he gave me a 1/4oz jig and a 3/8oz jig. He had 1/2oz. I said this is it. "Yep I'm already qualified for the Classic. I'm fishing to win and if they are on a jig I will win. I just need to see if they want a slower fall". So knowing what bait is the best and section of the lake is the best, they could fish it slower. I asked the guy one time and he said "When that guy over there pulls his trolling motor, cranks up and runs seven miles down the lake,, how many flips do you think I can make?
Also never forget a blue heron, kingfisher, or any other water bird is the best depthfinder in the world, and they are free.
Biggest lesson I ever got on this was one day I was fishing in fall. The water had come up after a rain and cooled off. I knew those fish would be in the one creek off of this shallow point. I pulled in and started on the opposite point so I wouldn't spook the fish. I noticed an Osprey circling overhead. I eased over to the other point and sure enough bait was all over it you could see them everywhere. Fished for twenty minutes not a bite. I was sitting in about eight feet of water casting up to six inches and working back. I was in the process of stowing my rods when that Osprey hit the water not three feet from my boat on the other side away from the point. Water even splashed on the deck. When he flew off he had a 12 inch bass. I picked up a crankbait and threw out the other side of the boat and for the next couple of hours fishing was off the charts.

[Wizard]

The very early pros winged it. There were no fishing maps and the the best you had were USGS topo quads at 250,000 scale. Still, there was info on the quads that were now underwater. Old foundations, road beds, ponds, quarries, springs were permanent features once the impoundment was filled and most wouldn't put in the prep time to be successful. I can't tell you the number of anglers who fished BASS and failed. I can say say many of the failures were caused by by being lazy OFF the water. Preparation shows up in winnings. Prep time helps to make you consistent and consistency  earns the money to keep the dream alive. Watch some of the MLF pros and one or more are skunked every week. If the other pros figured out the lake, these boys should also. Little luck involved, it's all hard work.

Wizard

[jwkelley51]

[D.W. Verts]

This is ME. Or at least the me I always wanted to be (watch my latest video). GREAT topic Wizard. Just wonderful.

Dale

[Oldfart9999]

A lot of what the angler could learn by "flying" the lake can now be easier, faster and cheaper by using GOOGLE EARTH and to the best of my knowledge is allowed by the tournament bodies. Know where the bass should be by season, is part of the puzzle, knowing the best areas is big part of the rest of the puzzle, weather conditions top it off.
Rodney