How to Win a Tournament on Guntersville

How to win a “Bass Tournament” on Lake Guntersville
I often get asked what does a person have to do to win a big tournament on Guntersville. My answer is always the same that’s a big question with many answers. I’m going in this article try to explain what must be accomplished to achieve this. I am going to start by telling you what not to do, as this may be as important as what you need to do.

Let’s first start by telling you that many fishermen try to do the same old thing and hence get the same results when fishing a tournament. If you feel your patterns of pre-fishing a tournament are not winning patterns they probably aren’t. If you go to the same spots using the same lures and can’t catch good size fish then you probably will not win the tournament. I know this sounds corny but so many fishermen try the same thing day in and out on a lake and wonder why they don’t compete. Many tournament fisherman have come to Guntersville and never studied a map, and quite frankly don’t know how to read the map. Guntersville is some 60,000 acres and you add Scottsboro area and you can cover upwards of 160,000 acres.

Winning a tournament on Lake Guntersville takes someone who is willing to put in time studying and fishing some different patterns, someone who is able to change patterns and dissect the lake while pre-fishing and during the tournament. When I take someone on a pre-tournament day (daylight to dark) fishing I mark the map in the area we are going to be fishing and type a tournament plan so I can demonstrate to the fisherman how to interpret the map and plan a winning strategy: What I mean is this: The key is to mark what you would consider productive areas not the whole map.

Get yourself a map of Lake Guntersville, learn how to read it and start dissecting it. Divide the lake up into 5 different categories using a highlighted color code or be familiar enough to understand the coloring the map gives you without hesitation, of the areas you intend to fish. Memorize what each color represents, that way when you’re on the water you know immediately by your coloring scheme what it represents. The biggest thing you have accomplished is to eliminate water that is non-productive at a glance. You have however marked the productive part of the area you intend to fish.

a. Yellow is shallow water less than 3 feet

b. Blue is points and humps, sharp turns and structure

c. Pink is water between 4 and 9 feet

d. Green is deep water, depths of greater than 10 feet

e. Red is sudden drop offs in medium depth water

f. Lastly a pen to write on the map with, so you can write in the areas of the lake that have cover, like milfoil, stumps, lay downs, boat houses, under water structure like sunken boats etc.

Now that you have the map and know how to read it get in your boat and drive the lake and understand the map. Mark everything we have just discussed by visualizing it and seeing it on the map. Wow this is a lot of work, well if you want to win yes it is, but once you complete this you will then understand the lake and the map. You will at this point be able to start fishing the patterns that you have caught fish on. Yes the lake will change from one month to the next or year over year, so you buy another map, coloring it the same, but writing in different information because the lake structure has changed.

Now we have a map all color coded and understand the lake fairly well the fishing gets easier, that’s right because now you can pre-fish a tournament or just go out and fish and start looking for patterns that will produce that big stringer. The reason its easier is because now you can start to find areas on the lake that don’t have 10 boats sitting on it every day, and have a real opportunity that when you find the fish they will be there when you go back. You also have a knowledge base to draw from during the tournament by having that map in front of you all color coded you can find similar patterns and areas when your prime targets go cold.

Let me spend just a little time on Pre-Fishing a tournament, when you start to Pre-Fish the first thing you must do is find fish. I believe that means covering acres of water and that requires you being able to fish and have confidence in a reaction bait, like a spinner-bait and lipless crank bait. Certain times of the year that might mean a typical deep running crank bait or a top water bait. All these lures are reaction baits and you can cover many acres and find where there is active fish. Understanding the patterns of active fish is extremely important during the pre fishing time, as it will give you confidence and give you a pattern to start with.

When you find active fish test the bite at some different depths with slower type bait, like a worm or jig, work the bite deep and work it shallow. This will give and idea of the pattern the depths and the lures to use during the tournament. Now that you have found some fish, discovered a pattern and have a good idea where you can get a bite you have a chance. That’s right a chance, because now you have to turn the knowledge of what you have just learned into more fish, more areas, big fish and a winning patterns. You can now deal with weather changes, high pressure times etc. Probably one of the most important tips to remember is to analyze what you did when you caught fish, were you shallow, deep, over grass, close to deep water, were you working the bait slow, fast, dropping it, leaving it set. Oh and don’t forget the boat, many times boat position is as important as lure selection, know the position your boat was in, were you deep throwing shallow, paralleling or inside a point throwing out. Presentation from the boat is as important as any lure your select maybe more. These little things will get you the next bite and the next fish, you must know as a tournament fisherman what exactly you did to catch as fish so you can repeat the presentation and catch more fish.

Even though the weather changes during your tournament the main thing you have accomplished is finding the fish, this is when your skill, bait presentation and experience takes over. This is when all those articles you have read become important, because now you can adapt to the weather. The fish haven’t moved far I assure you, so you go into the tournament with confidence you know where the fish are you just have to adapt, by color, depth, speed and presentation. I assure you when you know the fish are there the confidence you have helps you get that bite.

Something else I must tell you is don’t waste time on the water, I have a saying “fish where the fish are.” How ever corny and raw this is an important point. An example is if you are on a pattern of lay downs along the banks, don’t waste your time on the bank that is clean, throw to the lay downs cover it thoroughly and move to the next one. Every cast is important don’t use some of your fishing time by fishing where you do not have a chance of getting a bite.

Fish with confidence: every one of us heads to the water all pumped up for the tournament and something happens out there that messes you up. An example is on tournament day the wind is blowing and man it looks like you’ll never be able to fish your spots. Instead of giving in to the wind start telling yourself reasons that the wind will help you. Like; man the wind is blowing this will help bunch up the bait-fish, or this is great because most other fisherman will hide from the wind and I am going to have less people on my spots. There is always something that will be a positive, start taking those negatives turn them into positives until the negative thoughts go away. Fishing with confidence will always help you, fight those negative thoughts and you’ll win more and enjoy it more.

Spend time on the water, one thing you can bet is the winner of most of the Lake Guntersville Tournaments spend hours on the water, even though we all don’t have the same amount of time, you must spend enough time to have a chance. If you do it rite you can substitute time on the water with knowledge, but it still takes time to develop patterns and catch big fish.

Lastly winning a tournament won’t come easy but you can add to your chances by being a good learner, and be willing to try new things. There is a lot to learn about bass, about fishing about the lake, be assertive enough to continue to learn every day. I can’t tell you how many times I here someone who has fished the lake for years say, the fish are gone, there’s no big fish anymore, I’m here to tell you the fish are still there and there is plenty of them. You just have to be willing to learn, change and adapt.

Well the best is yet to come, all you need now is that push to get you to the winning table. I can help you with that I offer the most comprehensive pre-tournament fishing day on the lake of any guide on Lake Guntersville, come fish with me I’ll prove it to you.