Originally Posted by
Spider04
I just sat in the boat with several of these pros as a marshal and I will tell you what I saw and what their comments were. I post this because I know I was interested in how this all worked at one time and I am sure others are interested too.
Takahiro Omori had many spectator boats on day 2. He was fishing a found spot, and for a while. When he thought he had broken the school up on it he moved to his only other found spot. Found spots to these guys are spots where they can catch 20+ lb bags. Three pounders don't help them much. The other spot had another pro on it. Tak had not fished there since the 2nd day of practice and was really disappointed. I found out later that pro had fished that spot only on the first day and had 22 lbs off of it. So we went back to the first spot. One of the spectator boats had moved up on the spot and both guys had fish on when we arrived. At least 10 times on the day with him, we heard the GPS beep as people pulled up. Here was Tak's take on it 'The GPS'ing doesn't bother me as much as knowing they will be fishing spots I spent 14 hours a day during practice to find before my tournament is done. And I don't have any other spots found that can win this tournament.' As for their ability - Tak pulled out a very non-traditional ledge bait in the last hour and caught a 4 lber and a 7 lber to finish his 2nd 20 lb day. I was seriously impressed.
Cliff Pace had folks GPSing him too. He was really irritated with it. He didn't comment much or specifically though.
Keith Poche is a rookie I went with on day 3. He too found two spots and he spent the entire morning running and gunning other stuff to stay away from spectator boats because he thought his spots were afternoon bites and didn't want to show his hand. He made the final 12 cut.
I did hear stories of some pros doing unfair things to prep the tournament but I can't really comment on it because it was hearsay. I know what I saw. They don't like the idea of someone simply pulling up on a spot they spent a lot of time to find and ruining their tournament. I went with Terry Scroggins, Randy Howell, and Denny Brauer last year and remember the same kind of attitude.
I asked about the use of guides and many of them do it. But they do this many months in advance of a tournament usually. Sometimes even right after a tournament (for the next year). This helps point them in the right direction of why bass do what they do on that lake. For instance, the bass on Ky Lake and the bass on Clarks Hill have different tendancies because of different environments. When practice time comes, they do a lot of searching and are out long days. My buddy and I saw KVD out fishing a main lake ledge at 8pm Sunday night. And he was fishing hard. One of the reasons these guys are so good is how hard they work at it. Physically. It was over 100 degrees heat index Saturday and KVD busted his butt to win.
By the way - Takahiro Omori was a joy to watch. His attitude is awesome. His techniques are cool. And he really knows and takes care of his equipment. If you don't know his story, you should look it up. A great example of how a person who works hard enough in our land of opportunity can make it, without handouts. Good guy. And if you don't know who Keith Poche is, look him up. Genuine good guy who is going to be good.
Just my input. Also, been out with Dave too. You can not go wrong there. An investment that lasts a lifetime in fishing knowledge. Wish I had done that years ago.
Jason
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