Don't overdo practice
By Staff
Kevin Stone
Franklin County Times
Next weekend Cedar Lake will host the most prestigious bass tournament that Franklin County has ever seen. I'm referring to the Alabama B.A.S.S. Club State Champ-ionship.
This tournament will draw the best anglers that Alabama has to offer from all parts of the State. This week we are going to take a look at how these anglers, including myself and several other locals, will prepare for this tournament.
The first thing we will do in preparation for the tournament is practice, practice, and more practice without practicing too much. Huh? Can you practice too much? Yes, you can. The key to a good practice session is finding a couple of different patterns that are working and being able to reproduce that success on tournament day. Over-practicing hurts because it can actually cause you to become confused. You have to practice enough to know where the fish are but not too much so that you get stuck in a rut.
Anglers will have to avoid the rut, and I'm not referring to the mating rituals of whitetail deer. Anglers fall into a rut when they place all their confidence in one bait or one location. This time of year there should be multiple patterns that produce good catches of bass. Just because a certain bait or location worked well last week or last year doesn't mean that it will work again next week.
We will develop a game plan. This tournament is too big to for us to wake up Saturday morning and then figure out where we are going to fish. We will have a primary plan that we will start out with and if it works stick with it, but we will also have a backup plan because fishing conditions change constantly and anglers have to adapt.
After the practice has been done and the game plan is set it will be necessary to prepare our equipment. Retie fishing lures that will be used and replace fishing line if needed. Fresh fishing line casts better and is stronger than old line. It would be very unfortunate for a good fish to break off because of old line. Pack everything in the boat the night before so you won't have to worry about it in the morning. Double check all the necessary items especially the fishing license and BCDA permit. Try to get a good night of sleep and then start the morning off right with a biscuit from CJ's or Yogi's.
This tournament is a big deal for the anglers fishing it. The local anglers are excited that this event is being held on their home lake and they are preparing to win. Next week, I will give the details about the tournament. This week, the weather will be nice so get outdoors and take a kid fishing.
Kevin Stone is branch manager and loan officer at Valley State Bank and can be reached at (256) 332-3600.
