Managing fish over multiple days is a critical component of what the touring pros do so well . They try to avoid going all in on one spot all day . Occasionally they might intentionally clean out a spot if they know a significant negative condition change such as bad weather or high , muddy water is coming , or if it ’ s a community hole that ’ s going to get thrashed anyway . However , they would much rather take only a few fish from a productive spot each day in an effort to make the spot hold up for several days instead of one . They often “ leave fish biting ” so as not to risk draining the well .
FLW Tour pro Jason Lambert provided a great example of this kind of management in the Norris Lake Invitational last fall . Lambert found a small , red-hot cranking spot in practice and could have camped on it the first day , perhaps sacked 15 or 16 pounds , and taken the early lead . Instead , he fished the hot spot for just a few minutes on each of the first two days . He boxed the first four or five bass that bit and then immediately vacated the productive area . From there he ran other patterns to cull up while saving the bulk of what was on his hot spot for the final day . The strategy earned him a runner-up finish , leaving him just 3 ounces shy of a win .
3 . playing the Conditions
In one-day tournaments , anglers mostly deal with a single weather scenario . Touring pros can encounter torrential downpours on a hard south wind one day and high bright blue skies with a stiff north wind the next . Playing these conditions to maximize opportunities is something the best pros do very well .
The FLW Tour ’ s annual trip to Arkansas ’ Beaver Lake provides a remarkable opportunity to watch Thrift , Andy Morgan , Matt Arey and David Dudley – some of the Tour ’ s best “ condition runners ” – really shine . They often mix and mingle areas and patterns based on the weather they are dealt each day . They might sight-fish down at the dam one day , throw crankbaits on wind-blown points in the mid-lake area the next day and then flip shallow cover up in the river the following day .
Weather-wise , Beaver in the spring is such a variable lake that no two days are the same , and the pros who succeed there have learned not to get hung up on repeating “ what worked yesterday .” They always play the weather windows to their advantage .
Matt Arey
Bryan Thrift
PHOTO BY ROB NEWELL
2 . assessing Fishing pressure
Touring pros acutely understand the impact of fishing pressure on the lakes they fish . They analyze the effects of that pressure , and then adjust their tactics to a fishery ’ s size , the time of year , the fish population , angler field size , and length of practice and the tournament .
Likewise , top pros often talk about “ timing and rotation ,” which is pro-speak for knowing – sometimes down to the minute – how long a spot needs to rest before it will “ replenish ” or a school will re-form .
Bryan Thrift is a master at assessing fishing pressure . His run-and-gun approach looks haphazard , but as Thrift is ripping up and down a lake and hitting dozens of spots per hour , he is also paying keen attention to fishing pressure being applied to certain areas at certain times . He is remarkable at working his way around that pressure .
When a tournament starts , Thrift can be seen plucking the “ low-hanging fruit ,” or catching the easily catchable fish in common spots alongside his competitors . As the tournament progresses , however , he moves to more obscure stuff that does not get as much heat .
PHOTO BY KYLE WOOD PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON putting it all together
In the end , top touring pros know how to blend these three strategies together to extend their success in multipleday events . By carefully taking just what they need from a really good spot , constantly assessing fishing pressure and playing the conditions , they are able to bolster their daily catches each day to climb the leaderboard .
Andy Morgan
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