200 DAYS
For Josh Douglas, helping
clients like Jason Burke catch
big Mille Lacs smallies can lead
to a load of pressure to get it
right every time.
PRESSURE IS
RELATIVE
There’s undoubtedly huge pressure
to perform in a tournament, but
that’s nothing compared to being a
guide.
“Guys don’t pay me a lot of money
to not catch fish,” says Douglas. “Not
to mention the airfare, hotels, food.
They pay that much money, they
don’t just want 3-pounders. They
want 4s, 5s and 6s. I have to basically
guarantee them a 20-pound bag
every day. Now that’s pressure.”
Fortunately, Davis and Douglas
have both been guides for more than
a decade, so dealing with that type of
constant pressure to perform can
make tournament pressure feel easy.
“You learn how to handle it and
not beat yourself,” says Douglas. “I
might not have a good tournament,
but it wasn’t because of putting pressure
on myself, which can cause
mental errors. It’s just because I didn’t
figure out the fish, which happens.”
THE TAKEAWAY: If you want to get
better at handling pressure, put pressure
on yourself, even while fun fishing.
Try to eclipse a certain weight
for the day, or even set goals for an
hour, trying to catch a certain number
of fish in that time span. Have
fun, but set goals.
HAVE A PLAN B
(AND C, D AND E)
Life is great as a guide when you
get on a pattern and it works for six
days in a row. But when that magical
pattern doesn’t work on day seven?
“It sucks,” says Davis. “And that
happens all the time. Just because
you caught them on a certain bait or
on a certain place the day before in
no way means you’ll catch them on
it today.
“If guiding has taught me anything
to make me a better fisherman,
it’s you have to have multiple game
plans. Because sometimes plans A, B
and C don’t work, but D does.”
Davis says his top five at the
Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super
Tournament on Lake Chickamauga
back in June is a good example to
illustrate his point. He originally
planned to fish grass, but when he
only caught one fish in grass the first
morning of the tournament, he realized
his plan was shot. He then tried
two more plans. Neither worked.
So, he tried plan D.
“I got one bite in practice fishing a
vibrating jig,” says Davis. “I figured I’d
go try that for an hour. I ended up
unloading fury on them and saved
my tournament.”
THE TAKEAWAY: While on the
water, don’t just focus on one thing
that’s working. Consider other
options. Even just one bite can be a
clue to an alternate and successful
game plan if explored properly.
BE WILLING TO ADAPT
Sometimes having an alternate
plan is necessary, but sometimes it’s
only necessary to tweak the plan
you already have in place, like sticking
with one pattern but making a
bait change to capitalize on the
opportunities.
“With three guys casting, you
learn quickly what the fish want each
day,” says Douglas of his guide trips.
“They may have been eating a Ned
rig well yesterday, but today they’re
eating the drop-shot better. It’s those
small adjustments that make the big
difference.
“We all get used to throwing the
same things on the same spots, especially
after we caught them, but being
willing to adapt and not getting
locked in on one thing can mean the
difference between my clients catching
a couple fish and them cracking
20 pounds.”
THE TAKEAWAY: No one can
catch fish on a certain bait or pattern
all the time, so always adapt
when necessary. Try a different size,
color or a slightly different lure and
see if it increases your quantity
and/or quality.
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FLWFISHING.COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020