Having the "Right Stuff"

    If you look in any tournament angler’s boat in the winter (mine included), you’re sure to find the "Right Stuff" for cold water fishing:  Jerk-baits, crank baits, or jigs maybe. Since 2011, you better have form of umbrella tied on to compete around here. Spring brings sight fishing rigs, square bills, shad raps – and who doesn't have a buzz-bait tied on looking for that first thunderous top-water strike of the year. In summertime, you’re likely to find a myriad of rubber worms and creatures poured in every color under the sun. Autumn's cooling weather brings the fish back shallow so it's a boat loaded with fast moving bait fish imitators waiting to be thrown at schools of bass feeding up for winter. Each season, you have to get your boats stocked up with all the "right stuff" if you want to compete.  But is that enough?

Being an "on-time guy," I try to launch my boat a bit early on tournament day. Sitting back relaxing as I watch the boats adorned with green and red bow lights bobbing around helps me calm down enough to contemplate the day ahead. Knowing my competitors’ boats are sure to be filled with the "right stuff" like mine, I need another advantage to be able to win.  Luck maybe?

Don't know if I believe in straight up luck, at least in the mythical sense.  Just the fact that Sherry has put up with me all these years, maybe I should? What I do believe is a maxim my Dad instilled upon me when I was young:

 "Luck is nothing but preparation meeting opportunity".

I'm sure he recognized early on by my poor performance doing chores or helping him with anything that I tended to be a "it's good enough" kind of guy. Being wise and sagely, he tried to counteract that by reciting that phrase to me as often as he could. Sometimes three or four times a day. Unfortunately it never did help his wood pile stay upright the whole winter, but it has had a great impact on my fishing.  So as I start each tournament day I feel confident dad would approve of my equipment's preparation.   Now I only need wait for that devil opportunity to show up.  Or do I?

Tournament preparation also needs to include arming yourself with the information, the mental "right stuff", to make quality on the water decisions. The choices you make tourney day like location, depth, bait color, etc… are considerably easier and more often correct with better mental preparation. One can have all the best rods, best reels, the newest lures, a big, fast bass boat ready to go, but nine times out of ten you'll hand your money to someone who has prepared both their equipment and their minds better than you. 

You can mentally prepare yourself for a tournament in lots of ways. Researching current and historical patterns, current water levels, temperature, even moon phases if that's what you like. Get an underwater contour map and compare it to Google Earth. Familiarize yourself with underwater landmarks and how they relate to landmarks you'll be able to see. Mark up a paper map, then take it out on the water so you can see how it looks on your electronics. Talk to anyone you can who has fished on the same water recently. You often can't do all this, but doing all you can, as often as you can, will aid you in making the right tourney day decision.  And that plays a major role in the last part of that guiding phrase "...meeting opportunity"

So next time you head out on a tournament day, I hope you've armed both your boat and yourself with all the "Right Stuff".

I wish you all the luck preparation and opportunity bestows upon you :)