Prefishing Tournaments

[GLF]

There is a lot of water to cover while prefishing for a tournament. Especially for a new guy. Veterans have been doing this for years, and already know what areas should be productive.

Are you sharing information with other boats? How many other boats do you share information with? What sort of information are you sharing? ie....baits, colors, depths, GPS coordinates, speed, direction of troll.....

[HitMan]

The most important piece of information you can try to gather from other anglers is location, location, and location. This could be what direction from the harbor and what depth of water. Many guys are not willing to tell a lot of their details, especially when it comes closer and closer to tournament weekend.

Many anglers can catch the fish on their own if they know a place to start. They fish normal with their personal and favorite color patterns and lures, just like any other fishing trip. Some guys will share what lures have been working, set-ups, etc. Many anglers do not take off their lures from their rods while at the marina, while many others put decoy lures on their rods at the marina.

A lot of guys will not discuss direction of troll, currents, or very specific details that may give them an advantage over their competitors.

In the PRO division, discussions and information sharing is usually tight lipped. It is a lot more intense with certain pre-established relationships and competitors. The AM division has some serious fishermen, but a lot of learning, sharing, and helping occurs more so in the AM division. You just have to be willing to share information and not only ask for information.

We will usually help any AM boat that we know and is requesting information. We don't spill all the specific beans, but enough information to help a fellow angler out. The PRO division information is a lot more selective and specific sensitive.

Many boats, both in the PRO and AM division, "team up" to help one another in trying to win and all place higher. Some days this can be effective, but other days you leave your fish to go fish someone else's invisible fish that you don't know anything about. Radio fishing is not always the best thing to do; never leave fish to go find someone else's fish.

Like I previously stated, many anglers fish tournaments for the fun, beer, and friendships, while others take it extremely serious and it can be a stressful weekend of fishing. It all depends on what personal perspective you take when fishing in a large money Lake Michigan tournament.

[GLF]

We will usually help any AM boat that we know and is requesting information. We don't spill all the specific beans, but enough information to help a fellow angler out. The PRO division information is a lot more selective and specific sensitive.

Hey Jon, I will be fishing the Big Jon Pro/Am at South Haven this year. Any help would be much appreciated.

On the other note. There are some really good fisherman who fish on the AM side of these big tournaments.

What classifies one as a PRO or AM? Are you allowed to fish the AM side if you are a licensed charter captain?

[HitMan]

Yeah, all you got to do is ask Mike. Don't be afraid to come and talk to us at the boat. Some people get intimidated and are afraid to talk for some reason. I will let you know what marina we will be at. We are going to be in St. Joe too this year.

Licensed charter captains can not fish in the AM division. Some rules say if you have charted within the last 5 years you are still a PRO, even if you let your license expire or whatever. A PRO is mainly a licensed charter boat, licensed captain, or tackle manufacture in some tournaments.

An AM is anyone who is not a captain or licensed charter boat.

[GLF]

Licensed charter captains can not fish in the AM division. Some rules say if you have charted within the last 5 years you are still a PRO, even if you let your license expire or whatever. A PRO is mainly a licensed charter boat, licensed captain, or tackle manufacture in some tournaments.

An AM is anyone who is not a captain or licensed charter boat.

Does this include as a member of a team? For instance, say I am fishing a tournament as an AM and I have a charter captain as a member of my team. Do I still qualify as an AM or is that a gray area?

[bluedevil]

I will share info with others and have no problem with it, BUT I take info from others very carefully unless I know them well. Reason being is that I have been burned by others info in Tourny's. To protect there "honey hole" I have been pointed in the wrong direction before.

[HitMan]

I guess I should have worded that better.

1) A PRO boat is any licensed charter fishing vessel no matter who is on board.

2) A PRO boat is any boat who has a licensed captain on board; this automatically makes you a PRO boat.

For example, if I wanted to fish with 3 of my buddies in their 18' boat, we would have to fish in the PRO division.

As of last year, in some tournaments, any licensed MATE on a boat, automatically makes the entire boat a PRO as well. This was only in a couple tournaments though.

There is no gray area. It is straight forward when it comes to the classification of PRO boats.

It may be helpful to go to some of the tournament websites and read some of their specific rules. All the descriptions and statements are in the rules.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[GLF]

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Dont worry Jon. There will be plenty more questions.

Thanks for all the help.

The tournament thing is not new to me, just a different target species. When I fished semi professional bass tournaments, there were two groups of fisherman. The guys who collected pay checks, and the guys who were out to be with the guys. I preferred to be one of the guys who collected pay checks.

[spoonfed]

we talk to some pro boats and some am boats also. we just choose what to share. last year we gave gps to a pro boat that was short on steelhead. they dropped in and hit 5! i think thats how good relationships are made, but its all fun!!