The Art of Pre-Fishing

[andy j]

I was wondering what you all think about pre-fishing, can a guy prefish to much? When bass get on there summer patterns how long will they stay in one area. Is it only worth pre-fishing a couple of days before or less, or is a week before worth while? I think I worry to much about prefishing a spot to hard, I don't want to pressure the fish to much, Ideas? What is all you guys techniques for prefishing. Thanks AJ

[Clay.P]

You definately do not want to practice a particular spot too much. But I would spend as much time as possible on the water before hand. When I am practicing for a tournament, I will first start by checking out a map and choosing spots according to which seasonal pattern the fish will be in. I will then look at past tournament history for that body of water and talk to anyone that I know about what kind of fishing experience that they have had on the body of water. Once on the water I will fish the areas that I have chosen with baits that allow me to cover water efficiently. I want to establish a pattern. Are the fish active or nuetral or negative? Are they shallow or deep? This is when catching a few fish is helpful. When I find out what pattern they are on I will look for similar spots and fish for bites. You will not want to catch fish when you have figured out what they are doing.

[andy j]

good idea but how do you know what size fish these are, I can go out a find a lot of spots and catch 1-2 pounders but I am more talking about looking for pigs.

[basguy31]

One way to find out how big the fish are on a given spot is to drop a camera down there and take a peek. If I find a spot and get a bite or two, I will drop the camera and try to find out how many fish are there and what size they are. The underwater camera is an investment well worth the money. Sometimes I just head down a weedline with the camera and no rod in hand. Its a timesaver.

[Guest]

I fish the areas HARD when I prefish, but I do something that pretty much assures I will not disturb the fish.

I use hook-less lures.

I will use the same exact baits as I would during the tourney, but I will either remove the hooks or cut them off depending on the lure.

You get to see what the fish are hitting on and you can zero in on key spots for reference during the big show without giving them a sore jaw.

Good luck

[Ray Esboldt]

Along the lines of Tom's suggestion, but requiring less labor (like putting hooks back on crankbaits) is to take small diameter, rigid surgical tubing and slip it onto your hooks. Cover the point and the barb of the hook. You'll feel the bite, but be able to shake the fish off. Of course, you don't get a feel for the size of the fish. You can always toss an unaltered bait in there to check it out.

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Ray Esboldt

Catch-N Tackle
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[Guest]

There's not much labor involved since I have lures just for that purpose, never put the hooks back on and in the case of buzzers and spinners, I cut the hooks off so they are only good for that anyway.

It's easy to get a feel for the size when using Buzzbaits and other topwater, and its also somewhat easy with subsurface since they will hold on for a little bit giving you somewhat of an idea of how big they are.

As for the camera, I never give that much creedence as far as determining size. You have to remember everything depends on a point of reference. You need to know the size of a given object in view to determine the size of the fish you are seeing. Now, you can tell if the fish is larger or smaller just by looking at the physical characteristics, such as shoulders, etc, but to know exactly how big a fish is you need to catch it. The look of a fish also varies from one lake to another. Some lakes produce chunky 12" fish that look huge on cam and other lakes produce slender 18" fish that look to be on the small size when viewing.

I'm not sure how much this really matters as far as prefishing spots, but a fish caught on Wed, Thurs and even Fri will more than likely bite again on Sat. This is going to start a whole new debate, one that has been bashed to death here before, but we are talking about a creature with a brain smaller than a pea here. All those fish do is eat and make other fish. Their memory is very short lived and "learning" the way we think of the term is pretty much non-existant.

Good luck.

[Dan Wood]

I agree that sometimes we give the fish too much credit in the brain department. Tough fishing usually has more to do with conditions and the mood of the fish.

I've caught tons of bass that I hook and fight and lose - only to hook them again a short time later. Sight fishing early in the year, this happens all of the time.

As for prefishing, I usually use the same baits, but don't set the hook. For plastics and jigs it works just fine. I pull just hard enough to try to feel the size. Usually they will stay on just for a short time. I don't pull it up to the surface, but let it shake off. I have a tough time not setting the hook every once in awhile though . This is only if I'm fishing 1-2 days prior, if it is outside of 3 days or so, I just fish as normal.

[This message has been edited by Dan Wood (edited 07-02-2004).]

[jt24]

So if i was to fish a tournament next saturday and went prefishing on monday i could use the same bait and fish like normal without having the bass "getting smart" by the weekend?

[Yaeger Guide]

Great advice all around on this topic. Heed the advice. I fish quickly to find if they are active and note where the strikes occur (depth, structure, sun postion, etc.). You want to have an idea of what your plan will be. I also have a great idea of what I am doing early and yet rarely stick to it....

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God bless,
Judd Yaeger
Yaeger Guides
(Twin Cities Guides)
www.yaegerweb.com/guide