05-24-2013, 04:12 PM
Captainonboard.org
Where to fish and why? What is the weather going to do and how is it going to affect the conditions where I want to be? What time of day do I want to focus on? What is the bait situation for us, and for everyone else? It becomes almost overwhelming, and the stress mounts, big time.
Bait is where you need to start when you will need to catch it yourself. Local marlin tournaments are won and lost with live mackerel, and last year during tournament season the stuff was scarce. I ran the “Sassy Sissy” and won a marlin tournament with bait I bummed off another tournament participant in Avalon Harbor the night before it started. I ran up and down every row asking for bait (after looking HARD on the front of the island all day for nothing.) This years W.O.N. Catalina Seabass Tournament is very much the same with very little squid around. It seems the ones willing to go “to any length” to get the bait is already in the lead when the starting gun goes off.
Pre-fishing is key and should be done whenever possible. I have however, had bad experiences with pre-fishing. Crew members too tired when its tourney time (especially me), bait supply dwindled down to “less than enough,” and other things like battery power not at peak performance. There needs to be some balance in your pre-fishing game, so as not to use up your strengths and tools for when it counts.
That leads to actually being honest with yourself about the strengths and weaknesses of your equipment and crew. Small boats may not be able to go the extra mile without some losses in bait and crew energy. Bigger boats may struggle to get to prime spots before faster rigs can claim them. Your game plan should revolve around what your team is capable of, and nothing more.
Weather can affect everything about a tournament. It can make or break spots you want to look at, or cause your competition to run and hide. Bad weather definitely separates the crowd when the fish are where the weather is worst, and that can be a good thing when you have a solid crew. When you get down to the details, weather will dictate where and when you fish at Catalina. Some areas just plain bite better in certain conditions. Try fishing Salta Verde in an afternoon westerly and you’ll struggle to stay in position for a winning bite, same with West Cove’s main kelp. That dreaded morning southeast breeze will help you fish those spots, and you better be aware of what the weather is going to do so you can plan accordingly.
Gathering intel before a tournament can send participants to days old spots and left to scratch their heads. Choose your sources carefully and more importantly, be sure they are not telling you something everyone else you are competing against already knows. Nothing worse than ending up in the crowd, nothing.
Listening to your competition and not doing all the talking may help you to pick your battles. If a member of another team says they have a line on something “too good to be true,” especially for a certain category, you may want to change things up and focus on another species altogether. If a boat has Allyn Watson as their captain, you may want to change from a seabass game plan to a halibut one, if you get my drift. That requires some flexibility and maybe even more than one backup plan. Be sure to communicate with your crew as things change, so they are not so thrown off that they lose their focus when the game plan goes a different direction.
This last paragraph is mostly for me to write, and read over and over. Tournaments can be a lot of fun. Getting too serious can take away from one’s ability to hunt effectively and may cause mistakes. One overly serious crew member can derail an entire team, especially when things don’t go as planned (they almost never do). Temper tantrums and screaming fits at other boats takes away from the teams ability to do what they are there for, and that is catch that winning fish. Last time I checked, fishing was supposed to be fun. I lose sight of this all too often in tournaments, but rarely let anyone else know about it. My stomach hurts even as I write this, and I am ready for this thing to get going.
Last year I fished 6 tournaments and won 5 of them. Not good for me mentally, as the pressure I put on myself is almost too much to bear. One minute I am saying to myself “I am due for a loss, so just have fun.” Next minute, I am thinking of ways to win and stressing out. Deep breath. It’s only fishing “It’s ONLY FISHING.”
See everybody over there. If I am not all that friendly, its not you, its me (stressing out). Good luck to everyone!
It's always a honor to read your writings Jeff
Where to fish and why? What is the weather going to do and how is it going to affect the conditions where I want to be? What time of day do I want to focus on? What is the bait situation for us, and for everyone else? It becomes almost overwhelming, and the stress mounts, big time.
Bait is where you need to start when you will need to catch it yourself. Local marlin tournaments are won and lost with live mackerel, and last year during tournament season the stuff was scarce. I ran the “Sassy Sissy” and won a marlin tournament with bait I bummed off another tournament participant in Avalon Harbor the night before it started. I ran up and down every row asking for bait (after looking HARD on the front of the island all day for nothing.) This years W.O.N. Catalina Seabass Tournament is very much the same with very little squid around. It seems the ones willing to go “to any length” to get the bait is already in the lead when the starting gun goes off.
Pre-fishing is key and should be done whenever possible. I have however, had bad experiences with pre-fishing. Crew members too tired when its tourney time (especially me), bait supply dwindled down to “less than enough,” and other things like battery power not at peak performance. There needs to be some balance in your pre-fishing game, so as not to use up your strengths and tools for when it counts.
That leads to actually being honest with yourself about the strengths and weaknesses of your equipment and crew. Small boats may not be able to go the extra mile without some losses in bait and crew energy. Bigger boats may struggle to get to prime spots before faster rigs can claim them. Your game plan should revolve around what your team is capable of, and nothing more.
Weather can affect everything about a tournament. It can make or break spots you want to look at, or cause your competition to run and hide. Bad weather definitely separates the crowd when the fish are where the weather is worst, and that can be a good thing when you have a solid crew. When you get down to the details, weather will dictate where and when you fish at Catalina. Some areas just plain bite better in certain conditions. Try fishing Salta Verde in an afternoon westerly and you’ll struggle to stay in position for a winning bite, same with West Cove’s main kelp. That dreaded morning southeast breeze will help you fish those spots, and you better be aware of what the weather is going to do so you can plan accordingly.
Gathering intel before a tournament can send participants to days old spots and left to scratch their heads. Choose your sources carefully and more importantly, be sure they are not telling you something everyone else you are competing against already knows. Nothing worse than ending up in the crowd, nothing.
Listening to your competition and not doing all the talking may help you to pick your battles. If a member of another team says they have a line on something “too good to be true,” especially for a certain category, you may want to change things up and focus on another species altogether. If a boat has Allyn Watson as their captain, you may want to change from a seabass game plan to a halibut one, if you get my drift. That requires some flexibility and maybe even more than one backup plan. Be sure to communicate with your crew as things change, so they are not so thrown off that they lose their focus when the game plan goes a different direction.
This last paragraph is mostly for me to write, and read over and over. Tournaments can be a lot of fun. Getting too serious can take away from one’s ability to hunt effectively and may cause mistakes. One overly serious crew member can derail an entire team, especially when things don’t go as planned (they almost never do). Temper tantrums and screaming fits at other boats takes away from the teams ability to do what they are there for, and that is catch that winning fish. Last time I checked, fishing was supposed to be fun. I lose sight of this all too often in tournaments, but rarely let anyone else know about it. My stomach hurts even as I write this, and I am ready for this thing to get going.
Last year I fished 6 tournaments and won 5 of them. Not good for me mentally, as the pressure I put on myself is almost too much to bear. One minute I am saying to myself “I am due for a loss, so just have fun.” Next minute, I am thinking of ways to win and stressing out. Deep breath. It’s only fishing “It’s ONLY FISHING.”
See everybody over there. If I am not all that friendly, its not you, its me (stressing out). Good luck to everyone!
It's always a honor to read your writings Jeff
