Time To Do A Little Homework In Preparation Of The 2011 Tournament Season

We’re getting into the time of the year when I actually have a little time to spend with my family and even have a little time for myself. When I’m not hanging out with my wife and son and going to school functions, I’ve been doing a lot of running in preparation for an upcoming marathon I plan to run in January. That will be my first marathon, and I’m looking forward to it as a milestone in my life.

I don’t really have any commitments to fish any more tournaments this year, which is nice because it gives me more time to focus on the upcoming Elite Series Season. The late fall and early winter are a time when most professional bass anglers regroup, get their tackle and sponsors in line for the upcoming year, and put their boat together. It’s really a time of preparation and an opportunity to work on the things you don’t get to focus on when you’re on the road constantly traveling from one event to the next.

At the same time, I will get a little fishing in. I plan to fish some new tournaments in areas I’ve never fished before, so I’ll make a few trips out to these locations to familiarize myself with them so I don’t go to an event without some basic knowledge of the fish and fishing. At this level of competition, you can’t go into a venue cold and expect to do well, so I sort of look at this time of the year as my homework time.

I’ve already ordered my new boat for the 2011 fishing season. I’m getting the exact same boat and motor I had last year—A Ranger Z521 with the 250 h.p. Yamaha VMAX SHO four stroke. I liked the entire set-up so much, I didn’t see any need to have anything different on my new boat.

In the past, I’d been running shorter boats because I wanted the acceleration that came with the smaller platform of a 19-foot boat, but the new Yamaha VMAX SHO four stroke pushes around the 21-foot platform so easy, about like another motor would push a 19-footer, only I have so much more storage and a lot more boat for running in big water, that it made the decision very easy for me.

The Ranger/Yamaha package is the boat I want–it performed awesome this year, had plenty of speed, power an incredible holeshot and just awesome fuel economy, and it was just a lot more comfortable platform to fish out of. I was so pleased with the performance and comfort of the boat that I really didn’t see any reason to change anything.

Right now, my boat is in the final stages of having the accessories mounted, then I’ll pick it up some time next week and start the break-in process, which also allows me to do a little practice fishing. You don’t hear a lot of people talking about how important practice fishing is, but if you only fish tournaments you get into a mindset that actually hinders you during the course of the year, so I like to have some relaxing practice days on the water between events.

A big part of my down time in the next few months will be dedicated to the upcoming Bass Master Classic in New Orleans. We work all year to qualify for this event, and it really is an honor and a justification of all the hard work during the tournament series, but at the same time, it’s a tournament with a huge payout, so I want to go into the event with the best chance to win. So I’ll do a little practice fishing in the area to try to figure out some patterns and familiarize myself with the water, and at the same time I’ll be studying maps of the area and looking at the water on Goggle Earth.

I’m not going to get the wrap put on my boat until just before the Classic, just to prevent any scratches or rips in the material. Places like the Delta or the Red River where you push your boat through a lot of stumps can really rip up the vinyl in the wrap, and then once you start laying on the speed, the water gets forced underneath it and exacerbates the problem, so I’m just going to keep it nice and clean, and get the wrap on before the Classic.

I’ve ordered all me tackle for the year, and once that comes in I’ll organize it, get everything placed properly in the boat and then take it out for a few practice days on the water. From there, it’s just a matter of having everything ready to get on the road at the beginning of the new year.

Full Article