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> On boats with dark colored rugs, on tournament day, use a white towel to cover the lids of your live well. Take a white hand towel, drape it over the lid of the live well and tuck the edged under before you close it. This will keep the live well, and the fish in it, nice and cool all day long.
> Use lighter line to get maximum action and depth out of your baits. This will help you out fish either your non-boater or boater, even when you're fishing the same bait. Expect more bites too due to the low visibility of the light line. Try 8 and 10 lb test. Set your drag to the loose side.
> One proven method to improving your all around skills is by utilizing a simple stop watch, or even a standard wrist watch. Set up a time frame and every 30 - 60 minutes try switching lures, fishing spots, retrieves, depth. You name it. Even if you're having success with your present approach, learn to try something new. Force yourself! To have success in the tournament side of bass fishing, you must become familiar with all of the equipment you own (lures,rods,reels, and such) and you must also learn to read the water. Switching techniques, patterns, approach, and equipment throughout your fishing days will give you the "well rounded-ness" you're looking for!
> A lot happens on tournaments day, it's a busy day to say the least. To place well, always remember this one thing. Pay attention to that first bite you get. That first time your bait gets hit is going to tell you the way the bass want it. Pay attention to every cast. Know if your lure was moving quickly, not at all, vertically, falling, what depth, did you nip a weed. That first bite is going to enable you to duplicate your accomplishment over and over until there's 5 in the livewell!
> There are tournaments held all year long on all of our waterways. At the end of the day the anglers return to the weigh in point, usually a dock or marina, and they dump hundreds of bass back in the water. These weigh in points and launching areas have bass dumped in every tournament that is held, some lakes there's one every weekend. Do some online or word of mouth research and find these areas, then find them on your map, then go catch a limit. Think about it, hundreds of bass every month dumped in those areas, you know there's fish there!
> If a fish lunges at your buzzbait and misses, or if a fish strikes any of your moving baits and misses ... don't get frustrated or lose confidence. Here's a tip guaranteed to catch that fish. Immediately cast a stick bait(a Senko for example) right back out to the point where you missed the fish. Let it fall. Nine times out of ten the fish will engulf the stick bait. It works, no joke!
> Don't always worry about what the other guy is doing. Many tournament competitors try to mimic what there co-angler or partner is doing and using. If you're uncomfortable doing something, play to your strengths instead. Use a lure you have confidence in because confidence is vital to be a good competitor.
> There's nothing worse than your boat clunking out on you with a full livewell on the run back to the weigh-in. Always carry spare fuses with you for your engine and under the dash, for your electronics as well. Keep them in a waterproof container. An old case from a roll of film works great, floats too.
> Listen up and listen up good! You MUST keep a fishing log of your catches. This way when you come back to a lake a week, a month, or a year later, you have a solid knowledge if not more of what's going on. You know what worked when under what conditions and what didn't. Memory is not enough to rely on. A written record, you can print a log from files on the web, or use an actual computer program to store your info on your pc.
> On tournament day there's no room for error. To reduce dropped fish on your moving baits, and a split or o-ring to all your cranks, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits. This ring will allow more give and play when fighting the fish resulting in more bass in your livewell.
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