A lot of true information and I've practiced the same way Todd does now. I've never understood practicing at times the tournament isn't going to take place or putting hooks on topwater baits in practice.
I live in East TN and Cherokee is a winter favorite. I can drop to a school of smallies and pull the school up enough to get a good look at size on Panoptix. I can see where that could reduce practice time. I could see that coming into play on ledge lakes.
They really don’t I have no idea why, we have pushed for it for years. I will say that we had one down in Texas that was close and we are working on bringing it back
Since we have a little time until season kicks off..you should do a video on the best lakes of Texas...especially as it relates to taking trips for us mortals. Maybe Texas tourism will sponsor you! :)
Good discussion video. Good to hear a respected pro’s (your) perspective. I’m 70 this year and don’t fish tournaments any more. I had a different take on practice - was I wrong? I would look for schools or failing that areas with fish. After I found them I’d try to understand the area well enough to figure out “where do they go”? ... as conditions change. Sun, clouds, wind, calm, fronts, temperatures, rain, mud, current, and most importantly fishing “pressure”. Am I wrong? Cheers.
The only thing I'll say is on most of the lakes I've been to I've always found it harder to find "Where they go" if you stop catching them in an area. For me they usually just go never to be found again. I'm not always sure they just move close by I think when they leave they or move they do it so drastically that it better to just find new fish.
You mention “out deep” versus shallow. Maybe in a video you quantify that. Obviously your home lake is Rayburn...start there and maybe go around the country in a few places and compare. Realize water clarity is the biggest factor there..
My problem with practice is I never know what class of fish I'm on. I'll set the hook on a couple but I'm like you, I don't want to hook them in practice... If I do find fish, I won't practice very far from what I've found. I don't want to second guess myself and think the fish 20 miles away are the ones I should be fishing for. I'm a day light to dark guy. I just enjoy being on the water and looking. That way if I find a pattern during the tournament, I know where to go to duplicate it instead of looking for it.
I'm rarely ever worried about the size of fish I'm on, in the end you gotta get some bites and rarely do any of us have enough spots. Plus no one ever finds the right quality to win every tour so I just do as good as I can in the other events.
Great thoughts as always Todd. I believe if your on the deal your on it. In Andrews case at Cumberland (my home lake) he just so happen to start out 1st cast with the right bait on while he was talking to Val taking the kids to school and just chucking a bait to be throwing something and it was the deal. If you cycle through enough baits and types of structures then you'll find what their on the best. If their there in evening there close by in daytime in most cases, maybe just deeper in daytime and on a ledge instead of up feeding. I stick em when I go out bc they say a bass forgets in 15min...idk if i agree 100% but that fish might be passing through anyway so why not see his size, if he spits up crawdads or shad, if he has black spots from being on wood? What do you think of my analysis Todd?
They have done studies that show bass travel miles in a day to feed so I'm not sure about them being close by. Them forgetting 15 minutes I don't believe in at all. I've got a bass in my fish tank and trust me there are things he remembers and doesn't for weeks. I'm gonna a do a video about him and the things he does. He doesn't forget anything good and bad.
Determining how and how much to practice is tough. If I don't do well, the first thought is that I didn't practice hard enough. In reality, it's more that I didn't practice correctly, or just didn't figure it out. I appreciate the discussion. I fish mostly BFLs on lakes that are tougher and smaller than average. Most guys beat the lake up for the week prior resulting in a miserable tournament. I try not to, but balancing that with the right amount of practice is tough. I do like your idea of practicing the way you think an event will be won, and switching on tournament day if practice is a bust.
Really good psychological stuff here Todd. :-) I won hundred percent agree with you on the “not“ sticking them in practice. I can’t help but think that makes them somewhat hesitant to hit the bait/skittish and the tournament. And yes, if everybody did that, I think it would be more fish brought in. God bless!
I enjoy your videos very much, what put me onto them was watching you, Bradley, and Andrew making your fantasy picks last season. Can we look forward to that again this season?
Practice is good at any sport.Game day you need to be ready and go with your game plan.Go with your gut at times when conditions change.Keep the videos coming😁
Man my folks got 7 inches of snow at their house in Nac! Crazy weather!! I was there when it started that was some scary stuff to drive in! I bet the fish were biting real well...lol😂😂
I practice as long as my mental game can take it. If I've been out there for 6 hours with no bite "losing confidence" I'm going to the hotel to eat, reset, and think of another game plan for practice the next day.
Hands down best actual fishing content right now. If all i wanted to watch was a 30 min commercial I would watch TV. Thanks for dumping so much knowledge on us Todd. You have time on the water I can never catch up with.
I mostly fish single day events and I shake off most everything but when practice goes well or I feel like I’m on them I like to go fish the stuff I see most of the field doing and stick everything practice offensively
