Prefishing for Champs

Well I would imagine everything that was figured out last weekend is gonna be out the window by the time this Sat rolls around.
I had a terrible 3 days of practice with my last outing being last Friday so I'm looking forward to things getting shaken up. At least until they open the gates and the bite really shuts off.
One thing about it, someone will figure them out and a whole lot of teams will have some good excuses on why they didn't catch them.
Good luck to all.

Danny I just unhooked my kitchen sink to take with me

Glad u not me......at least your fishin, good luck!

Mutha Forker back at it.

We will be out there, have a little plan that we think will hold true. (Catch an over each and then go in for lunch the rest of the day)

sounds like a great plan John!
I just hope that im not one of the ones that have an excuse on why they didnt catch them.

Haha, it is going to be a grind

This systems was exactly what I didn't want to happen to week before! This tournament is going to suck

You have to look at it positive. The front will keep them messed up all week and by Saturday they should want to eat. They will be ganged up right outside the spawning grounds they were at before the front.

Fork fish don't react well to current and cold muddy water...justsay'n, it will be interesting...

Pre fishing is over rated.
Saw Slades post of those fish on the bridge.
Then saw thread about Google Earth Pro Tip and went to check it out and saw fish schooling at 154 bridge.
Looked like wolf packs of 2.10s.
There ya go. No gas or travel needed.

This front is definitely going to change things. But I dont see it hurting them too bad

Maybe it's a blessing man , now erase the practice out of your head . It has changed anyway and you have a fresh start . You could have had a great practice of shallow fish that were about to spawn , then I would be dissapointed . Stay positive.

I think that you are correct Brad.
A fresh outlook on things is the way to go.
On the other hand maybe I'll make the top 10 cut at Rayburn and not have to worry about the Fork fish!

There ya go , I like that attitude.
I'm hard on myself when it comes to fishing . If you're having negative thoughts before you even start might as well keep the boat on the trailer .

I still struggle when it's 1:00 and I don't have the fish I need . I know it's just a matter of finding them but that's when it's tough for me.

Sounds like you have thrown in the towel already. Its fishing, anything can and will happen. I bet they bite better than many think they will.

You know what we get to do on Saturday?

We get to go fishing.

That's right

a beautiful day in February and we get to go fishing!

Yes I know I've prolly told this story 100 times but tough, we are still proud as all get out, and I'm gonna tell it again!! Prefishing for the Ray Roberts tourney back in 2014 sucked. Couldn't buy a bite. It was terrible. Same thing for that spring too. No fish prefishing, not a single bite during the tourney. June rolled around went back out and prefished. Pffft. Sucked. We thought man what the hell are we doing out here fishing with these guys? We can't compete.

Went Friday to register, boat 150 out of 166. Me and the ole man always have a little "garage talk" the night before bout the tournament coming up and we were both just defeated. Everything sucked. Boat 150 sucked, fishing sucked, boo freaky hoo. Went out the next morning. Took off. Boats everywhere we wanted to fish (I know everyone says this stuff but its true.. plus we don't like crowds or crowding folks). Stopped off at a place Dad hadn't fished in years and I really couldn't recall ever fishing because our other "go-to" spots are usually pretty good. Fished a treeline all day and I'll be damned if we didn't win the whole thing! A lots of folks on here are friggen sticks on Roberts so we really thought our weight would hold up but the good Lord figured it was our time. 1st year fishing Champs, 4th tourney of the year, we were Champs!

Moral of the story: Just go out and have a good time fishin.... things change every single day out there and you just never know! We prolly won't catch a thing at Fork but we sure do enjoy the competition and feel like we can win everyone we enter and you should feel the same way IMO! Good luck fella's and for crying out loud lets be courteous to each other and safe out there!

good story! your moral to the story is right on! just go fishing...

Awesome story!
You just never know till you go.
Wife and I won a Thursday night tournament on Winnsboro last June with a little over 21# and we only caught 6 fish. Been trying to do it again with no luck.
Good luck Louie

Lol you say this like I'm going to donate then sit in the bottom of the boat! This front does suck the week of the tournament... No ifs ands or buts about it! It's the way it's going to be! Regardless still got to get out an get 5 bites! Just going to be a little more difficult than I would have liked!

You will be fine. Just go fishing. Someone has to win. Might as well be you.

It will be fun no matter what. Good luck. Hope you catch 'em.

Truthfully, I'd rather have it tough as nails on tournament day. That way your strategy may pay off and it will be tough as nails for everyone else, too.

We all have the same chance !! Next cast could be a 12 lb fish worth 20 grand.
We fished last Saturday didn't catch a bunch but I got to be with friends and make some new ones.
It's not always about winning that's just a bonus..

I don't get this mindset... Why defeat yourself mentally before you even get to the lake? Doesn't make sense to me. Like Mark said, someone has to win...

Thinking about fishing it by myself Saturday since I haven't found a partner. PM if interested. I plan on fishing all the north schedule. Hard to find someone with skins on the wall that doesn't already have a solid partner.

Man I wish I lived in DFW... Every time I go fishing in Midland, people look at me funny. Then again, I'm flipping puddles in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Its Fork. 5 bites will get you 1 or 2 dinks to weigh!

tejasbass: PM sent

Louie, I knew a girl in high school that was just like that, just go out and have good time, you never know!! Just sayn

Despite the drop in water temps Brian Dupluchain caught a 12.6lb beast out there today.

Tougher is best for the tough.

Rayburn temps fell 12 degrees over the last couple of days and we cought lots of fish today. I just couldn't get a kicker.

Sort of like my stories. My partner had been undergoing Hep b treatment and did not get to go to Cedar Creek to prefish.
I had gone a couple times too and fished the last day before cut off the weekend before the tournament. Never having caught more than 2 fish and nothing but little ones, I called my partner that night and asked him if he would like to just skip this one.
He said that we should just go to have fun so we went. It was a summer tournament and it was taking 16 to 18 to win. Our first stop, his hole. Within 30 minutes we had a 7, a 5 and another 3 pounder. We knew then we were in it. Struggled the rest of the day but 20 minutes before weigh in we caught our 5th fish.
That was the last year they gave Champion boats. Champion was closing but we held out and Chad got us his comp boats. My partner kept the boat and still has it today. Champion 198, fully loaded.

Several years later and with my daughter we fished Tawakoni the last year they gave away boats. Again prefishing stunk with nothing to look forward to. We decided to just run a number of spots we knew and hope for the best.
Our first stop was a tiny patch of brush inside a point. Another boat was sitting on top of it fishing the bank. We kept waiting till they moved and then hit it. Nothing happened and I started moving off after 10 minutes. Tiffany got a hit and we boated our first 2 pounder. Cool.
Another little pile next to a small marina and I kept getting a hit but no fish. After about 4 misses I stuck it. Another 3 pounder.
We did not get another fish on our spots so we headed across the lake to some timber. A pattern emerged. We found if we hit isolated single trees in the forest and kept casting we would occasionally get a fish. Caught two more for the day with one nice one around 5 pounds. Around 1 I lost what may have won the tourney. It was a 3 pounder that I made the mistake with. I had put the boat between two trees and cast to an isolated tree. After several casts I put one just to the left of the tree but my line was over a small branch. I thought what the heck and pulled it up and dropped it a few times. Hit, pull, the fish breaks the surface a few times and is gone. It was at 1 so I did not know how bad we needed that one.
With just a few minutes to fish and having to idle through the timber to get out to open water, I told my daughter we would hit this one big tree up next to the bank. First cast, a 4 pounder. Going back to weigh in I knew we would probably be close. I turned out we were about 7 tenths of a pound short for 3rd place. That was the last year BC gave away boats.

So if you not on fish don't let that bother you. Tournament day is different.

May have been talked about before, but how does the launch work for Champs at Fork? Everyone meet at lake fork marina and launch like normal tourney? Or can you trailer? Thanks

Excellent advice from both you guys!! Just go fishin when you can and have FUN!! Life is too short.

And let me add that when Brian Duplechain says he caught a 12.6 you can take it to the bank!!

I found the lake in good shape today, much to my surprise. Fishing was good to real good in the 4 hrs I was out. Still stained to muddy, but a good angler and a little luck will figure it out pretty quick. I'm not but did, if the wind don't effect it to bad champs will catch'um up good tomorrow.