How do pros navigate hazardous waters?

Being on a new lake how do you avoid stumps and hazards? i see these guys doing 80 on new lakes they have never been on

They pay locals to show them trails , fact

^^^^This^^^^ I got called from several for Roberts when they were there.

Yeah its pretty amazing that people think the guys on tv are the best fisherman in the World , they're the most privelaged

I can promise you they are in the Elites for a reason

Yes , I agree .

I think they just put the pedal down and pucker up the old brown eye. It's not like they have to pay for it it they hit a stump.

These guys didn't get to be Elite's by being stupid. Having said that, there are not enough maps, notes, and local information that will substitute for personal experience on lakes like Palestine and Ray Roberts that have no designated boat lanes. There are areas on both lakes where 10ft. in either direction could spell trouble. There was a local on Toledo Bend, I say local he guided part time, and I witness him knocking is 200hp outboard plumb off the transom once. This was just north of the Pendleton bridge before the boat lane markers were put in. So I'm thinking these guys do their homework before they run helter skelter across these tournament lakes that are new to them. Like the TV ads say, these guys are good.

They drive it like they stole it.

This...but only after they get locals and team members to share a little knowledge.
I know that NOT ALL do this though. I've been with some and we were on plane praying the whole day.

I don't know I heard Biffle put the pedal down booking it up the river at Hubbard and not taking your traditional path telling the marshal "if you can't see it, it isn't there."

I can attest to that. He was at a show in Joplin, Mo. and I ask him about running new areas especially rivers where the snaggs are always changing. He commented "I run with the mindset if I don't see it, it isn't there"

When in doubt trim it out.

Yep...Biffle shredded a lower unit at RossBarnett a couple years back. Talked to him at the Mercury trailer that night. The next day he had a new lower on his boat.

I've ridden as a marshall and I will say this, if they get information then the people giving it do not know squat. They have scared me to death. Most of them I have asked this question to have all said they study google earth back dated

Most get local info, lots of it. The amount of info that got exchanged over Rayburn and Toledo is crazy. And that's just the few guys I know connected to some elite guys. I can't imagine the entire field and the lengths they go to for knowledge

I remember old episode of Jimmy Houston saying(and showing) the best way to run lakes with tree stumps is trim up and fly. Said on plane your boat sits barely in water. Makes sense but not gonna do it.

I was told by a FLW pro, that if they cant see it (stumps), then its not there. Trim up and go with it, he said.

I watched Ike on Lake Fork during one of the Toyota Classics and he was back in Chaney fishing by the park. He got ready to leave and jumped in the drivers seat and took off. Hit a stump within 20 yards that killed the motor. He cranked up and jumped right back on pad hitting another that killed the motor. He cranked again and took off like nothing happened and hit 3 more before getting to the boat lane. I have no Idea what they had to do to his boat but he hit 3 of them hard and the other 2 he rolled over at about 50mph or so.

Jody

Yep I was in the boat with Biffle on Rayburn in the 90's he was running wide open across a known stump field I yell Tommy there are stumps, his reply was it's not my boat besides it's better to skip off the top of them.

It would honestly amaze you how many actually receive "free" boats. The ones that do have to pay taxes as an income.

Back in the 80's we saw many guys leave out of Huxley Bay wide open trying to run the river channel, BOOOOOM , would be back shortly on the Trolling motor. I wish I had a quarter for every lower unit that got knocked off between there and Pendleton

I was able to ride or observe with Harold Allen at the PAA at Hubbard, second day when he made the cut.

First, it was awesome.

Second, he stayed in the river, I have been up there many times and run the same course. He was on the course I would run, but cut a part of it off, When he did, I must have visibly braced myself for impact and I think he started laughing at me.

He did bend a prop shaft on one of the practice days, but he marked that stump.

There's a reason many of them haul a "backup" boat around ...

Information and Time on water...

Basscat has an option called an extra laminate schedule. Ike gets this on everyone of his boats. I got it on my p2 for an extra $1000. It's basically a gorilla hull on the inside. I think it's a must if your gonna spend a lot of time in the stumps.