What are the major factors to look at when trying to decide what tackle and color to tie on for a tournament?

Or is it a case of tying on your "go-to" baits and adjust when the fish tell you what they want?

Proper scouting includes high quality binoculars....I may be joking.

If you havent found them prefishing, your confidence baits would be a start. If they are not working, be willing to try other things.
I have stayed with something that worked great one day, and had little to no luck a couple of days later. If it isnt working and you know you are on the fish, change it up.

When I first started fishing years ago I thought I had to have every color under the sun. Through the years I've learned it's a few that actually work on a consistent basis. Watermelon, wat-red, blue fleck, pumpkin seed and red bug are my go to colors.

Try new things when you are pre fishing and go with what works

Sorry, I should have clarified. This is for those of us who don't have time to go pre fish.

This is what I have found from 50 years of using mostly the same baits.
First it is not so much the baits and colors as it is finding the fish. I have found if I can find the bass then one or all of my baits will catch them through out the day.
- Top water spot = Spook
- one hour later the spinner bait
- next comes the jig or plastics
- lots of times the deep diving crank bait has been the ticket the rest of the day.
- then dragging a C-rig out and around points that I know hold fish in 20 ft. of water.

Second I want my go to baits to have all the right stuff to get the job done.
- I want the spook to be the right color, with 3 hooks instead of 2. I want it to throw the bubble. I want it to make 180 turns with very little forward movement. I really don't walk the dog very much except to walk it over to a tree or bush an park it. 95% of all my bass have come while it is sitting in one spot, so walking is not important to me.
- I want the spinner baits to have the right blades for what I am doing with it; (shallow heavy cover, clear water, muddy water, sun shine, cloudy, storming and etc.). There are blades and skirts for all of this. I want the skirt to be living rubber with Minnow scented. I want the trailer to be a Stanley Pro Trailer.
- I want the Soft plastics that are fished slow to be loaded with Night Crawler scent.
- I want my jig to carry as many fish catching parts on it as possible. It must provide sight, sound, viberation, smell/taste, temperature Those are a 1/2 eye that rattles, head to be silver diamond dust, living rubber skirt hand tied w/Scent, keepers loaded with two heat signature capsules and scented trailers that move water.

These are just a few baits and it goes on and on. You see fishing is a life long process where you take the basics and turn them into the best they can be.
So if the bass are there they will bite.

What I want to happen is the BIG Bass to get to that bait before the little one does.

Great post. I had not heard of the temperature/ capsules.

Donald,
Ok, forgive me I'm new and not yet comfortable using 'jigs'. In your post you mention this: "I want my jig to carry as many fish catching parts on it as possible. It must provide sight, sound, viberation, smell/taste, temperature Those are a 1/2 eye that rattles, head to be silver diamond dust, living rubber skirt hand tied w/Scent, keepers loaded with two heat signature capsules and scented trailers that move water."
What exactly does this look like? Is this something of your design/making or is this product marketed by some of the other major manufacturers?
Good information, agree with Jeremy,

Lee in Texas sending PM.

I would love to see one of those jigs also if you don't mind. One question about jigs, do you throw the same jig if your fishing deeper structure that you would throw in shallow water situations? I usually throw smaller finesse type jigs in shallow water mainly because I want the bait to make as small as splash as possible when coming into the water it if I get hung on a tree branch near the surface I want to slip it in the water as smooth as I can. But I see tournament guys throwing huge jigs with brush hogs as trailers not baby brush hogs but the regular size ones in deep water on TV and it got me thinking if I may key in on more big fish in shallow water with a big jig vs a smaller one. Especially the time of year that we are in and headed to the next month or so.

And when I say shallow water I mean a foot or two. Working the jig from the bank shore line and back to the boat.

Just my 2 cents for me big is better. Like you said I wnat the big bite. I have never worried about the splash of the bait; actually I want them to know it is coming. I will pitch to a bush, hang it over a limb and before letting it drop in give the bush a shake then let it fall. Works almost everytime if there is a bass in the bush.

Sending PM. on the Jig.

Been pulling my hair out trying to get out of fish catching slump, this was a good post, gonna use it for the next couple local tournaments