A Day on a Tournament with Michael James

The clock is set for me to get up early. This way I can launch my boat, park and not be in a hurry when all of the other anglers arrive. I always check my trolling motor before leaving the dock and make sure my engine will crank consistently. Most importantly, I make sure all rods and reels are covered, that is LURES are COVERED. After speaking to most of the guys, I'll go and sit in the boat and have prayer to Thank God for blessing me to be able to go fishing; you can never do enough of this. Something that I haven't mentioned is where and what I will be fishing with. The majority of the time, the hole (as tournament anglers call it) is usually an "out of the way spot" where no one else is fishing. If you have been following the BASSFLEX PROSTAFF, it's no question as to what I will be chunking……… a Spinner Bait. About 30 minutes before blast off I'll start my "big" Mercury 200XS OPTI MAX and let it warm up. I make sure I have my boat number and always think about everything and everyone around me. Now the time is here to blast off. When taking off I always try to keep a straight line constantly looking out for the other guys. Sometimes I will have to make a long run and sometimes a short run, so I always check behind me before I stop, especially if my destination is not that far. Now that we are at our first hole, Buzz baits will always be thrown first for about 45 minutes to an hour. When I put my first fish in the live well, I'll turn on my re-circulation pumps. I put my chemicals in the live well the night before and close the drain. This way I can open my live well drain to get a full level of water and close it. The chemicals will keep the fish relaxed, slimy and also reduce vision. Each fish that is caught within regulation length will be put on the culling system. The smallest fish will always go on the red tag and biggest fish on the green tag. The culling system helps me find the smallest or the biggest fish easier versus picking through them when a fish has to be culled. Now that we have covered the basics, let's talk fishing. On my practices days I try to find an area that looks like home. While scouting I tend to keep an eye on the other anglers on the lake. The most important thing that I do is to scout the banks that no one else is fishing on. After casting my buzz bait at the first bank, spot, hole or whatever you want to call it, I will usually re-fish it with a spinner bait. Most of the times I will make one more pass with some other spinner bait just to see if the color or weight makes a difference. By this time it's almost 10:00-10:30 A.M. This is the time of day that I will know if I need to move or not. I can tell this by the boat traffic. If there is a lot of traffic then I know not to move. When I am on some fish and it's a one-day event, I'll stay. If I am on some fish and it's a 2 or 3 day event, I'm going to move for sure. You see if I am on a group of fish and there is traffic on the lake, I don't want anyone to say or know where I caught my fish. One important thing I didn't mention yet is if I have a partner I give him the rules and ask him to keep them. This way he and I can have a good day of fishing with out any problems. Now back to strategy. Let's say that this is a one-day event. If I have a limit at 11 A.M. and the bite is slow I may move if my next spot is isolated and no one is fishing it. Most of the time no one will be on it, because it will be a bank that does not look like it will hold fish. I'll stay on this bank for an hour or so and then go to the next one. Sometimes I will go back near the landing and fish, if there is a good-looking bank. Well, by now the day is just about over and close to weigh-in. As I get back to the landing, I'll check in and wait for the call for fish. While waiting, I'll get a drink of water and Thank God for blessing me with a safe day and for the fish I've caught or if I've "zeroed" (another term used by tournament anglers meaning you didn't catch anything). Now here's the exciting part! As most tournament anglers know, the first questions or murmurs that you hear are, "What did you do?" "How many did you get?" "What's your biggest one?" Everyone is trying to size you up and see if they have more fish than you. I usually try not to let anyone know how well I've done. This keeps them thinking until the call for fish. I try to keep a bag in the boat to carry my fish in because weigh-in can get kind of hectic and weigh bags are hard to come by. The first thing I do is wet the bag. I know you want to know why? A wet bag weighs more than a dry one. Now that I have my bag ready, I can get my fish out and go as fast as I can to the scales so my fish will be fresh and frisky. Frisky fish move more and keep the scale moving and this could be to your advantage. After going to the scale I pick up my weight slip and wait to see what the results will be. While waiting I'll go and put the boat on the trailer, drain the live well, wipe down the boat and make sure everything is turned off. This check includes, unplugging the trolling motor, putting away all rods and reels and making sure all tackle is confiscated so that nothing can blow out of the boat on the ride home. Now that the weigh-in is over I can go and take the polygraph test (because you know I won). I then come back and pick up my check, take a picture, do an interview and things of that nature. If we are out of town, we all get together and make ready to get on the road. We all live by the same code; buy your gas for the road the day before. This way all we have to do is stop and get something to eat. During this time we talk about the day we had, how we did and what we did. Then comes the ride home. We will only make stops for fuel because most of our trips are 3 to 7 hours. As I am backing in the Allison after a hard day at the office, the first thing I do is give Thanks to God for all he has done for me. Then I unhook the boat and hook up the battery chargers. By now the wife knows I'm home so we exchange "hellos" and "how do you dos". The next question is "How did you do?" That's when I show her my check, move the truck to the backyard and go inside to take a bath. As always, I Thank God one more time and go to bed. Like I said in the beginning you can never do enough of this.