The following is a short piece about my beliefs on developing, hypothetically, the perfect tournament plan. The first key ingredient is determining the number of days in a particular event. Obviously, the easiest plan to formulate, and make yourself look fairly intelligent, is the one for a single day tournament. I don't fish many of these but it's pretty obvious what the game plan is - go big and go bold.

One and two day tournaments allow you to be much more aggressive with your mind-set. The basic rule of thumb is to focus on lures and patterns that produce a larger grade of bass. There isn't a lot of room for changing your strategy, and generally in events like this I would split each fishing day into two halves. That is to say, you'll donate the first half of the day to your primary plan and of course stick to it if it is working. Devote a specific time each day (for example 10 am), and if your primary plan is not going correctly, you go to your second plan.

The shorter the tournament, the less number of back-up plans you’re going to need. For the most part you have to remain focused on one or two patterns, no more than that. Don't be "wishy-washy", stick to your plan, and go to your back up plan only if necessary.

In longer three or four day events like the US Open and FLW tournaments, there is more of a story involved in the “competition” mind-set. First remember that you must keep yourself involved in the event. I see far too many anglers in major events, fish their way right out of the event after the first day. Following your practice period, try to map out the complete tournament week in your mind. For example, a few weeks ago at the FLW National Guard Series event at Lake Mead I found an area with a large number of fish in an area about the size of a football field. I fished it the first day until I caught my limit and culled one fish. I left the fish mid-morning knowing that I'd have to use that same group of fish for the next few days. I used that spot every day and had a top twenty finish, due to nothing other than fish management.

When you find a location in a tournament that you like, have three or four different techniques in your mind prior to the tournament that your would use in that area. I can just about promise you that you'll have to change and modify throughout the week of a tournament to consistently stay involved in the tournament. What I want to get across is that even if your day doesn't go according to plan, trying to scratch out a small limit just to keep yourself involved in the tournament is crucial. It's a fine line between being open minded enough to change with the conditions, and still believing in what you have to do to win the tournament.

In short tournaments, stretch it, fish the big swim bait, the large reaction baits and try to manufacture a larger bag of bass. In longer events, stay involved; don't fish yourself out to the event. Scratch, junk fish, and do anything possible to stay involved in the tournament. You're just one large fish away from having a top ten finish.

Most importantly, when you get around some fish, set the boat down and fish them. Hang around in the area that fish are in, and try different techniques and let the fish come to you.

I hope this helps.

Good fishing, Rich Tauber

Rich Tauber is a professional bass fisherman, a former U.S. Open Champion, and Bassmaster Classic Qualifier. Rich is currently the Sales Rep for Phoenix and Bee Line Boats, as well as Zip Baits.