Some other tournament preparations:

1) Do your homework on the particular lake you are fishing and see what kind of weight typically wins at that time of year and understand if they are largemouths, spots or smallies. By seeing what has traditionally won, and what species, you obviously are in a better position to come up with and execute on a gameplan.

2) Research the internet for any fishing reports or information about the lake you are fishing and see if there is any big fish tendencies, or other seasonal information that you can glean to understand a particular area of a lake

3) Google Earth. View a real picture of the lake and re-hearse your tournament gameplan. I literally have printed out/saved to file Google Earth maps and mentally gone thru my milk-run while on an airplane.

4) Boat preparations. Make sure your boat is working legit, outboard oil, livewells work, running lights work, batteries are charged, you have all your coastguard safety gear, paperwork, insurance information, etc

5) Truck preparations: Make sure your truck is running good, your tires aren't asking for trouble, full tank of gas, emergency/roadside stuff, trailer hitch, etc

6) Appearance: Especially if you are fishing in a major event, make sure you are wearing something that you'll be glad to be photographed/videod with. Have your sponsors displayed properly, and represent yourself as a professional or a semi-pro weekend angler or whatever. Get a hair cut, shave your face, have a clean pair of pants and nice shirt for the weigh-in.


MP