Competition Fishing

[Brandon Matthews]

Here is a question for you veteran competition fisherman. During your practice sessions, how many fish do you strive to catch in a 3 hour period. In my mind I would like to get 20 fish in a 3 hour period during my practices; however, I can't seem to get over the 15 fish hump. Right now for being December I'm averaging 14 fish in a 3 hour session. I'm sure things will slow down here in January and February but even during January and February I would like to catch 15 fish in a three hour session.

Am I'm shooting to high? I don't know what the average competition beat produces. I mean should I feel comfortable catching 14 fish or should I find away to increase that yet. Plus I'm unsure about how many fish will normally win a competition.

Any advise would help guys

thanks.

[Bill Steudler]

Conditions will dictate a lot of your success.  I just try to catch as many fish as I can during that 3 hrs based on the conditions.  If the rivers are truly blown out there is no way you will take 20 fish in a 3hr session, you would have to be as lucky as the New England Patriots to pull numbers like that.  If anyone says they can take 20 wild fish in blown out conditions they are lying.  They probably caught a 30" brown on spring creek too.

To answer your question about how many fish a river will surrender during a comp I guess the only answer would be again based on water conditions.  If the rivers are blown the numbers will be lower than if the water was at a prime level. 

[Dejon Hamann]

There's really no answer to this question nor standard.  It completely depends on the venue and conditions.  As well as fish density and activity, etc.

If it's a tough low water wild brown trout stream 2 fish might win a session.  If it's an overstocked brook trout lake 33 fish might win a session.  If you're standing in front of a prolific pod of thigh high grayling 55 might win. 

[Dave Pehle]

As the other guys say it depends on conditions. The Draw has a lot to do with it.
I look at it this way:
 Don't blank is # 1, What were the numbers from the other sessions and who fished the beats before me. As the comp. goes on the river sessions #'s should go down
the lake sessions should stay fairly consistent.
If it's the 1st session who's in my group and what will it take to win it depending on my group.  If I have done my homework well,  look at all venues and fish the pratice water hard before the comp and the #'s will come

[Randy Hanner Sr.]

As a dad of a competitive angler and long time observer of the competition scene I don't know if quantity in practice is what you should striving for. Dejon is correct about the  different situations dictating how many you catch in competition. Just look at Nationals last year with those changing conditions. I would think that practicing for 3 hours is a great goal to get your endurance up and get you used to being in the water for that amount of time. The one question I would put out there is how many times has your practice water been just like or close to your actual beats in competition?  

[Brandon Matthews]

I am certain that the water i'm fishing is close to the water I will be fishing in a competition. I also practice during the most nastiest conditions. I just want to be sure I'm completely prepared for any situation...so I fish in the pouring rain, muddy water, and practice when the streams is blown out. I just want to be prepared and not look like a jackass when I'm in a competition.

[Loren Williams]

I operate under the assumption that what I have is never enough so I always bust my ass to catch just one more....

[Brandon Matthews]

Nice mind set  I like it!

[Todd Oishi]

I operate under the assumption that what I have is never enough so I always bust my ass to catch just one more....

I'm in total agreement with Loren on this one. My experiences at past competitions have made me a firm believer in the principle that staying in this frame of mind is critical for success, and that you must never let your guard down and assume that you are in the lead at any time during a session...

[Dejon Hamann]

Brandon, are you certain you're fishing water like the competition water... because it is the competition water

Two other things to consider:
1) If you're fishing a mock 3 hours session - make sure it's a mock beat length.  It's much easier to catch X number of fish in a mile than it is in 60-120yrds... which I think is how long the State College beats will average. (guys, correct me here if I'm wrong).
2) Fish pressured water more than fresh.  Fish behind other anglers on the stream.  Better yet get a skilled buddy and fish behind him.  It's much easier to catch X number of fish that haven't seen a fly in awhile than it is 1 hour after a top level angler has trashed the water for 3 hours.  And 3fold on day two! 

[Bill Steudler]

Beats for the regional will be about 80-100 yards.

[John Killinger]

Sounds like work to me...

[Dejon Hamann]

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

[Chris Puchniak]

I always try to keep a close eye on what other anglers are doing on the water, and recent reports, as well as checking how I've done on the water previously.

I am new to the game, but the importance of how many fish you catch is the relative numbers you get.  Sometimes I know I will only catch 3 fish in 3 hours, other times in the same body of water, it will be more like 30.  But all that is pointless (in competition talk!) really - what matters is that you land more than the guys you are matched up with.  If I catch 15 and they catch 20-25 each, I may have saved myself from blanking, but my placings score will not be good.  So when I am fishing, I really try to see how others are doing - to give some comparison.

I think it's also a good estimator if you try and often fish BEHIND other anglers.  Purposely let them fish the waters first, then you go in and try to pull something out right behind them.  I believe that is always a good judge of your success.  Anyone can often catch the first aggressive and naive fish in the beat, but the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th man through the same stretch has many disadvantages - and as you've already mentioned yourself, testing yourself in the conditions where you are at a disadvantage is a good measuring stick.

[Jeremiah Hamilton]

Right there is gold!!! I did that all last season followed behind Ivo, learning from him, fishing already fished fish, its a great way to judge if your getting better. By the end of the season I was constantly catching fish in our rotations. Echo everyone else fish your group, each beat is different and by the third session those fish are hard to catch, all you have to do is save the Blank get your one fish and then build upon it.

2) Fish pressured water more than fresh.  Fish behind other anglers on the stream.  Better yet get a skilled buddy and fish behind him.  It's much easier to catch X number of fish that haven't seen a fly in awhile than it is 1 hour after a top level angler has trashed the water for 3 hours.  And 3fold on day two! 

[Jason Hearle]

A thing I liked to do when I lived within a 20 minute drive of trout water was to hit the same water over and over and over again.  The water I chose was water that was pounded by the locals.  I would fish later in the day after a bunch of other guys had already fished through.  The only downside of fishing this was that some of the other anglers certainly weren't very proficient, but it did force me to test other, less conspicuous areas throughout the "beat", and try different tactics.  Another gauge I used was if I caught more browns (non-stockies) vs. rainbows which may be holdovers but for the most part were stocked.