Bob Perkins worked hard all year long fishing the ABA Bassmaster Weekend Series, Minnesota division. Out of the gate he took home the top prize at Lehomme Dieu. A 13th place finish on the Whitefish Chain didn’t sway him. Collected, he brought his ‘A’ game to Pokegama to claim is second win in three tournaments. Rounding out the series with 20th and 13th place finishes on Mississippi Pools 4 & 5 was enough to launch Perkins to the November Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship, where he finished strong. It was no easy road, however. 1,200 miles of lakeshore (the equivalent of a drive from Minneapolis to Atlanta) awaited Bob and his co-angler. The biggest question was where to start.

When fishing new water – especially a lake or reservoir of this size, the first place to start isn’t on the water at all…it’s on the web. “Search the web for everything related to the lake you are fishing”, says Perkins. Forums are a great place to start, but they don’t always come up when using search engines. Perkins recommends including the word “forum” in your search string. Don’t be shy about being on the forum. “Register and ask if anyone minds sharing some tips. You would be surprised at how helpful some folks are willing to be.” After registering on a forum prior to an Austin fishing trip, Perkins was fortunate enough to find a more than helpful angler. “A guy offered to meet us at the ramp and show is several areas to start” Perkins added, “priceless.”

Long before seeing the water, you need to develop a plan. Use multiple sources to pinpoint the spots you want to first try. Don’t settle on just one. Start with Hotspots Maps, use Navionics, and rely heavily on your GPS. By combining the three – at least these three – you can effectively narrow down twelve hundred miles of lakeshore into a more manageable 20. This pre-practice period is also a good time to rig up your arsenal.

Refer again to the buzz and chatter in forums, blogs, and fishing reports about the area before practice begins. “This is a good time to align your confidence baits with the local favorites; create a list of 5 techniques for the first day” says Perkins. “Bring a truckload with you; have 5 tied on.”

After cutoff, information gathering from anyone other than fellow competitors is strictly prohibited. You’re in information solitary…no news in, and no news out.  This is a great time to study – keep looking at your maps and keep deep diving into the web. Perkins employs tools like Google Earth. “Google Earth will give you a birds eye view [of the lake] and may even help you find some rocks, humps, weeds, and docks that you won’t see on any of your maps.” This, coupled with the game plan you developed earlier will give you a jump when you finally hit the water.

The first day of practice can be a lonely place when you’re on unfamiliar water. Fisherman can spend too much time fishing unproductive water. This is where information sharing with a fellow competitor or two can come in handy. You don’t have to give away the farm – share only what you’re comfortable sharing, and keep it in your circle of trust. “[During practice] I shared with one other [Minnesota] guy and it was worth it. We had different news and each handed over our baits of choice. One may say we doubled our chances by explaining when we were throwing what”, said Perkins. Having a fellow competitor to note-share with also helps out when trying to cover large bodies of water. You can easily double the amount of water your able to prefish by partnering-up.

Early prefishing is for developing patterns. You may only fish a couple of miles within the 20 you pinpointed earlier. That’s OK…what’s important is that you determine a pattern. Listen to the fish – what are they telling you? After you think you’re on to something, move. Use your maps and GPS to identify similar areas within your area of attack, and see if the pattern holds true. “Every time a fish hits, remember why”, said Perkins.

On day two, go back to your pattern. “Did you get lucky? Make it work elsewhere and understand if it relates to structure, time of day - what triggered this bite?” Perkins suggests if the pattern hold true, it’s then time to start exploring – expand your key area by a few miles, and refer back to the information sharing you did with your partner the day before. “Start learning areas, tracing a path to the ramp, ensuring safety going into creeks, and really looking for fishy areas.”

Hopefully your pattern continues to hold true and instills some confidence in your game plan. Expanding your area could also have the reverse effect. Maybe the pattern doesn’t hold true in other areas of the lake; maybe the pattern turned off all together. If this happens, it’s time to go back to your maps and back to the web. Reconnect with the partner you made earlier. Find out if they stumbled across anything new. Regardless of what you’ve stumbled into, remember to fish your areas of confidence. A tournament – practice or during the tournament itself – is not the time to be trying new lures. This doesn’t mean stick to just one; try different confidence lures all day until your able to establish a solid pattern.

Finally, make it a point to take a co-angler fishing. They’ll appreciate it, and they can help you reduce the learning curve on new water. Doing research themselves, they may have some information you’ve overlooked.

Tackle the web, share information, and break a lake down into manageable chunks. This, coupled with fishing your strengths can assure you a solid finish when fishing new water, whether 12-miles of lakeshore, or in the case of Bob Perkins, twelve hundred miles.

Bob Wood