Pro Tips Weekly: Jim Moynagh

Are you ready for the tournament?

I’m very serious about preparing for a tournament. I probably spend four hours or more the day and evening before a tournament getting everything ready. I make sure any mechanical issues with my equipment are settled. I put fresh line on the reels that I used in practice, and maybe change lines because of something I’ve noticed about the water clarity.

In practice, hopefully, I’ve figured out a pattern or two. I know what rigs and lures I’m likely to need, and I’ll take out all the stuff I won’t need. If the last tournament was a smallmouth tournament, and I’m fishing for largemouths now, I’ll make sure the smallmouth tackle is out of the boat. All the while, I’m thinking about what I’m probably going to be doing the next day based on what happened in practice.

The point of all this preparation is becoming a better tournament fisherman. When you make the first cast in a tournament, you don’t want anything in the back of your mind that will break your concentration. You don’t want to have to burn fishing time digging around in compartments to find the things you need. Your focus should be on fishing; your only concern should be figuring out where the fish are, what they want and how to get them in the boat. What your preparation routine should do is reduce the likelihood of equipment failure as much as possible and help you organize your fishing tools so you can use them more efficiently. When it’s time to get down to business, then, there won’t be a lot of wasted effort.

—- M&Ms pro Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn.