Article by: Jimmy Yarbrough

One of the most important factors in determining your success in a tournament is practice .For many of us, practice is haphazard. We don’t have a plan. We drive down the lake and think that looks like a good spot or I’ve caught fish there before. Triton Pro Gary Klein explained to me how he practices and gave some tips that I had never considered. What he has to say will make all of us better fishermen. Gary says: “Practice should begin with your thought process way before you actually get on the water. Begin developing a game plan.”

What he says reminds me of a coach planning or a game or a general a battle strategy.
He believes you should ask yourself two very important questions. First of all, he states: “I always look at the type of reservoir I’ll be fishing. There are 4 types of water environments we fish: manmade, natural, river, and tidal. Bass are conditioned by their environment. For instance, if you are fishing a river, you have to consider current and how it positions the fish.” Gary emphasizes that fish are conditioned by their environment. In clear water they are sight feeders, so he uses translucent colors and more finished types of baits. In off colored water they feed by their lateral lines, which pick up vibrations. Lures with a wide wobble make more noise and, of course rattles would help.
 
He likes to fish shallow which would usually mean stained water and cover, so that’s what he looks for in map study and practice. This usually means the upper ends of creeks and rivers where the water is more fertile and there is more turbidity. He says if your strength is crank baiting or Carolina rigging, look at the main lake, offshore structure, drops, extended points, and brushpiles. Map study is an important part of practice. Gary spends a great deal of time in map study prior to the tournament and then, surprisingly, intensifies his efforts during the tournament. He asks himself: “If I am catching fish in a certain area, why? Is there some subtle difference that I have overlooked? Can I expand this pattern to other areas?” He’s looking for the pattern within a pattern. For example if you are catching fish on a high spot, is there a ditch next to it or is the bottom different, maybe a shell bed or sand and gravel surrounded by mud and silt?
 
You don’t have to look at the whole lake. He likes to find one area that suits his strengths and practice there. It’s better to know a lot about a small area than very little about the whole lake. Gary feels the reason locals usually don’t do as well as expected in tournaments on their home lakes is that they know the lake, the spots where they have caught fish. They concentrate on the spots and not what the fish are doing.  He doesn’t worry about a spot being obvious to other fishermen. His idea is to fish what the fish are using. Gary also doesn’t worry about fish moving due to a cold front. He believes the fish may suspend or move a short distance and require a little searching, but are still catchable. If he has a bad day in practice, he doesn’t let this devastate him mentally. Gary says; “If you don’t catch fish, you have learned something. You have eliminated water. Change locations, not techniques. Stay with your game plan.” Gary constantly tries to learn new information or techniques in “fun” fishing and also in practice. Many of us do the same thing week after week and fish the same old spots. We are creatures of habit. I’ve made it a rule for years to find at least one new spot every trip to the lake. He works on his weaknesses in practice.

Gary doesn’t listen to “dock talk”. He believes that if you have a plan, do your homework, pursue your strengths, and find the pattern within a pattern, you will put yourself in the best position to win. A question that I’ve always struggled with is whether or not to hook fish in practice. Gary’s opinion on this is: “I won’t stick fish in practice. I’ll bend my hooks in. You usually can judge the size of the fish by how hard he pulls and sometimes they’ll hang on to the lure long enough for you to see them.” He feels that a lot of fishermen catch too many fish from a spot in practice. He will not sit on a spot, leaving after one or two bites. After basing your game plan on map study, practice, and your strengths, you have to stick with it in the tournament. Gary says; “Most fishermen won’t follow a strict game plan. This comes with experience, time on the water. Lots of guys look for a hot lure or technique and forget about what they do best. There are no secret lures. When you catch a fish, think about the position of the fish and your presentation. A half dozen other lures probably would have caught that fish.”

He is not a hole sitter. Gary has seen guys that will catch 3 or 4 fish from a spot and then sit there all day without any more success because there were probably only 3 or 4 fish using that area and they caught them. He will leave a spot and return to it later, looking for fish that have become active or moved in. After talking with Gary, I see why he has been so successful on the pro trail. He truly is one of the nice guys of tournament fishing and I greatly appreciate him taking the time to talk with me.