*Each month, before we fish our tournament, I will be writing a "Dock Talk" article to provide my opinions and view points on the upcoming tournanent.*
Dock Talk: an anglers attempt to play up or play down his or her day on the water. Often used to play mind games with other competing anglers.
So should we lend our ears to the local dock talk? If we all had the ability to spend countless hours on the water as we prepare for our upcoming tournament, I would advise you to trust your abilities and get as far away from the local dock talk as humanly possible. Unfortunately we don't have that luxury. Some of us are able to get out on the water the weekend before and put together a pattern that we hope doesn't get blown to bits by coming cold front or torrential downpours that muddy our water. Some of us wont even get the chance to wet a line before we launch at 7:30am Saturday. So with those being the facts, sometimes dock talk is all we weekend anglers have to go by.
Now lets decipher some of the dock talk that is going around and I will let you in on my game plan for this Saturday on South Holston.
I feel pretty sure that 8 out of 10 people that you talk to right now are going to be saying, "Damiki, Damiki, Damiki," but lets think about that statistic. If we were to put 100 boats on the water, that means there are going to be 80 people out there trying to Damiki. I promise you there are not 80 good Damiki spots on that lake.
With that said, I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I am not going to try and hit a Damiki hole or two early Saturday morning. But, if your are not familiar with the Damiki technique, I would forgo that bite and head for the bank. During the past two days that I have been on the water, there are very few people that are beating the bank. Those fish on the bank have seen very little pressure while the fish out deep have been bombarded.
My game plan for Saturday begins with 3 primary setups; Damiki ; Tightline Fly ; and SilverBuddy. I am going to spend 1-2 hours focusing on active Damiki fish and then I will head to 4 bluffs and channel swings where I have found fish. After the first two hours I will begin to rotate between my bluffs, swings, and Damiki holes in 30 minute increments. Once 1 pm arrives, I will begin to make added adjustments and location changes throughout the end of the day.
*Extra Notes:
-When you find fish, focus on that small area. Fish often group up during the Winter.
-Pick up some Reel Magic for Saturday. A few sprays on each rod guide will reduce icing during those cold morning temperatures.
-Don't get caught up in what you see everyone else doing around you. Stay focused and keep fishing.