BlogCast #6: Prefish Puzzle - John Dean

by Miguel Sigouin

I met John back in 2014 at a kayak tournament in South River Ontario. Things were different back then. Pictures were taken with digital cameras on all types of measuring boards. I remember talking with John and it was evident that he was a bass fisherman at heart. I got the chance to get to know him and we worked on several fishing projects together.

John Dean has been involved in the bass fishing scene since the 80s. He is the founder of the Ontario Kayak Bass Trail, a tournament series that has exploded in the last few years with many events with 100+ participants. He is also the president of the Ontario Kayak Bassmasters. John works hard to organize top-quality events for some of the best Kayak Anglers in Canada.

John Dean - Whitby, Ontario

8 years of Kayak fishing

I do not feel the need to pre-fish for an event. Would I like to be able to? Yes, to at least see the water and help formulate a plan, but I typically do not get to be on the tournament waters before the events. Working a full week does not afford me the time to get out and pre-fish. But that doesn’t bother me as I would rather ‘just fish’ and hammer it out as I go. I have always been able to approach a lake and ‘fish the moment’. Some call it junk fishing, but whatever you want to call it I typically fish what’s in front of me and figure things out as I go. Would it help me to be able to pre-fish? Maybe I could save time on tournament day by eliminating areas, but I am content with my approach on preparation and execution. 

 

What are my thoughts on pre-fishing? You could ask 10 different anglers this question and get 10 different answers. It could be good, bad, useful, or useless as it all depends on how you approach it. Pre-fishing can be a beneficial tool for an angler to not just locate fish but to locate and eliminate water. If approached correctly it can help you on tournament day but, if approached wrong it can be detrimental on tournament day. 

Pre-fishing does not start and stop with actually being on the water. There is a lot more that can be done to optimize your time preparing for an event from map studies to gear prep to information gathering. It all plays a role in success. I think to make pre-fishing a productive endeavor it should be approached as a scouting and information gathering session. Looking to see if your map studies match the water, translating what you see to your game plan, etc. Fishing should be a secondary or even tertiary thought when pre-fishing in my opinion. Going back to what I said earlier about approaching pre-fishing in the wrong way, the biggest mistakes I see or hear being made is anglers stinging fish and/or overfishing areas, especially in the days leading up to the event. If you are a week or two before that is not so bad but immediately before the event you are setting yourself up for failure. 

In the two recent events that I have won, the 2020 OKBT Lake Couchiching event and the 2021 BASS Lake Dalrymple event I did not do any pre-fishing. I did some map studies and had been on Couchiching a few years earlier and I developed a plan from that. In my first hour, I started with my Plan A and it didn’t pay off so I backtracked and headed for some water I had seen on the way to my first spot. From there it developed into a pattern that I could replicate throughout the day. And for Lake Dalrymple, I knew the area I was going to fish, and I knew how I wanted to fish it. As I progressed through the day I learned enough and was able to fish my way through the day rotating areas and techniques to the win. Both days I fished what I felt was the right way for how the lake was set up when the event started and changed as needed through the day as the conditions dictated. Would more time on the water pre-fishing have helped produce more fish or fill my card sooner? I don’t know, but things worked out by sticking to my process. 
If I was pre-fishing, the preferred baits for me would be the same baits I would expect to use on tournament day. I am a power fishing guy so baits that I can cover lots of water with come into play. But any baits I would use if I were pre-fishing would be made to not hook a fish. Removing hooks, and shaking off fish whatever you need to not sting them is the safest bet coming into an event. Leave as little a footprint as possible. You may need those fish in a couple of days. So, to pre-fish or not? I guess that is the real question here. But if you are pre-fishing go into it with a plan and utilize it as a tool. I know it's hard to not catch the fish when you are out on the lake but leave that for tournament day. You might be happy you did.

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