BlogCast #3: Prefish Puzzle - Chris Visser
This week's angler has a different approach on pre-fishing. He is living proof that there are various roads to success. How can you work a full-time job and win Angler of the Year?

Chris Visser - Oshawa, Ontario
6 years of Kayak Fishing
Sponsors: My Wife
During the 2021 fishing season, I was fortunate enough to achieve Angler of the Year (AOY) in the Ontario Kayak Bass Trail, and place second in the AOY race for the Ontario Kayak Bassmasters. Most notably, I achieved this without pre-fishing for any of the eight qualifying events held in 2021. That said, I still believe pre-fishing is a very valuable tool in any angler's arsenal.
Pre-fishing provides the opportunity to familiarize yourself with a lake, notable features (e.g., structure and cover), potentially locate fish, and most importantly, eliminate unproductive waters. Do you need to pre-fish to perform well in an event? The short answer is no, but it will improve your opportunity for success. I am not a professional angler and like most have a regular job from Monday to Friday. Weekends are my only opportunity to fish and I do not always have the opportunity to get to a scheduled tournament lake. This requires me to invest more time in pre-tournament planning in the form of map studies (i.e., google earth, Navionics, etc.), watching lake-specific YouTube tournaments or fishing videos, and general online research about the lake area as it relates to weather and fishing.

