On this podcast, PartVu Xchange Talks Boating spoke with Garrett Paquette, Bassmaster Opens professional angler.
After a three-year stint on the Bassmaster Elite Circuit, Garret is now fishing the Open circuit. Our conversation focuses on how strategies and tactics differ between the two circuits, including specifics on Garret’s plan to adapt to give himself the best chance of success.
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What’s the difference between fishing the Bassmaster Opens versus the Elites?
Garrett: At first glance, the two Bassmaster circuits seem to have the same goal: catch your five biggest bass each day. You compete against other anglers for eight hours each day, all with the same goal. Additionally, each trail operates under the same set of rules.
However, there’s one significant difference between Bassmaster Opens and the Bassmaster Elite tournament trail. Bassmaster Opens are only three-day tournaments, whereas the Elites are four-day events. The ramifications are significant, and game plans and strategies are very different for each scenario.
The Elite series weeds out anglers so that the creme of the crop is left. In other words, only the top-finishing Opens anglers move on to the highest level, the Bassmaster Elite Series. So, Elite pros are usually more qualified and experienced than most other anglers.
On the other hand, there are plenty of great bass anglers on the Opens side. The level of competition is very high and includes guys who are very good at what they do. You have young, hungry anglers looking for a chance to make it big. You also have guys who are locals and know the lake better than anyone else. So, the bar is still very high at the Opens level.
Anglers on both trails have an immense amount of talent, but differences still stand out. For example, if you look at the total weights needed to win on the Opens side versus the Elite side, you’ll notice that Elite events generally require more weight to win.
One of the big reasons that weights are different is the number of competitors in each tournament. Bassmaster Opens usually have about two hundred twenty-five anglers. Elite events have ninety to one hundred guys, depending on the year. Since there are fewer anglers in Elite events, the pros in those events are competing for fish less than Opens pros are.
Given today’s sophisticated marine electronics, there’s so much information available about lakes online. It levels the playing field to some degree. Before an event begins, anglers have access to articles, past tournament results, youtube, and social media. They can use those tools to develop a game plan. Additionally, with the advancement of bass fishing technology, most anglers can zero in on the best part of the lake to fish in an event. So, generally speaking, there is a consensus about the best spots to go to and which baits to use for the best chances of winning an event.
The result of all this information is that anglers often compete for the same fish in the same areas. For example, during an Opens event, You may see twenty to thirty guys fishing in one spot on a tournament day. However, since there are fewer anglers on the Elite side, you may only see four or five guys fishing it.
So, if there are forty biting bass in an area and twenty guys fishing for those bass, then each angler has an opportunity to catch two fish on average. On the other hand, for Elite anglers in the same situation but with only four pros targeting that set of fish, the average potential catch rate jumps to ten.
Another major difference between the two trails is the length of the practice period, which is changing this year for the Bassmaster Opens. Up until this year, there was an unlimited practice period. People could show up four hundred days in advance to practice for an event if they had the time and money to do so. Elite anglers operate under much stricter rules. They only get two and a half days to practice. They can’t even be on the water for about a month before that official practice period begins. Additionally, Elite pros are only allowed to receive information about the lake once the tournament schedule is announced, which is well before the season starts.
So, Elite pros have a more challenging time finding fish initially because they only have a little time to practice and can’t rely on outside information, but they have significantly less competition for groups of fish during the actual tournament. As a result, it’s usually easier to get fish to bite in Elite tournaments since fish are less pressured due to a smaller practice window.
In Opens tournaments, since there are extended practice periods, the fish are subject to many different baits, multiple presentations, and boat activity which all tend to make the bass more finicky. Additionally, more fish have been caught in practice. So, the population of active bass is smaller for Opens events in general.
Is the official practice period changing for the Open circuit next season?
Garrett: Yes. Bassmaster is going to implement the same twenty-eight or thirty days off-limits period to all tournaments. Those time periods vary by event, but are approximately one month of off-limits time with an official practice period of four days. The new changes will profoundly affect the competitors while positively affecting the fishery once the event begins.
How does the fishing pressure play out in tournaments?
Garrett: As an angler, you immediately notice the effect of fishing pressure. When practice starts, you feel like you can’t do anything wrong. Catching bass is almost effortless. However, by the time the tournament begins, you are left scratching your head sometimes because the bite has shut down. I believe that tougher bite is directly related to fishing pressure.
Strategies vary for each trail. Most guys work to “pattern” the lake for the Elite Series. To develop a pattern, you need to figure out what stage the fish are in or what they’re doing. After you have sorted things out, you can go around to different parts of the lake and duplicate that pattern. For example, you may identify a pattern of catching fish on weed edges in five feet of water where there is a wind current by using a crankbait. Fishing boat docks is another example of a pattern.
In Elite Series tournaments, you can’t usually win by focusing on one particular spot, like one brush pile or an individual point, for example. The competition is so intense that you usually have to move around the lake and follow the best pattern for that lake during the event.
In Open level events, the opposite holds true. Since there are so many guys in the tournament, more often than not, too many anglers focus on the bigger patterns and cannibalize themselves. On day one, the anglers focusing on large patterns may do well. But, usually, the weights drop off considerably on day two for those that try to fish the same as they did on day one. It happens every tournament. You see anglers go from 2nd place on day one to one-hundredth place on day two because it’s super hard to perform well two days in a row because of the sheer size of the field of anglers.
So, in Bassmaster Opens, instead of finding patterns and fishing them day in and day out, you’re almost better off targeting off-the-wall spots. You don’t want to target places that show up on everyone’s modern-day electronics. Those areas will be obvious to the rest of the field. Finding obscure or atypical spots generally pays the biggest dividends.
Opens tournaments don’t require as much weight to win. You don’t need huge bags, but consistency does pay off. The lower weights don’t necessarily correlate with skill levels. However, those weights are directly related to the fact that more external variables, like pressure, have a profound effect on catch rates.
When I started fishing the Opens again, I struggled in the first part of the season because I was pattern fishing. That was what I was used to doing at the Elite level. After a few events, I had to take a hard look at my game plan.
I needed to revamp my plan to include more off-the-wall places I could have to myself. Once I did that, my results began to improve almost immediately. Even though I wasn’t catching the biggest fish, I started putting together better finishes overall because I could consistently weigh in with solid numbers.
Do you prefer the Bassmaster Opens or Elites when it comes to tournament strategy?
Garrett: My favorite way to fish is to find unique areas and nose around in no man’s land. I really enjoy the thrill of the hunt. That being said, I prefer that style but wish it produced bigger fish. If so, that would be my perfect planet.
What do you think next season has in store for you?
Garrett: I’m really excited about the upcoming season of Opens. I’m curious to see how the new rule changes affect outcomes, and I love the schedule of lakes that they’ve released. Many of the lakes are new to me, which is rare. I love to visit new bodies of water to figure things out and put together the pieces of the puzzle.
Also, Florida has been my nemesis. Instead of starting in Florida this year, we’re ending there in October, which is a neat twist.
What makes bass fishing in Florida challenging in the early part of the year?
Garrett: It’s more challenging because the fish are still in a winter pattern, making things a little more complicated. They seem to like the warmer water temperatures starting in March and April. Also, I like to power fish, but that’s not always the play in Florida. Slower styles usually do well there as opposed to faster-moving baits.
Garret has an active tournament schedule for the upcoming season. You can follow him on Instagram at @gpaquettefishing to track his progress and catch up on social media.
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