I was fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to ask B.A.S.S. Elite Series Touring Pro Kevin Short a few questions when he first started gaining national attention. The following are his responses to those questions:
1) Specialization vs. versatility - you seem to be heavy cranking (specialist)?
I am a specialist in that I have 3 core techniques that I have the most confidence in and they are all power techiniques: flippin, crankbait, spinnerbait. I typically do not finesse fish and I get my butt kicked occassionally because of it. I think versatility will be a key for the angler who wants to succeed because of fishing pressure and the competition level is increasing.
2) In practice, better to cover water or learn an area?
Depends on the water and the available patterns. If there are large groups of fish, or the fish might be confined to an area, it is better to stay. I will try the first two practice days to cover as much water as possible, then slow down the third day and learn one or two areas. The first tournament day is when you can really start picking an area apart, learning the details and where the fish might be grouped.
3) Easier to win a local one day (BFL, etc.) or a 3-4 day regional/national?
It is easy to win either if you are on the fish, understand the mood of the fish, and are able to keep up with them on a daily basis. One day tournaments might be a little more difficult due to the "one-big-bite" factor; i.e. the guy who gets a decent limit and one big bite wins.
4) How much practice time on average do you suggest a person needs to compete effectively on the state level circuits?
If you are familiar with the lake and it's peculiarities (which most lakes have) 2 days should be more than enough time, once you are comfortable with your fish finding and patterning skills.
5) How critical is bite timing (i.e., finding "afternoon" fish, "morning" fish, etc.) versus fishing your fish all day -- don't leave fish to find fish?
This goes back to #2 and depends on how many fish you think are in an area. It can also vary depending on the bite; crankbait, Carolina rig, spinnerbait. Reaction bites can last all day; they can sometimes totally depend on getting the bait in front of the correct fish at the correct time. A slower finesse-type bite may be totally time oriented.
6) In practice do you stick 'em or shake 'em?
I want to see several to know the size, how they are taking the bait, what shape the fish are in, pre-spawn, post-spawn, etc.
7) Run and gun vs. stay and play?
Depends again on the water and pattern. If you decide fish are located on the side of main lake points with basketball size rock and the lake is full of those points, you can hit numerous points to see which ones hold fish. If you find one point at the mouth of a creek, flat spawning pocket, in a creek bend, etc. you might be able to fish it all day. It totally depends on the pattern and your confidence in the pattern.
8) Bank beating vs. structure fishing -- basically comb large amounts of shallow water or drag fewer specific deep spots?
I am typically not a bank runner, unless that is the pattern. I prefer to look for something more subtle that is easily missed; off-shore grass, specific trees in flooded timber, certain types of grass.
9) Any thoughts on making daily adjustments to your fish patterns (how critical)?
This is the hardest thing to do, especially if you really whacked them the previous day. It can be hard to go out each morning and reprogram yourself to start over from scratch. Changing conditions are the hardest to contend with. Look at the recent Tour event on Smith Lake. Overnight the water level jumped @ 6 foot. Mud was flowing in from every direction. Those few that continued to catch them were: (a) fishing deep, or (b) adapted to the conditions. This is the key to multi-day derbies. The people who can consistently adapt are the ones at the top.
10) How long do you try a pattern without a bite before abandoning it?
Depends on the conditions, the pattern, and how much faith I have in the pattern. If the water is cold, I might throw a crankbait and look for five bites a day. As a general rule, the warmer the water, the more active the fish will be and the more bites you will get, provided there are fish in the pond to bite. Keep in mind, there are few absolutes in fishing; we are dealing with a liquid world. Liquid in the essence that everything is constantly changing whether we realize it or not.
11) Any certain level of success before you feel it's appropriate to "move up" to next level...say from state level to opens/everstarts?
The big tip here is confidence and cash. It takes a ton of both to step up to the next level. It doesn't matter if that step is from bass club to local draw derbies or Opens to Tour events. If you feel like your skills are there and you have the funds, you need to step. If you are not sure or you will be taking food away from your family, the step is harder to make.
12) Can you compete at Open/Everstart level in a 17-18' boat with a 115-150 hp effectively or would you be wasting your time?
Boat size is only an issue on larger lakes where you have to travel long distances or there is a large expanse of open water to cross. 10 years ago everyone fished out of an 18' boat with a 150 on it. Thanks to the birth of FLW and BASS raising it's horsepower limit, the typical boat used on Tour is a 20-21 footer with a 225-250. Several top finishes have been scored over the past few years by anglers utilizing smaller boats, typically on river systems, to access areas larger boats could not reach. I don't think you would be wasting your time, you would need to select your fishing areas carefully to ensure you could reach them on windy days, have enough travel time, etc.
For more info on Kevin including his stats, check the following links:
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