I don’t know where I get it from. Maybe it’s just me being weird. But I’m always uber prepared when it comes to fishing.
Take the St. Clair event. Really, I could’ve only had two rods on my deck the whole tournament because that’s all I used. Instead, I had 14. Why? Because I always want to be prepared for any situation. If I saw a smallmouth slurping mayflies I wanted something I could pick up quickly and toss at it. If I was running down the lake and marked a deep fish, I wanted something I could quickly drop down to it.
I always want to be prepared, and a big part of being prepared is being organized, because organization means efficiency.
To me, tournament bass fishing is all about efficiency. I have to know where everything is in my boat because I don’t want to spend 10 minutes looking through compartments and boxes trying to find a hook of a certain size.
Really, being organized is all about saving time, and time is money in our sport. The more casts I can make with my time the more chances one of those casts might catch a giant that can win me a tournament.
So that’s why I adopted the system I have to keep everything organized and maintained so I can maximize my time on the water.
Big parts of my organization are my Bass Mafia boxes, which keep tackle nice and orderly in my compartments.
What I get the most comments on is how I organize my front deck. Every rod is laid out precisely, all pointing the same way so no rods get tangled during the day. Again, it’s all about efficiency.
I’ll even let you in on a little secret – the first thing I do whenever I get a new boat is unscrew the strap holder and extend it 3 inches. That allows me more rods on the deck so I don’t have to spend time getting a rod out of the locker when I’m on the water.
Having 14 rods laid out on the deck might seem overwhelming to some, but organization is in play even there. I typically keep my slower finesse presentations on one side of the deck and my reaction baits on the other.
Like I said, I might be a little weird, but if it helps me make a few extra casts then that’s an extra few chances I have to catch the fish I need.