Lures vs. Live Bait: Inshore Slam Tournament Results
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
It’s Tournament Time!
Tony and I recently fished the Warrior Shootout, which was an inshore slam (redfish, seatrout, & snook) tournament benefitting Reeling Freedom.
On this tournament day, we faced very tough conditions with very cold weather, super low tides, and lots of wind.
And we decided to go with artificials only to see how our results would compare to the other anglers who were mostly using live bait.
Best of all, we captured the entire trip on film in order to document the key decision points throughout the day as well as the fun fish catching footage.
In this video, you’ll see:
- What our secret gameplan was that got us on the leaderboard
- The types of lures we were using (and how to retrieve them)
- Which types of spots we were fishing in
- And much more!
To see how to catch an inshore slam during a tough day in a tournament, check out the video below.
Enjoy!
Live Bait vs. Lures: Tournament Experiment
Click here to join the Salt Strong Insider Club
Click here to see the post-trip analysis report [Insider’s Only]
What a fun day!
There were some great anglers in that tournament, including a few guides, and I’m pumped we were able to finish second.
As far as catching fish goes, here’s what worked:
Having a proven gameplan.
Since it was cold we knew that fish would be holding tight to structure in deeper water (especially docks), so we picked out a handful of spots that fit those parameters.
We also knew that the cold would make fish lethargic, so we slowed down our retrieve and bumped our lures along the bottom.
And using artificial lures let us cover a ton of ground.
We knew that the lures we were using catch fish, so all we had to do was focus on finding the feeding zones.
Thankfully, we found them pretty quickly and it allowed us to have a great day on the water.
Here’s How You Can Steal Our Gameplan
At any given time, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water.
The trick is knowing which 10% they’re in.
They’re always moving based on factors like the weather, tide, and wind, and unless you’re on the water every day, it can be tough to keep it dialed in.
That’s why we created our weekend gameplans.
Every Friday in ten minutes or less we show you what the fish are doing, what to look for in a spot, which lures to use, how to retrieve them, and much more.
All we did during this tournament was follow our weekend gameplan and I’d say it worked out well for us!
And not only us, but one of our Insider members competed in the same tournament and won the kayak division!
Click here to join us and 12,000 other anglers in the Insider Club.
Conclusion
Our official length of 77 1/4″ was good enough for a tie of first place, but since I took my sweet time getting to the weigh-in, and the other team weighed in before us, we had to settle for second.
It was still a blast and goes to prove that having a proven game plan is the best way to catch a lot of fish and have a great day on the water.
Have any questions about fishing tournaments or catching inshore slams?
Let me know in the comments below!
If you know someone who wants to get better at fishing tournaments, please TAG or SHARE this with them.
And if you want to get the weekend gameplan where we show you where the fish will be and how to catch them in ten minutes or less, click here to join us in the Insider Club.
Stop Wasting Time On The Water!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Click here to join today.
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Do you remember what the air and water temperatures were?
What an awesome day Luke! You guys crushed it and it was awesome seeing the footage as well as hear what was going through your mind. Thanks for putting out this content and keep up the good work!
Congrats guys that looked like an awesome day thanks for sharing ????
Thanks John!
Great video, you guys killed it. Great plan
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Gary!
Congrats fellows! That ole bass game works well for this format.
Thanks Lee! Yes, the many years of bass fishing for us both paid off:)
Luke and Tony strong ???????? congrats fellas!!!!
Thanks Cody!
Awesome job! Delightful to see you practice what you preach and have such great success.
Thanks Michael! Yes, we don’t recommend anything that we don’t do or use ourselves:)
Fun to see you two ‘Top Guns’ team up and knock it out of the park!
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Art!
Great job, guys!
Thanks Capt. Ray!
Congratulations! Watching the video I kept cheering you guys on! Great job!
Thanks! I’m glad to see that you enjoyed this tournament video.