Winning Ways
Hometowns: Key West and Islamorada, Florida
Contact information: 877-FISH305;
www.saltwaterexperience.com
2005 tournament wins: Tudor:
Professional Redfish Tour Team of the Year;
guided first-place team and angler in BTU Backbone tournament;
guided first-place team and angler in Mercury Redbone Tournament, Islamorada;
first place in Professional Redfish Tour, Venice, Louisiana.
Y ou may have seen captains Tom Rowland and Rich Tudor on Saltwater Experience, a new show on the Outdoor Channel. They have more than 100 combined wins under their belts, and their simple, straightforward strategies for success can be employed easily by every angler. Rowland can’t emphasize pretournament preparation enough. Many anglers make the mistake of overlooking an essential step that sounds obvious: Read the rules. Competitors should understand which baits and techniques are permitted or prohibited and know exactly how the tournament’s scoring system works. “That’s where a lot of people make mistakes,” Rowland says. Another major consideration is finding.
out how the fish are going to be measured. Will the spread-tail or pinched-tail system be used? These two methods can produce different lengths for the same fish. To measure any fish caught when prefishing, Rowland advises using the method that will be adopted in the tournament. But there’s plenty to do before hitting the water. By using the Internet, anglers can gather an amazing amount of information just by doing a little research. “It’s really taking the sport like it’s a subject in school,” Rowland says. He suggests looking at a tournament’s results for the past five years and noting how many pounds it took to win each year. He incorporates this information into his prefishing tactics, trying to zero in on some spots that will produce the necessary-size fish. Two to three weeks before the event, have your regular mechanic service your boat. You need ample time to work out any kinks before the big day. Around this time, Rowland and Tudor also go to the host destination if they can and fish on the same tides that will occur on the day of competition. One of the most important pieces of advice the seasoned captains offer: Once at the event site, don’t listen to the “dock talk.” Seemingly good information that passes from person to person can make you doubt your strategy and even abandon your plan. If you’ve done your homework, have practiced and come prepared, your knowledge is just as solid as anything you’ll hear around the water cooler. Tudor believes that attitude and outlook are essential ingredients for winning tournaments. He says anglers should be “confident but not over confident,” and they should avoid putting too much pressure on themselves — or their partners. “If you’re not having fun, you shouldn’t be doing this,” he says
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