Looking towards the Classic

It’s time to get ready for 2013. That means the first thing on my schedule is the Bassmaster Classic in February.

Another year is history. It’s time to get ready for 2013. That means the first thing on my schedule is the Bassmaster Classic in February. From now on that’s what’ll get most of my attention.

I haven’t been out there to practice, but that doesn’t cause me any concern — not really anyway. I’ve been there before so it’s not like I’m going someplace I don’t know anything about. I’ll feel comfortable when I get there. That’s really my thinking on the issue of whether or not you should prefish a venue several months in advance.

If you’ve never been there and don’t know anything about the water or the area then it’s probably a good idea to pay the place a visit. You don’t want to drive around looking for the ramp, a gas station or your motel.

On the other hand, if you have some knowledge about where you’re going, you might be as well off not visiting until just before the tournament. You’re not going to get much useful information about the fishing months before the tournament, and you always run the risk of planting bad ideas about the fish in your head.

You also have to know yourself. Chris Lane’s no fan of cold weather fishing. I’m a Florida boy who thinks that it’s pretty darn cold most places in February to be out in a boat in the middle of a lake. But that’s our schedule, so that’s what I’ll be doing. And that’s what I expect for this Classic — cold weather, cold water and early prespawn bass.

Knowing that about myself, my preparation has mostly been about getting used to cold weather. It’s been pretty chilly here in Guntersville so I’ve been going out trying to get myself used to the cold. All in all, I’d have to say it’s been going pretty well. I have my clothes all picked out and I’ve finally made a decision about gloves.

I’ll tell you what, gloves remind me of women’s purses. According to my wife, Holly, they never made a perfect purse. I feel the same way about my gloves. There’s always something that could be better. The basic problem is that the ones that keep you warm are hard to fish in, and the ones that you can fish in don’t keep you warm.

I settled on two different pairs. I’ll use one when I’m running around the lake. They’ll keep my hands warm so that steering the boat and operating the controls won’t be a problem. The other pair I picked out are not as warm but they'll let me cast and fish. It’s a pain to switch stuff around but it’s about all you can do when it comes to gloves.

Anyway, that’s what things look like from my perspective as of right now. We’ll know if I’m right or wrong about the visiting the lake thing and getting used to cold weather in about six weeks. I wouldn’t mind winning another one. The first one was fantastic. I can’t even imagine what winning two would be like.