Card's Plan for a Strong 2021 Season

Posted by David A. Brown on Jan 12th 2021

By David A. Brown

Any professional fisherman worth their salt will tell you that the road to success is a perpetual upward climb — mountains, not plateaus. Bassmaster Elite Brandon Card is no exception and, while the North Carolina pro qualified for the 2021 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts with a 34th place finish in the points standings, his New Year’s resolutions include upping his game for the new Elite season.

Doing so takes more than a statement and after a thorough post-season analysis, Card views his practice plan as the area with the greatest improvement potential. Three days may sound like a lot of time, but every Elite will tell you: it flies past — especially on unfamiliar waters.

“I think it’s important at the end of the year to assess each tournament and try to figure out what you did well and what you did badly,” Card said. “It’s important to look at not only the tournament days, but also your practice, too.

“After the event’s over, you know where the winning areas were and you can see maybe if you practiced in that area, maybe you went to fast, or you might have hunkered down on a spot that turned out to be an unproductive area.”

Taking an honest look at his 2020 performance, Card said he can definitely identify times when he believes he covered too much water during practice. It’s kind of a tough equation to master — you need to see as much as possible to develop options, but at the same time, it’s easy to dilute the overall effort and end up with little value.

“I didn’t just pick an area, settle in and try to figure out what the fish were doing; I was running all over the lake looking for a certain bite,” Card said. “Sometimes, that works out, but a lot of times it will burn you.

“That definitely burned me on Chickamauga. Looking back, I literally practiced from dam to dam. That’s not what you want to do.”

Conversely, Card notes that hindsight has shown him that he actually spent too much practice time in particular areas. Ultimately, it’s about balance; knowing when to run and when to park.

“I think time management is the most important thing,” Card said. “That’s definitely something I’ll be focused on during the 2021 season. I feel like we all have really good game plans for tournament days, but maybe we need to have a specific game plan for each and every practice day.”

PRACTICE BAITS

Now, baits and techniques vary by season and location, but Card said he often employs a simple, yet effective system for testing his practice areas. Some of it comes down to his personal fishing preferences, but he feels he has the right tools to help him determine whether an area is worth a spot in his tournament plan.

“A wacky-rigged Senko is something I’ll pretty much always have tied on,” Card said. “If I get in an area that I think looks fishy, but I’m not getting any bites, I’ll start skipping a wacky-rigged Senko around. If I don’t get a bite within 30 minutes or so, the chances are there isn’t going to are a very big population there.

“It’s not always the winning way of fishing, but it’s definitely the best technique for catching quantity — especially on a shallow bite. I you throw a wacky-rigged Senko around when the fish are shallow and you don’t get a bite, chances are you need to move.”

As Card explained, the wacky-rigged Senko may end up being the right bait for the tournament; or it may not. Either way, making that determination starts with getting enough bites to feel confident exploring an area to see what the fish prefer.

For covering lots of water, Card’s a big fan of the vibrating jig. Here, he matches size and color to the waters he’s fishing, but he knows the Yamamoto Zako trailer is his best choice for an attractive profile that works well with the bladed jig’s heavy action.

“With the vibrating jig and the wacky-rigged Senko, I really feel like I can be very efficient,” Card said. “I have a fast presentation and a slow presentation. If you’re shallow and you can’t get bites on either of those, you probably need to keep moving.”

BAIT EXPANSION

Of course, everyone has their go-to confidence baits, but success is predicated on continual growth. For Card, that includes becoming more comfortable and confident with different baits. More specifically, that means the Yamamoto Cowboy and the Yamamoto Mermaid.

“I haven’t had a really good event with (either of) them yet, but I’ve caught some really nice fish on them and I feel like there’s going to be a time for me to use them more in the new season,” Card said. “I haven’t been able to put something together with them yet, but I do feel like there’s going to be a tournament that will line up soon where that Cowboy on the back of a jig is going to be the deal.

“When they’re really feeding on bigger baits, this trailer will really shine. I use a Double Tail Grub all the time and, essentially, the Cowboy is a large version of a Double Tail Grub with appendages. I can foresee some deep water events where putting that cowboy on the back of a football jig is going to be very good.”

Card said that using the Mermaid as a jig trailer has produced fish up to 8-pounds for him. Replicating that a couple times in one tournament could put him on track for a big finish.

“When the scenario is right, I’ll have one jig tied on with a Cowboy and one with a Mermaid,” Card said. “Those are going to be big profile jigs offshore and each one has its use. I’m looking at Lake Fork and Pickwick on the 2021 Elite schedule as places where they may shine.”

Looking ahead, Brandon Card feels he has a solid game plan for approaching the new season. Going into a year that includes a Classic berth carries an inherent shot of momentum, but he’s committed to minding the details that’ll help guide him toward success.