After more than 20 seasons of tournament travel, Tommy Biffle has learned many lessons about proper packing and preparation for tour-level competition road trips that span weeks – and sometimes months. Pro anglers must cope with a variety of unpredictable fishing, weather and living conditions with the resources they can cram into their trucks and stow in their boats.
Biffle discussed his on-the-road preparation recently as he began his journey to the FLW Tour season opener at Lake Okeechobee. He was geared up for that tournament, as well as February’s FLW Tour stop at Lake Murray, S.C., and the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Toho.
Necessary Chore
“Every trip begins with one of the things I hate – packing,” Biffle said. “I have to anticipate what I think the fish might be doing at different lakes for three or four tournaments in a row.”
His reliance on flipping as his primary tactic doesn’t necessarily make pre-tournament prep easy.
“In Florida, I expect to fish under the mats, so I need heavy weights, little craws, tubes and creature baits,” he said. “Then it’s up to Lake Murray, which will be completely different. The water will be a lot colder, so I’ll be fishing jigs and slow-rolling spinnerbaits. I’ll also need Rogues to fish over the grass.”
His third stop was the Classic at Toho, where he got back to flipping with the Florida baits. He also expected to find action with Zoom Horny Toads and Gambler Flappin’ Shads.
Keeping Organized
Biffle’s base is in Oklahoma, no hop-skip-and-jump from the early tour stops. Before hitting the road, he organizes his equipment and clothing to ensure he can get his hands on what he needs when he needs it.
He packs boxed bulk spools of 10- to 40-pound test High Impact and other Stren mono, as well as 50-, 60- and 80-pound Stren Super Braid in a large bag.
“It’s important to keep the line in the dark and out of the heat. The bag is great for that. I never leave the line in the truck. It’s one of the first things I carry into the motel room.”
Biffle loads 15 to 18 rods with reels in his truck and keeps an additional 20 to 30 rods in a sturdy canvas bag. “I carry four or five Quantum Signature Series flipping sticks, along with four or five 6-foot-10 to 7-foot heavy-action jig rods and two or three spinnerbait and cranking rods,” he said. “I keep them in the boat during the tournaments and the spares stay in the bag. You need to be prepared for broken rods and any situation, such as when a spinning rod is necessary.”
Before leaving home, Biffle lubes each of his Quantum PT Energy reels with a drop of Hot Sauce on each end of the spool shaft and another drop on the bearings. “It makes it so much easier to pitch light baits. You do one reel and notice the difference, so you’ll end up doing all of your reels,” he said.
Dress For Success
He relies on his wife, Sharon, to manage his clothing.
“She’s been doing it so long she knows better than I do what I’ll need. She never lets me go to Florida without my snowmobile suit.”
Sharon knows best, he said.
“I’ve learned never to gripe,” he said. “She irons every shirt and really works hard on making sure my clothes are just right. One time I came home and said she’d packed too much stuff, and the next time I went out on the road I didn’t have enough.”
Boat Light
Biffle is careful to avoid overstuffing his Ranger.
“When you’re going out there for two or three tournaments in a row, you get to piling too much stuff in the boat,” he said. “Before long, the boat is so full it affects the performance. I ran a Z20 last year and it has lots of storage, so I filled all of it up and found I’d loaded it down to the point where I wasn’t getting optimum performance.”
He does make sure, however, that he’s got necessary replacement parts. “You need spare props, nuts, tools and other things. A lot of guys are out there fishing for $100,000 and don’t have the tools to fix even the simplest of things,” he said.
He keeps a spare trolling motor on boards glassed into the storage compartment in front of the driver’s console and secures it with sturdy rubber tie-downs.
His pre-trip check list includes extension cords and wheel chocks. He also makes sure the batteries are full of water and the oil tank is topped off.
Notable
> Biffle never leaves home without a pair of orange cones – the kind that are used in traffic control. “I use them to save my spot in a motel parking lot,” he said. “The other fishermen respect your parking place, but the regular guy who is staying at the motel might park in your spot without knowing you need it.”
> He said he can reduce his stash of soft plastics by conserving the numbers he consumes during a day on the water. “I use a lot of Super Glue,” he said. “I add a drop to hold the trailer on my jig. You’d be amazed at how many soft plastics you can save.”
