[Lpbassman]

I am also in favor of prefishing although you do need to be careful as to not sting yourself when it comes time for the TX. Last year, Tubeking and myself prefished on Bantam early in the year, 3 days before a club tourney. Thinking that 3 days would be enough time for the fish to recover, I amassed a 16+ lb limit.
On the day of the touney I went back to my spots and only managed 4 smaller fish. A lesson to be learned here.

 

[Lpbassman]

John,
I am a firm beleiver in the theory that you can sore mouth fish on a particular spot and keep them from biting for a day or two. There are always exceptions to this of course. I also agree that a hooked fish that has been released to its original location will emit a chemical or behavioral alert to the other fish in the same area that can shut them down in an instant. So there!