FLW Co-Angler - What Would You Do?

[Champ188]

2 hours ago, Smalls21 said:

i fished in the back of the boat in club draw tourney. not the same as being in a big money tourney but i caught a limit out of the back of the boat on the ned rig. after the 4th keeper, my partner switched from throwing cranks and spinnerbaits to throwing a ned rig as well. so being in the back of the boat is not always a bad thing in my opinion.

I'm old enough (by a long shot) to have cut my teeth fishing draw tournaments, and I've had to split the day/front of the boat with some pretty good fishermen. But some of the best have been nonboaters that I've been paired with in later years in pro-am derbies. Your front-deck guy was obviously smart enough (finally) to copy what you were doing and put some fish in the boat. That's what club tournaments are about ... having fun and learning from each other, while competing for a little money or trophies at the same time.

[Bluff-Bassin]

Worth mentioning that the current format of the "central pro-am" now aptly named the central pro elite has done away with co anglers allowing the boater to fish without potential hindrance from a co in the back. 

[Champ188]

10 hours ago, Bluff-Bassin said:

Worth mentioning that the current format of the "central pro-am" now aptly named the central pro elite has done away with co anglers allowing the boater to fish without potential hindrance from a co in the back. 

Yep, the solo pro format is gaining popularity all the time.

[jim m]

In my opinion[not worth much] the advantage of someone in the back of the boat is that each person can do something different and at different depths untill you find something that is working. I always try to start with something different than the guy up front. ie one time we were fishing docks and the guy in the front was getting to hit the sweet spots so I would wait untill the baoat position would allow me to bring my jig under the front corner, managed 4 very solid keepers that way untill the guy up front figured out what I was doing then I got a lesson in front ending LOL. you can always learn something when you fish even if it is what not to do

[Champ188]

Jim, you bring up a very good point with the angle advantage of each angler on boat docks. Donna and I do this intentionally and she nearly always outfishes me off the back because she is able to use the boat drift to her advantage in getting her lure farther back under the trailing dock corner as the boat goes by.

We were at Lake of the Ozarks a few years back in October for the Central Pro-Am championship. We got there on Tuesday to have 3 full days of practice. She caught no telling how many fish that week weighing 3-6.5 pounds pulling a Lucky Craft 2.5 in the splatter back shad color under dock corners. In fact, she chipped one corner off the lip and it still runs fine, but she calls it "Lucky." Don't know about luck but it was definitely her pet bait that week.

Of course, a very strong front blew thru just before the tournament and totally killed any kind of "winding" bite. The tournament ended up being won by a local guy who had lots of brushpiles to fish and just soaked a jig in them.