Fishing as a co-angler for the first time, Everstart tourney in La Crosse Aug. 3-5. Need some information on the do’s and dont’s while in the pro’s boat. Who’s equipment, rods, lures? What am I allowed to bring to the boat and use?
Doooo’s,
What ever it takes to win. The pro will do his best and not give a darn about you. Press the issue unless he proves to be a really good guy. There are differences in anglers that very a great deal. Make sure you are not like the guy lefebure fished with last year and get zero fishing time on god water. Make yourself heard and the pro will use the rules to keeo you at check. If it were me the “pro” would have his hands full unless he let me fish “with” him instead of against him.
jc
There is a series of articles on bassfan about co-angling- some dos and donts but you might have to sort through the archives. Ill see if i can find the site and post it. Also, if you search co-angler ive seen a few articles written in the last year regarding what to do, how much to give, how to help, how to make the most, etc.
Here is the bassfan link- go to the archives if you need to..
http://www.bassfan.com/coangler.asp?archive=c
I would also advise that you try to prefish on your own so you have some idea what the fish are doing (in your mind). It probably wont help with spots per say unless the pro hasnt prefished or his fish bomb, but it will make you confident in colors, retrieve, etc. This also makes it easier for you to cull some tackle and limit colors of plastics, etc. Bring some dipping dye instead of 6 diff colors (but dont spill it on the carpet of his rig).
A few tips up front…
As a general rule, i would say a medium sized tackle bag, lunch and drinks, and 4 rods would suffice and not be too offensive to the pro- dont forget your own lifejacket on the trip in case there is not an extra. Talk to the pro at the drawing if at all possible to find out when/where to meet and what he expects you to bring, then dont be late. As JC said- stand up for yourself and if you are cordial and polite at the onset and he may be more courteous to you the next day. Also try to find out what type of water you will be fishing- deep, shallow, current,etc. Your gear for fishing slop will be (obviously) different than that for fishing wingdams- you wont need deep diving crankbaits which can eat a lot of room in your bag if you are fishing 3 foot backwaters or slop.
Disclaimer/Informal bibliography–Most of what i wrote is in some article of some sort (lol).
I fished as a co-angler last year. I got a taste for tournament fishing and I learned alot. Here are some thoughts if you fish as a combined weight team:
I would suggest doing what the pro wants to do if he has a game plan. After all, he is the one that has invested lots of time and effort into determining patterns or locations.
Have the right type of line on your equipment with sharp hooks. Only one pro checked my equipment last year. I was impressed. He wouldn’t let me put my rods in the boat until he had checked the line, knots, and hooks. The only problem he felt I had was to sharpen the hook on an out-of-the-box jig.
Talk about netting the fish. Does he want you to net the fish, where should you be positioned to net the fish, etc. But things can change even if you discuss this and practice it. That same pro told me exactly how he wanted me to net his fish. Luckily we started out with some small cullable fish and the netting went smoothly.
Talk about the big bass money before you take off. Are you going to split it? Every pro I had said it would be split.
Bring an extra hat. You wont want to ask the pro to turn around and get yours if it blows off.
Freeze two bottles of Gatorade the night before. It won’t matter if the pro has ice or a cooler for you then.
Bring as little tackle as you can get away with, the pro will have any lures for you, that he wants you to use.
Have $25 cash, or more, for each day of fishing to cover the pro’s incidental costs. Not only did he drive you around for the tournament but he has wear and tear on an expensive rig and it is likely that he used a lot more gas trying to find a pattern or locations to fish. How much you pay is independant of what your prize money is. If the pro gives you a lure or two, or something to drink because you forgot your drink, etc. then throw some more cash at him.
Pay the pro when you get back to the weigh-in but before you walk the fish up. You don’t want to forget to pay him if things get exciting at the scales!
If the boater will not give you good access to the water, tie on the largest crankbait that you own and zing it right past his ear. He will eventually get the message.
I am sure that Robby is kidding. If the pro is thoroughly fishing the water then try something a little different. For example if he is pitching every nice piece of structure with a black & blue jig then throw a white tube and work it slowly. Sure you are going to get fewer bites, but they will likely be larger fish.
If it is a team/combined weight then the day isn’t about who catches the fish, its all about the boat getting the best bag.
Another item to put on a checklist is to be on-time early. If your pro wants to meet at 5:45 then be ready by 5:30. Get there early and relax, no reason to rush before the tournament.
Robby get with the program. A crank will sail with the wind and get the hooks all tangled in your boaters head. A BHJ (big honkin Jig) will sail true leaving “a Mark” and giving you a few shots at some open water……..
But on the serious side….. Treat the boat as if it was your own. Pay your way. Ask about netting.
JC,
Let me first say that I highly respect your angling abilities and insight into some of the subtleties of river bass angling. I do disagree, however, with your take on Lefebre. I fished with Dave on the final day of the EverStart in 2001. I can personally attest that he exemplifies a touring professional. I fished out of the back of the boat and pretty much got smoked until he caught his 5th fish. He did, however, stop many times during competition and showed me what he was using, told me how he was presenting, and asked me how he could improve my chances at catching fish. He took time out of his tournament to make it enjoyable for me. I just would not jump to the conclusion, or listen to someone that was frustrated on a given day, that he’s a terrible boater to draw. Some co-anglers have a tough day on the water, blame the boater for their problems, and subsequently miss the opportunity to learn something new. I’ve been there, done that myself… I normally don’t post on this forum, but I hate to see someone get a bad rap that doesn’t deserve it.
Hoosier, I would suggest that you first and foremost fish to your strengths. Don’t get caught up in what a pro is doing. The EverStart is formidable competition, however, I have drawn my share of boaters that did not know what they are doing. If you get time to prefish, try to find a pattern that works for you. If you can find a couple, you will most likely have the chance to fish it during competition. Then, try to find spots close to the ramp. There’s always cases where a boat breaks down, or you have that extra 15 minutes at the end of the day. Good Luck!
Paul
BassBoy,
didn’t you write a nice segment on fishing as a co-angler? Do you still have it somewhere?
I did not fish with Lefebre, but was at last years Red Wing ES and heard all about his actions. Were they true? Not sure…I wasn’t physically there. But his non-boater that day is pretty creditable and not someone who would make up stories.
I won’t spread anything that is hear-say, but if you haven’t heard what Dave did, smallmouthguide, shoot me a Private Message and I’ll be happy to elaborate. Pretty low and unfair if you ask me…
I think I heard what he did too.
I would be interested in hearing what Dave “allegedly” did. If someone wants to send it to me via PM.
I have known Dave for a few years and I have never heard anyone even say so much as a bad thing about him. Except when Koby Kreiger protested him in an EverStart tourney a few years back.
Heck he called my cell phone one day when I was getting ready to launch the boat and there was a guy standing there that I knew happened to be a fan of Dave, so I gave the guy my cell phone and Dave talked to him for about 5 minutes. Good thing it was the weekend (free minutes) or I would have had to cut the dude off. lol
Thanks
JT Bagwell
I will look for that article today HOOSIER, thanks for bringin it up Slop
I don’t want to stir the pot and I will be the first to say that I have torqued off many other fishermen in my boat so there is a very good chance that the story vs reality are skewed to eaches preference. The information I received all be it second hand was from a creitable source stating without all the details that he left the boat in the middle of nowhere close fish and proceeded to take a snooze while his not boater did not have an option of doing anything.
This is the long and the short and as broad as I can be without sounding judgemental. Hope this sheds some light on things and I would love to hear from either of the 2 anglers themselves. It would be nice to get it settled once and for all. If either party is confident in his actions then we all can just accept it as fair play and call it as staying within the rules.
jc
The Co Angler is treated more and more like a second class citizen. From the trail he is fishing to the all to often bone head in the front. It’s to bad there isnt a quality one man trail around. No partner just yourself. How many guys would fish something like that? I know i would
Dan
So from your post I take it you dont like non boaters? A 1 man trail would further be little non-boaters
not it at all.I just think the non boater gets the shaft all to often. I dont really see how fishing one man tournaments would be a slam on non boaters. If thats how it sounds i apologize 
I took Dan’s post as meaning the co in the back gets the shaft. Not that he doesn’t like them. I fished a team tourney with Dan once. He made sure that I was able to get a good opportunity to catch fish as much as himself, so he clearly understands waht it is like to be in the back of the boat. I have only fished 2 draw tourneys, 1 was a great experience, the second was not. In my opinion, I would rather fish team tourneys over draw. The 1 man trail sounds interesting though. It would alleviate any headaches on the boater’s by only having to worry about themselves and how they fish vs. having to think about a second person.
I would definately fish it…… But I would never give up my beloved team events.
jc
jc….i would never give up my team events either. I dont think alot of the draw tournaments but i do enjoy the team events. Think of a single. You find the fish,hook them,net them.No one to pass the buck on. Your either catch them or you dont. You fish where you want, if you have a bad day….well who’s to blame?
Actually, there is a 1 man circuit out there, but it’s based out of the Brainerd area. Here is the link if you want to check it out:
easy there fellas…it’s not that big of a deal 
I can tell its getting close to Fishin’ time! We are all getting antsy…
lets get out the big foam finger at 10 paces 
Back to the thread at hand
Dan the FOM series often has a person fishing alone due to the 5 fish limit – I know of several fishermen that had their team member not be able to make oe or more events and they fished alone and finished high in points.
It is not a draw series, it is team or alone due to the 5 fish limit – interesting concept and a growing series.
Would they let you fish it if you planned to fish by yourself or only in an emergency?
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