Any tips on being a co-angler??

I am fishing the MN RCL league events as a co-angler and this weekend on pools 3 and 4 is the first one and it will be my first Pro/Am Walleye tournament and was wondering if anyone(Pros or experienced co-anglers) out there might have suggestions for a first time co-angler.
I am doing the 3 league events in MN and the big RCL on Devils as a co this year so any tips or potential pitfalls would be greatly appreciated.
I am really excited and want to have a great time no matter how I finish.
Gotta love the dancin banana.
Thanks
John

Did they change the pool locations? I was told it was only pool 3. My advice, Just have fun and soak in all that you learn. Have Patience and keep a positive attitude no matter what happens.

Jarrad,
I talked to someone at FLW regarding the RCLs a couple weeks ago and they were tying to get the DNR to approve the use of Pool 4 as well. He sounded pretty confident that it would happen, but wasn’t positive. I am hoping, I have fished pool 4 a lot this spring and may be able to help the pro with a couple locations if he needs them.

John,
Here is a link to an article I wrote about being a co-angler.
http://www.fishtheriver.com/articles/coangler_tips.html
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Good luck and have fun

Things may have changed since then, but the Friday before the LPO I received a letter saying it was pool 3 only.

On 4.25 we recieved letters in the mail notifing us that we only get to fish pool 3. They must not have been able to get the pool 4 permit.

My #1 suggestion is to pay attention and learn as much as possible. If you anyone fishes as a co-angler (Am)- in a tourny and are in it for the money, that’s the wrong reason. I would almost look at it as a pretty cheap guide trip. Most of us will be spending quite a few days prefishing and will hopefully be able to figure things out. Even if you don’t catch fish on tourny day, you can still learn techniques.

I’m not 100% sure, but in the RCL events I don’t think a coangler is allowed to bring rods or tackle in the boat and they are not allowed to offer up spots, etc. I’m sure they will go over all of that at the rules meeting.

I know that they are not allowed to bring equipment. I wasnt sure about offering spots. I know that the 2nd day of a 2 day tourney co-anglers cannot provide any location or technique info.

well Dylan (FLICK) told me that last year, the guy that jarrad was fishing with practically went to all them spots that he told him too. Maybe jarrad can elaborate on that, since he did so well last year, on what dylan had told me.

LOL Thats not supposed to happen you can not tell anything, bring anything, or show anything to your pro. Your just supposed to fish with them useing there technique.

But its fun and its worth it you wont believe how much you will tearn in a day!

Make sure to have fun and expect the unexpected. Always listen to the pro and learn from mistakes like I have (MFO should know I fished with him). Dont feel bad if you do make a mistake. Mistakes can be good because you can learn from them.

It is Pool 3 only. Has anyone heard if we can go dam to dam?Tuck

Haven’t hear Tuck. Have you been prefishing white bass?

I would suggest that if you have any questions about the RCL
rules that you ask for clarification of them from the RCL staff, namely Sonny Reynolds.

Thank you all for the advice.
MFO…you hit the nail on the head when you said don’t fish for the money. I have been walleye fishing my whole life and would like to eventually get into more tournaments as a boater versus a co-angler and I am really looking forward to learning as much as I can this summer co-angling the 3 MN league events and the big RCL in Devils Lake.
It sounds like I will see many of you down at Treasure Island. Thanks again for all the info and good luck to everyone.
John

I can honestly say from two Rcls so far, fishing with 7 different pros and being around and in conversations with many others and also fishing with team partners over the years I learn things every day. Somedays tiny variations on things you use already and sometimes off the wall looking techniques that work. It is amazing the number of ways that the same group of fish can be caught. I would caution you against not fishing for the money, if you are serious about becoming a fulltime tourney pro. Even if you are the co-angler and don’t have the final say on how and where you fish you should be aware and constantly studying how a trip to the bank might have been accomplished if something had been done a little differently.

I am currently 22 out of over 285 coanglers in the RCL and would gladly take 285th place if I had cashed 2 small checks. At Lake Sharpe I missed a check by 1 oz.( ) Although both pros on both days threw back more than that one ounce,(slot tourney), I can honestly say that both of their strategies were maximised and the tiny things that I might have done different might very well have had a very negative effect on our weights.

Great point Mountain Man. Thank you, that is exactly the kind of feedback a rookie like me to tournament fishing might over look or just not realize when you are caught up in the whole experience.
I am looking at the co-angling as a learning experience and a stepping stone to hopefully being competative some day as a pro.
Thanks again to everyone who respnded.
John

MFO, I haven’t, but I know some who have….
I think all the walleyes are dressing up like Silver bass anyway! Check them really close this weekend. As a matter of fact, ALL you guys fishing the RCL this weekend should bring in Silvers…Please!
LOL
Tuck