BassIdiot

Fry, I fish the BFL's as a co-angler. In the past 7 yrs, I have fished 13 divisions (I fish Bama and Bulldog every year), I have qualified for every regional, WON a regional and qualified for two All-Americans. Disregard what ZIP said. 1) the easiest way to get in is to find a boater to register for the tournaments with. They have what they call "guaranteed boater/co-angler". If you register with a boater by the deadline, you are in the tournament. If you wait till after the deadline, you go on a waiting list and may not get in. Use the bass fishing forums to look for boaters or at the first tournament, tell the tournament director you are looking for a boater for the rest of the tournaments. He will make an announcement and help you find a boater. 2) Rods - I carry 5, sometimes 6. It all depends on where you are fishing, time of year and what your boater tells you that you will be fishing. When you draw your partner, don't be afraid to ask him how you will be fishing the next day. Find out technique and depth. EX: does he plan on flipping all day, will he fish deep (carolina rig, big crankbait, pig and jig), will he stop early and throw top water first then go deep. This will let you know how many rods you need, what size line on each and what type of baits you need to tie on. I always have a spinning rod with a shakeyhead on it. 3) Hard baits. I don't know where Zippy fishes, but I don't know of many guys that will willing give you a $14 crankbait to throw. Get a tacklebox that has 3 or 4 of the medium size plastic boxes in it. In one, put hooks (3/0,4/0, 5/0, drop shot hooks, flipping hooks) and weights. In another, put crankbaits (shallow to deep), If you are fishing shallow all day, you can always take out the deep ones and add shallow ones the night before. In another, have topwater and jerk baits. In the top of the box and pockets, carry your plastics. I also carry an extra reel. When you backlash one, it is easier to swap reels than to lose that rod or spend 30 minutes getting out the backlash. 4) GAS - It depends on how much your boater runs. If he drops the trolling motor and stays on it all day, I would give him $20, if you run a bunch, $40 is good. If my guys runs a ton and I catch fish, I have no problem with $50. I always feel good giving gas if my boater was a joy to fish with. 5) Snacks - bring your own. Most of the guys will have something but better to bring your own than to eat theirs. Bring a few waters and throw in the cooler and bring some snacks or a sandwich. 6) Lifevest - Most guys have an extra but it is expected that you have your own. I have run into a few that didn't have an extra in their boat. If you bring your own, let the boater know so he can remove his and give you extra room. In the BFL's, the compartment behind the passenger seat is supposed to be empty and storage for the co-angler. 7) Other stuff - If it looks like it will rain, bring your rainsuit. Figure out if your boater likes to talk or not. Some will talk your ears off and others want to concentrate on fishing and will only talk while idleing or running down the lake. Find out how your boater wants you to work the net. Some want to do it themelsves, some want you to put the net in the water and not move it so they can bring the fish to it and others want you to reach out and get the fish. Nothing worse than knocking a fish off the line with the net. It sounds like a lot but the more you find out when you first meet your boater will make it a better day on the lake. Most boaters are great guys and if you have an questions, ask them. They will be glad to offer advice and help you out. You are not fishing against them, you are only fishing against the other co-anglers. Most of the boaters would love to see you win the co-angler side. I hope this helps some. Good luck and hope to see you at one of the BFL's.

You also have to remember the action of the bait. A jig will fall straight down and the skirt will flair. A beaver glides to the side each time you let it fall. A worm is longer so you get the tail action. A craw has the claws flapping but is usually a straight fall. Again, a combination of the weight and the action is what you have to figure out. Some days they want a quick fall for a reaction strike and others, they want is slowly falling so they get a better look at it.

Rapsody Rods has a new crankbait line that are good rods.

Live on south side of Atlanta. Looking for a partner for some of the evening tournaments at Jackson, Lanier, West Point.

That is some great info there! One other thing is to not expect FREE stuff. Expect to start out with a discount. I had free stuff at one time but got out of fishing for a while. Back into it now and I have sponsors for line, reels, rods and two bait companies where I get a 50% discount. Be truthful in your resume because they WILL check it.

Don't ask for sponsorship, ask to be on their regional pro-staff teams. You may not get things for free but you will more than likely get them at half price. I have a line, reel, rod and two lure companies where I get them half off. Doesn't sound like much but it adds up over a year. I change line sometimes every couple of weeks. I may be on Seminole flipping grass this week and have a tournament at Marin or Lanier the next so have to go to light line.. One thing to do if you are like me is buy extra spools for your reels. It will save you a ton of buying fishing line. Try to make some of the bigger fishing tournaments or the expo's (BASS and FLW have them). At the Classic expo, most of the company reps are there and you can talk to them face to face. Bring your resume with you so you can personally hand it to them. If you talk to someone, get their card so you can send them a thank you note and not a bad idea to attach another copy of your resume (just in case they misplaced it!)

Congrats. Salt water fishing is so much fun. And the tournaments will get in your blood, you will be entering more and more!

If you have the money, you can fish what you choose. Last year, I fished two divisions of BFL's (Bama and Bulldog), a couple of BASS Weekend Series and the BASS Southern Open on Lake Seminole. This year I fished the Bama BFL's and the last three Everstarts. I have fished two divisions of BFL's for the past 7 years. No rule against it, if fact, they enjoy taking your money!! lol