Winning Tournaments From The Back Of The Boat .

[scaleface]

Ive seen this question on  here " how to catch fish from the back of the boat ? "   Its a good question . 

 

So  you guys who have won a tourney or finished high  from the rear. How did you do it ? 

 

I won one club tourney from the back  and  it was a simple strategy. The guy in front kept trying to force a spinnerbait bite and I  just quickly threw a texas Rigged Lizard in the same cover he just fished and put together two nice limits  of barely legal fish ..  It was a two day event and it went like that both days .

 

I won another club tourney from the back using a big black spinnerbait  with a big copper Colorado blade  .I was just using  something different than what everyone else was using.  I caught three four lb bass that day .

[mike1950]

I won the Bass Weekender Series T at lake Seminole in GA in 2006.  It was the first of the Weekend Series tournaments.  It was Feb. and the usual pattern for grass lakes like this was to rip rattle baits out of submerged grass.  My boater had 2 strong practice days doing this and said that was all we would be doing.  However tournament morning was rainy, windy and cold.  The grass bite had disappeared, with the cold water and wave action.  After 2 hours of being beaten by waves and rain, with NO fish, he asked if I had any ideas.   We went into a long slough that I fished before mainly to get out of the wind.  As we went in he was still casting the trap.  I had already given up and decided to try to finesse some bites.  Started pitching a 5" paddle-tail worm with1/8oz weight at grass balls and the trunks of flooded trees. Log day short...I caught only 4 with 3 being the limit, that weighed

14+ lbs.  I had 3 keepers in box before my boater caught his first fish.  He wouldn't change from what had been working.  Lesson:  down size your baits/weights to slow down.  Also, I've placed in 3 Top 5s using this rig and a 1/8oz split shot rig behind the boater.  Try these and you'll be surprised!

[Bluebasser86]

First one that I won from the back of the boat was at Pomme De Terre. I T-rigged a black Trick Worm while my boater was fishing a 10" worm. I also caught 1 good one of my first cast of the morning on a buzzbait while he was fishing a spook.

 

Second was at Mozingo. I pitched a Senko with a 1/4oz pegged weight into the holes in the grass while my boater was ripping a crank through the grass.

 

3rd was at Cedar Bluff. I was dragging a finesse jig, picking up fish whenever my bait would hit logs and limbs away from the standing timber. My boater was pitching a finesse jig at the timber.

 

4th was at Truman Lake. I was banging a squarebill into laydowns and standing timber, same thing my boater was doing. I was using a wood bait while he was fishing a plastic bait.

 

 

I guess the lesson there is to be versatile and look for little things your boater might miss. 

[zell_pop1]

I know alot of people say go finesse, but here in indiana with our highly pressured lakes and small bass populations the boaters all go finesse from the start. That's why when I was a non boater I powerfished, I didn't catch many but caught quality. Lip less cranks are quite effective in indiana reservoirs in the summertime for me, maybe because I'm the only one throwing them, so I guess the key is dare to be different.

[Ohio Dave]

I don't fish tournaments so if you want to toss my commentary I understand.   What I read here and find as I fish pressured lakes is not about finesse or power or some magic spell to put one the front man;  I read success as staying versatile and adaptive.  If KVD himself just went through the water you have the most confidence in still at a particular point in tournament;  You would be a complete fool to think you are going to out Van dam him.  profile chance, color change,  size change,  presentation change.  There very well may still be good fish to catch there but you will not find them repeating the front of the boat

[scaleface]

I don't fish tournaments so if you want to toss my commentary I understand.   What I read here and find as I fish pressured lakes is not about finesse or power or some magic spell to put one the front man;  I read success as staying versatile and adaptive.  If KVD himself just went through the water you have the most confidence in still at a particular point in tournament;  You would be a complete fool to think you are going to out Van dam him.  profile chance, color change,  size change,  presentation change.  There very well may still be good fish to catch there but you will not find them repeating the front of the boat

Yep , versatility is the key . The scenario in my first post when I was throwing a t-rig and the guy running the boat a spinnerbait , he wasnt stopping for me to fish the cover he just hit . I would make a cast work it fast through the cover and get ready for the next spot . 

[Ohio Dave]

I am not good at covering a lot of water with a t-rig.  Even though I am not in those exact scenarios windy fast drift or impatient friend days require some improvements 

[scaleface]

I use a lot of 1/4 and 5/16  ounce weights on skinny six inch baits . Work them fast and get lots of bites . 

[mike1950]

I won the Bass Weekender Series T at lake Seminole in GA in 2006.  It was the first of the Weekend Series tournaments.  It was Feb. and the usual pattern for grass lakes like this was to rip rattle baits out of submerged grass.  My boater had 2 strong practice days doing this and said that was all we would be doing.  However tournament morning was rainy, windy and cold.  The grass bite had disappeared, with the cold water and wave action.  After 2 hours of being beaten by waves and rain, with NO fish, he asked if I had any ideas.   We went into a long slough that I fished before mainly to get out of the wind.  As we went in he was still casting the trap.  I had already given up and decided to try to finesse some bites.  Started pitching a 5" paddle-tail worm with1/8oz weight at grass balls and the trunks of flooded trees. Log day short...I caught only 4 with 3 being the limit, that weighed

14+ lbs.  I had 3 keepers in box before my boater caught his first fish.  He wouldn't change from what had been working.  Lesson:  down size your baits/weights to slow down.  Also, I've placed in 3 Top 5s using this rig and a 1/8oz split shot rig behind the boater.  Try these and you'll be surprised!

I got the year wrong......it was actually 2005.  I got photo of my 2 biggest that day in the album on my profile.  5 lb. 7 oz. and  5 lb 12oz.

[Vegas_fisherman]

Now I didn't win a tournament yet, I've only fished one lol, but we were top three. My boater was able to practice a week before and said we would throw lipless cranks and tubes and jigs. So I showed up with a jig and a lipless crank tied on. We fished three hours before he got a bite on a tube. But then I started pulling them in about every 10 minutes using the lipless crank (rapala clear with a green back). I would throw a different crank or spinner bait every once in awhile but I kept catching them on the lipless. I got three fish in the live well and he got two by the end of the day, one on a jig and one on a tube. He had almost no luck throwing his crankbaits.

What stuck out to me was that he was moving the boat to quickly for me to accurately fish a tube or jig so I kept with cranking, while he would switch between the three. But by the end of the day we had caught about the same amount of fish I just had three keepers and he had two.

[webertime]

I missed AOY last year by 1/4 lb out of the back of the boat.

Carolina Rig or spybait when the boater is drop shotting. Throw swimbaits (keitechs) when he is throwing frogs, senkos, flipping. Chatterbaits when they are shallow cranking. If he is smashing them with his techniques then fish those.

Figure out how to match your boaters speed with a technique that you are comfortable with.

[dam0007]

I outfish boaters pretty consistently especially if the day is split 4/4hrs for spots and trolling motor. Honestly best way to do good is get out ahead of time with a different buddy and pre fish so you have a absolute game plan. If you bring 30 baits with you day of tourney you'll spend more time wasting time then having your line wet. I'll typically have 3-4 setups dedicated to those 3-4 baits/techniques and focus on those. Also talk to boater ahead of tourney so if he's flipping all day you're not bringing deep diving cranks with you lol it's happened to me when I was starting out.

I'm gonna just random off some pointers.

Your on outside weed line and he's following it casting forward say a crank or swimbaits. Fish something you can beat the hell out of the bank with or grass hump spinner bait, spook, swim jig etc.

If he's keyed in on fish in open water casting forward to one of his marks and nothing is to the left or right keep a eye on the rear screen and drop shot vertically! If sensitivity is high it'll be like playing a video game. Get the line to the arch and hold on!

If he's beating the bank with trollin motor on medium throw something different. Mix and match squarebill front spinner in rear. But if he's getting them good on xyz don't be hesitant to throw the same thing. It could pay off especially if he has a few short strikes or follows you could switch to a different color than what he's using.

Just some pointers from my past experiences. Hope it helps! Good luck!

[BassAddict'18]

I finished second place in a college team tournament out of the back of the boat this past September, and the winner was also a co angler. It can be done! There have been a couple times where I have had more success than my boater. Just because you are fishing out of the back of the boat doesn't mean you can't whack em'. In my opinion, its all about using the right bait and strategically casting to spots where there are fish that your angler may not have hit, or using a different bait and presentation than your angler. Just because your boater has a boat doesnt mean he is any better at fishing. He could be using the completely wrong bait for the day, and you could literally cast into the same spot he just did 30 seconds ago and catch a big one. It may also take more than one cast to pull a fish off of cover, and as a co-angler, you have the opportunity to follow up and catch fish that may have needed that second look at a bait. 

[Mainebass1984]

Last year I won AOY fishing out of the back of the boat during every tourney in my bass club. Finished the year with 3 1sts and a 3rd. I fished a jig, a frog and the hated senko most of the time. You should always pay attention to what your boater is fishing and where he is fishing it. Once he makes his cast and moves down the shore/area fish where he didn't cast.  I caught a lot of fish on long casts especially with the frog. Seemed like a lot of guys weren't able to make long casts. Got to put your bait where other fisherman wont or cant go.

[Justin Donaldson]

I finished second place in points 2-3 years ago in Bulldog division as coangler, my best tourney was my first one at Lanier, my boater started off throwing jerkbait and crankbait, so I pulled out the shaky head and went to work...i caught my first three fish by casting to rocky banks and free spooling my reel, because my boater was fishing so fast... Shake shake, open the bail and let more line out. After three keepers he was digging his shaky head out, and we both caught a couple more keepers. As we were fishing,I noticed a good sized spotted bass flash underwater eating a shad. I immediately tied on a wacky rig, as the shaky head bite had slowed considerably. On the next two casts, I caught my biggest fish of the day, and lost one that was pulling about the same as him... Losing the big one cost me the tourney win, but being versatile and paying attention gave me the chance to get the win, and ended up cashing a check anyways...