Non-boater in tournament questions

[mheichelbech]

I fished my first tournament as a non-boater yesterday.  As I think I previously noted, with my kids now almost independent from me on a daily basis I am dipping my toes back into tournament fishing, thinking about a boat and fishing tournaments.  Although I didn't catch any keepers, I was fortunate to have a great boater and it was an all around fun day despite 20 mph winds and 15 degree temp drop with a major cold front having passed through the night before.  I really could not have asked for a better boater....we were definitely around fish.  I do think the one strategic mistake was not slowing down enough but never mentioned that...maybe I should have.  

 

After this experience I have a few more questions:

 

1)  Although I only got hung up once to where he had to interrupt his fishing, I was constantly through the day, mindful of not getting hung up so as not to interrupt his fishing.  For example, I did not use a trailer hook on my spinnerbaits to avoid hangups.  What is a reasonable number of times that a non-boater can expect to get hung up before it's a problem for the boater through an 8 hour tournament?  

 

2)  Assuming one is a fairly knowledgeable and experienced angler fishing (on a particular lake)as a non-boater, is it "wrong" to mention a change in strategy unsolicited?

 

3) And this is a biggie....on this particular tournament trail, most of the lakes are about 1-3 hours away.  As such they are within driving distance but not so far that I need to stay over night. These tournaments have everyone come to a pre-tournament meeting the day before (pre-tourn on Satuday, tourn on Sunday).  I asked the tournament director if I could skip the pre-tournament meeting and simply arrive extra early on Sunday morning so I would not have to drive 2 hours to and 2 hours back on Saturday and then do the whole thing again on Sunday, and he said that was fine.  I heard another angler say some of the boaters were angry because their non-boater wasn't there on Saturday (my boater did not seem to mind and they seemed more angry about the length of the pre-tournament meeting and time it took).  From what I saw there were a lot of boaters without non-boaters so it appears to be that non-boaters are "needed" in a sense.

 

My question is, if I wanted to fish this trail but didn't want to do all this extra driving on Saturdays, is it fair to ask for my boater's contact info and not attend the pre-tournament meeting the day before?  Or, should I just bite the bullet and either stay over night or do the drive on Saturday to conform?  It seem stupid to make people waste all this time and gas to attend what should be an at most, a half hour meeting that could easily be done on Sunday morning.  Secondly, with technology today, there is no reason I can think of as to why the boater/non-boater could not be paired up well before the tournament and the appropriate contact info emailed (or texted) to each angler...heck even the day before should be fine.  If people want to fish bad enough, they will contact each other and most of the time, 95% of the rules and policies are known in advance.  This whole day before thing just seems like an outmoded process from a time when everyone didn't have cell phones and the ability to communicate with ease.  Especially with gas prices going through the roof again (and speaking as someone who spent roughly $25 dollars of my own gas driving and gave the boater $40 for gas).

 

 

[813basstard]

I can only speak on the last 2.

 

I’ll only offer info if they ask. Before takeoff he they ask ‘you got anything?’ Then I’ll interject. If not, I’m fishing what he is. I don’t want them second guessing themselves. That’s bad fishing. 
 

I think it’s outdated to have to be at a meeting especially if you don’t live close. I wouldn’t worry about that as long as you talk to your boater and are on time in the am. 
 

As far as the $ goes, that’s the price of doing business. 

[mheichelbech]

1 minute ago, 813basstard said:

I can only speak on the last 2.

 

I’ll only offer info if they ask. Before takeoff he they ask ‘you got anything?’ Then I’ll interject. If not, I’m fishing what he is. I don’t want them second guessing themselves. That’s bad fishing. 
 

I think it’s outdated to have to be at a meeting especially if you don’t live close. I wouldn’t worry about that as long as you talk to your boater and are on time in the am. 
 

As far as the $ goes, that’s the price of doing business. 

Thanks and I wasn't necessarily complaining about the money part...especially for gas for the boater.  The day before "registration/pre-tournament" meeting travel is primarily an inconvenience and I think deters a lot of fishermen, both boaters and non-boaters, from fishing the tournaments that do this.  A lot of these guys are fishing all the tournaments on the trail and may fish other trails as well.  It's already expensive enough to fish these tournaments without having an additional day of travel.  I get that a lot of them may be on the lake pre-fishing but that is optional.  If they did everything in 1 day it would at least eliminate a reason for anglers to not fish the tournament.  Also, for anyone who may think so, I am not all complaining about the tournament generally.  It was a great tournament.  My only complaint is in regard to the day before required meetings which seems to be common for tournaments.

[dickenscpa]

The tournament trail I do started doing the Zoom deal for the Capt/Pre-tourney meeting. They started doing this because of COVID last Spring and TBH I kinda like this system.

 

Now like all things COVID related a lot of things don't make sense. After the time limit is up we all have to meet back at the ramp together and handle business. LOL!

[Logan S]

1:  There's no right number, zero would be ideal though .  It's all situational, some are easier to go get than others.  Most people don't mind going to get a few if it's not in a sketchy spot or they don't have to back track a ton.  The ones that are frustrating are if you can't stay out of the tree branches on the shoreline or end up snagged 100' directly behind the boat (bonus points for if it's windy/rough/current too ) or other things in that same category.  Also, if it's just a soft plastic rig (IE, hook/weight/bait)...Just bite the bullet on it, they are cheap and easy to retie.  

 

2:  It's not wrong, but don't expect action on it...For better or worse, most boaters aren't going to ditch their plan for their co-angler/non-boater's ideas.  The ratio of actual good input compared to garbage someone saw on youtube or 'heard from a buddy' is like 1 out of 100 though, so don't be surprised if someone shoots you down...It's a kneejerk reaction .  

 

3:  I'm assuming based on the context that the pairings are done at the meeting the day before?  If so, I can see where some might get annoyed if a non-boater isn't there...They probably want to meet, talk to, and coordinate right then and there and then be done with it.  Having said that, I don't see anything wrong with your solution either assuming you follow through and communicate.  If you happen to draw one of the guys that wants you to be there you'll have to dig yourself out of that hole though.  

[mheichelbech]

On 3/29/2021 at 2:50 PM, Logan S said:

1:  There's no right number, zero would be ideal though .  It's all situational, some are easier to go get than others.  Most people don't mind going to get a few if it's not in a sketchy spot or they don't have to back track a ton.  The ones that are frustrating are if you can't stay out of the tree branches on the shoreline or end up snagged 100' directly behind the boat (bonus points for if it's windy/rough/current too ) or other things in that same category.  Also, if it's just a soft plastic rig (IE, hook/weight/bait)...Just bite the bullet on it, they are cheap and easy to retie.  

 

2:  It's not wrong, but don't expect action on it...For better or worse, most boaters aren't going to ditch their plan for their co-angler/non-boater's ideas.  The ratio of actual good input compared to garbage someone saw on youtube or 'heard from a buddy' is like 1 out of 100 though, so don't be surprised if someone shoots you down...It's a kneejerk reaction .  

 

3:  I'm assuming based on the context that the pairings are done at the meeting the day before?  If so, I can see where some might get annoyed if a non-boater isn't there...They probably want to meet, talk to, and coordinate right then and there and then be done with it.  Having said that, I don't see anything wrong with your solution either assuming you follow through and communicate.  If you happen to draw one of the guys that wants you to be there you'll have to dig yourself out of that hole though.  

Thanks and your response is pretty much what I expected.  I try to put myself in the boater’s shoes and think how would I feel if....I also did my best to not fish behind the boat unless we were relatively static in an area.  Interestingly and this didn’t know this while fishing, but my more boater had won over $70k fishing in the last 10-15 years.  He was a very humble guy.  I knew he could fish but I didn’t realize he was that good.  I’d consider myself lucky to draw any other boaters even remotely like this guy.  I think he enjoyed fishing with me as well as we chatted throughout the day about various things.  When we agreed on DT I knew it was all good..lol!

 

Btw, I checked with the tournament director and he has agreed to let me show up the day of instead of coming to the pre-tournament meeting.  It’s kind of a keep it on the low kind of thing but I think he understands I’m not an idiot when it comes to communicating along with having a job that requires me to work 6-7 days a week right now.  I am pretty positive about this whole deal right now and may fish the whole trail for the year.

[Wildbillb]

You guys don't prefish at all?

[mheichelbech]

15 minutes ago, Wildbillb said:

You guys don't prefish at all?

You don't find out your partner until the pre-tournament meeting which is end of day on Saturday with the tournament being on Sunday.  I can get the name and number from the tournament director of the boater.  

[TOXIC]

I don’t want to sound rude but if I’m a coangler I’m not there to make the boaters day any easier or harder.  I’m there to fish.  I know the FOM tournaments require a night before meeting but I’m not sure about other trails.  If I get hung up it would depend on what I was throwing.  An expensive crank or a soft plastic.  If I prefished and had good info, I would for sure mention it and it is up to him if he wants to ask for it.  

[Bassattackr]

1) No hard and fast rules here.   Just be considerate, I try to do the same.   If you hang up once every hour or so, no big deal.  If I have to circle back every 5-10 minutes, then as a boater it gets old fast and distracts from my fishing.  On the flip side, I used to fish as a coangler and no one is expected to be perfect.  As others have mentioned, if you're way off behind the boat with a shakey head, just break it off and tie on a new one.  If your Vision 110 is on a dock cable, it would be take a real jerk not to go back and get it for you!

 

2) Not wrong but.. don't take it personal if the boater isn't interested.   The most annoying thing for a boater is drawing a coangler and 2 minutes into meeting him he wants to know how many fish you're on, I got a spot where my buddy and I whacked them here yesterday, etc, etc..   It's a running joke in most circles.  Personally speaking, I bought a boat to make my own decisions, game plan, etc.  You don't like it, don't enter or step up to the pro side yourself.   On the flip side, I've had a few boaters ask in my coangler days and contributed before.   So as a general rule, I'd say keep those kinds of things to yourself unless asked.  If they're that desperate they may ask.

 

3)  I agree with you 100%.   Even as a boater, I generally don't even attend these anymore..  

 

Have fun and good luck!