Co-Angler Tournament Rigs

[Jammer]

Now that I am retired, I finally joined a local Bass Club. My first tournament is this weekend and I will fish this season as a Co-Angler. I want to keep my footprint small but efficient. After much thought, this is the three Rod/Reel/Line setup I will use for now. Comments? Suggestions?

 

All Rods are St Croix / All Reels are Quantum / All Lines are Seaguar

1.)  Treble Hook Baitcaster:  7' MH-M (AXC70MHM) / Tour-S3 (6.1-1) / 12# Mono

2.)  Single Hook Baitcaster:  7' H-F (MJC70HF) / Smoke-S3 (8.1-1) / 20# Flouro

3.)  Finesse Hook Spinning:  7' M-F (AXS70MF) / Smoke-S3 30 / 20# Braid to 6# Flouro Leader

[Captain Phil]

You will be fishing in the rear of the boat.  Most likely the angler in the front will limit your ability to control the boat.   From my experience, you will do better with the Finesse rig.  If you are fishing shallow, cast a wacky rig around any cover you see.  You can do this without being in the front.  Smaller lures can catch fish the front angler misses. In any case, try to fish where the other angler doesn't.  Watch what the angler in the front is doing and learn all you can. Being a co-angler is a learning opportunity.

[WIGuide]

Seems like a good start and should keep things pretty versatile. You may benefit from adding a MH/F to your arsenal as well for something like 1/4 - 1/2 oz. jigs and things like that.   

[813basstard]

I don’t know what all them numbers mean but always have something top Water tied up if they pop on the side or back of the boat and some type of senko. 
 

If you’re going down a bank you’re at the most severe disadvantage the closer they get to the bank. Big grass flats, deep structure or giant pad fields it evens the playing field. 

[r83srock]

I think what you have covers a lot of bases. I agree with WIGuide that you may want to add a medium heavy fast casting setup sometime, to round things out, but what you have should work fine for now. Definitely look at the back of the boat as a learning experience, but don’t be afraid to throw something completely different than the guy in the front. Finesse tactics can be hard to beat. Treat your boater and his equipment with respect and he will be very accommodating for you most likely, and just have fun!

[Ski]

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/tournament-etiquette-backseat-coangler.html

[Mike L]

I can appreciate you wanting to keep your “footprint small but efficient”

Certainly a consideration, but you also need to plan ahead to be ready to Improvise and adjust accordingly as the day goes on as you most likely will have to do at some point. 
 

As others have said your arsenal is ok but in my opinion you’re limiting your options. 
If what you listed is all you have, plan on having other baits available to make a quick change minimizing down time and have a plan when and how to switch it up. 
 

If you have others available the recommendations you received are spot on. 


Mike

[Smalliefan2]

I take four to five when a co-angler. MH crankbait, Med. spin for shakey head, Med, & MH baitcasters, and sometimes a med or med lt. for ned, wacky or micro jigs. You usually fish used water, but some places, like small sloughs, you have the same opportunity fishing the opposite side from your angler. Same for some of the off shore structure. I also have been invited to cast to the front from my angler.

I may carry up to five, but actually use just two to three.

Good luck and enjoy the competition. Fish to your strengths.

[roadwarrior]

 

[JediAmoeba]

As a coangler I take 5-7 rods. I keep them tied together with velcro straps so they aren't all over the place - you never know what the boater is going to decide to do so you have to be versatile.

[Big Hands]

It’s probably best to have a chat with the boater the night before if possible and see how much room you have and how they feel about things. 
 

You could probably take ten of these and not irritate your host. 

[Jammer]

Thank you to all who provided inputs. The links to prior articles and videos were very helpful. My boat captain for the day is actually the club President, and he suggested I bring 4 rods -- so I am still deciding what to add. It will only be 22-44 degrees air temp tomorrow, so I am thinking of adding another lighter spinning rig for more finesse options.

 

If I don't freeze to death, next week I'll let you know how I fared. Thank you, again, for all the inputs.

[Cbump]

I know a guy who won over $300k as a co-angler. He fished one setup, year round, whether 3’ or 30” deep from the back of the boat. 
Carolina rig.

[evilcatfish]

I think the three combos mentioned are about perfect and should cover just about everything. Only suggestion I’d make is keep a few different sizes/types of leader material on hand for the spinning setup so you can adapt as needed 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I’ve carried as many as six, usually 3-4 but invariably ended up using 1-2. I was doing club txs so I could communicate with the boater ahead of time. That helps for sure. I never felt out of the game with my 3 basic setups similar to yours but would grab a technique specific one if I knew I’d be flipping, jerkbaiting etc. 

[FishTank]

I take 5 or 6 setups and two tackle bags. It's too much but there is always something I end up needing. 

[Jammer]

My first tournament was a tough start. It stayed well below freezing all day on Lake Cumberland, and the main lake got very rough in the afternoon when the wind picked up. Having good cold weather gear made a full day of fishing achievable for both of us. Rod guides icing up, and even reels were locking up occasionally for both myself and my boat captain. We both zeroed.

 

There were only 6 bass weighed in for the whole tournament and 3 of those were caught by the winner. Only three anglers had scorable bass. Every co-angler zeroed.

 

I did take 4 total setups, and used them all. The additional setup I chose was a MH-F with 15# flouro and 7.1-1 baitcaster. I think I will stick to this lineup until I get more experience from the back of the boat.

 

I did discover that I need to improve my casting accuracy. My boat captain wanted me to join him casting to the front of the boat. Often this left me with a very narrow lane to cast to and a much shorter distance than I would normal cast. Trying to control the distance by altering my normal cast mechanics caused all kinds of azimuth problems. In golf terms, I was hooking and slicing all my casts whenever I altered my normal cast mechanics. I ended up going back to my normal cast mechanics and just thumbed the spool earlier and harder than normal to control the cast distance.

 

Thank you, again, for all the inputs.

[WRB]

Just read this and agree you need 4 rods. I suggest using the MHF jig & worm rod unless you are happy using the HF casting jigs, worms and creatures. Adjust the rod as needed for the lake fished. 

2 casting and 2 spinning.

1 spinning for drop shot or weightless Senko and 10 # FC* leader. 1 spinning for Slip Shot (finesse C-rig) 8 lb mono leader in lieu of FC to help float hand poured worm like Roboworms. Ideal for back seating.

Enjoy your retirement and club tournaments,

Tom

* take 6 and 10# FC leader spools, 6 for drop shot & 10 for 5” Senko.