Things are getting worst for co-anglers all around-KY State Federation example

[mrbassky]

I agree with Matt Fly on this as well. Although the Co usually assists with the fuel costs, there is a lot more that goes into being a boater, which should give us the control of the boat for the entire day.

What if the opposite of what you stated is true? What if I own the boat and you take me to some dead water for the 1/2 day you have control of the boat. Is that fair? It's my boat, I take care of it, pay for it, clean it, etc, then you take me, with my boat, to dead water!! That would upset me more than going with a boater and not catching anything on their spots >.

Also, this is the way of the BFL's and Weekend Series, so it's good training ground should you want to move up the ranks. The size of the tourney shouldn't have any bearing on who controls the boat.

If you cant catch fish in half a day of fishing good water then you probably need help. Trust me if your catching fish you coangler wont leave your spot anyway. Lets be honest alot of us have egos when it comes to picking water. Most of us think the spots we have picked are the best and when we pull up on our partners spot we dont have near the confidence even if we only caught 1 short fish on our spot.

You want to play scenarios heres one. I fished with a guy once who pulled up on a point first thing in the morning. Later I found out the guy picked that spot because his pocket guide to seasonal patterns said secondary points should be good. Another tournament same lake I fished with a guy who ran 10 miles up a creek to fish cold muddy water and stayed 5hrs there because he had a couple hits there. No fish hits.  :'(  I KNOW I could outfish these guys easy. I am in the top 5 in my club every year and won a couple plaques as well. So here I am a good coangler I spend $50 in gas, $50 on a hotel, and $100 on fees, side pot, helping out boater. So for $200 I draw out with Jim Bob who insists on fishing that shallow mud flat up the creek. No bites just a couple short fish all day. How fun would that be? Is that how you get the best anglers to represent the state.

Point is nobody wants to share anymore. Alot of boaters think its my boat my decisions. Your fishing a tournament with a coangler deal with it. Alot of guys said if your a coangler and you dont like it dont fish. Well if the boaters didnt like it then they shouldnt have fished. Instead they whined and changed the rules. Used to be pros would draw out with each other in tournaments, they would fish and get along. Its getting to the point where you have to own a boat to fish tournaments. If Ike fished with my states rules we might not have ever known who he was.

[UPS VT]

At the Federation level there is no reason not to split trolling motor time.  At our last 2 STQ I was stuck with a boater that had all these "great spots".  They were not great to say the least.  This year the only fish either of us caught were on spots that I the lowly non-boater suggested.  If I don't know the area well, or have not pre-fished I let the boater know that and I will leave the decision up to him, but otherwise we pay the same entry fee and I contribute gas money, so why shouldn't I have a say in where we fish  >

[R520dvx]

With these rules in place, you are no longer competing against the boaters. Statistically speaking, you probably have better chances of advancement than when boaters and co-anglers all were mixed together.

I agree with others who have suggested that you buy your own boat. Gas money is only the beginning .... the operational costs are HUGE ....

I have fished as a co-angler before and have never drawn a boater who didn't ask if there was a spot that I wanted to try.

I have seen times when co-anglers didn't even offer to help with gas money .... Hopefully, you are NOT one of those .... try paying your boater before blast-off .... you just might have a better day on the water.