fishing from back of the boat

[bassin baller]

im going to be fishing a tournament tomorrow and im going to be fishing from the back of the boat and i was wondering what the best way you guys have found to catch bass from the back of the boat when the guys in the front are getting to the best spots first thanks..

[Other.]

Use a soft plastic bait and just pick up the bass he misses. If there is good enough action the bass should leave the coverage and go after your bait.

[Bassassasin12]

Use a soft plastic bait and just pick up the bass he misses. If there is good enough action the bass should leave the coverage and go after your bait.

Exactly what I've always done. unless you see a spot he's missed.

[Danceswithbass]

As a co angler you arn't always at a disadvantage. Sure if your flipping you are going to be fishing used water, but alot of the time you can fish while the boater is busy with the trolling moter, re rigging or culling . To make up for not getting first shot at the fish you need to make more casts than the boater, you may not be competing with him but it helps your odds of catching an active fish. Senko is a co-anglers best friend !

[5bass]

Well,I can tell you first hand that if your boater is fishing slow enough for you to use a texas rigged worm,do it.My co-angler this year in the club throws them all the time and catches nice fish every time we go.Most times he throws a Zoom finesse worm.

[FL_fisher]

I all depends on what the boater is doing you dont want to use a worm if the boater is trolling in high gear using a crankbait or some other search bait. When im in the back of the boat  I try to fish the same places I would if I was in the front. A lot of times I will out fish the guy in the front and catch fish right where his bait just came from thats when I think em for waking or warming the up for me  ;D.

[5bass]

I all depends on what the boater is doing you dont want to use a worm if the boater is trolling in high gear using a crankbait or some other search bait.

That's why I said "if your boater is fishing slow enough".

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I'd use the same principle I use having to follow another boat through what I'd hoped was a secret milk run. It's amazing how many of them power fish with search baits, so I come along with what I consider follow-up lures that stay in a potential strike zone longer. Those are the ones that ought to be tied on his other rods for when a search bait is too fast and he's getting short strikes. So you fish the followup baits. Don't worry about what he's doing or not doing. I'm not having to wear myself out casting 5 miles of search baits. What those do this time of year, as mentioned already, is the boater is warming bass up to bite, but he doesn't come back to let a bass that's just finished swimming up from 10 or 20 feet find his lure. By the time I get there bass are swarming like wasps looking for whatever it was that caught their attention and the boat that stirred them is 200 feet ahead. The co-angler can do the same thing, and that's going to force a wise boater to slow down if you produce bites. That's the goal of his searching, find bass and produce a bite. He's probably passing up hundreds of eligible feeding bass a day. I'd ignore what he's doing or not doing until he finds fish for both of you his way. Avoid using search type baits and always be ready to harvest, making his used water prime water.

If he's spinnerbaiting and moving a mile an hour, work a floating jerkbait casting it to the side and letting it flop until almost being trolled. You can fish that at one mile an hour and get the attention of a lot of bass. Walk a Zara Spook across his used water as soon as he passes it. Let it fall behind. If going a little slower use a 10" weightless worm.

Jim

[FL_fisher]

I all depends on what the boater is doing you dont want to use a worm if the boater is trolling in high gear using a crankbait or some other search bait.

That's why I said "if your boater is fishing slow enough".

Come on now it took me at least 2 mins to type that.

[buzzbaitfool12]

Man this post is funny..I was gonna post the same thing to ask if in the back of the boat, how much of a disadvantage the angler has had... I have gone out three straight times with a buddy of mine and he has caught a average of 9 fish each time and I have caught an average of 1..  I go by myself in my boat and I catch 8 to 10 in the same lake..He fished rattletraps, flukes, buzzbaits, and now sammys and I fish buzzbaits,rattetraps,crankbaits,and topwater frogs..I have exactly no confidence in plastics anymore..Thanks for your comments here..

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Except for the flukes his bait choices fit a quick moving power fishing tendency, which would eliminate most soft plastic fishing. Once bass are located with that lineup he needs to stop and go to slower soft plastics which usually outfish any of those you listed.

Jim

[Zebco202]

I fish out of the back of the boat at least 1-3 times each week.  Either for pleasure or in a tournament.

As others have mentioned you have to cater your style to whatever the guy in the front of the boat is doing.  I spent many a day getting skunked because the guy up front was trolling too fast for my plastic worm.  I've since learned to switch to different lures, which have increased my fish catching lures ten fold.  If it's a team tournament, I let the guy up front worrying about catching numbers and I tie on a big bait and I try to catch big fish.

[playmaker47]

I fish all my tournaments out of the back of the boat. Sometimes I do worse than the boater, but there are a few times that I have beaten the boater. I like to use the same style as the boater but a little different technique. If he is fishing a crankbait or chatterbait I will fish a spinnerbait. If he is fishing a brush hog or a senko I will fish a T-rigged lizard or sweet beaver or tube. If the boater is using watermellon or green pumpkin colors I will use junebug or red shad or something like those or if he is using the latter i will use the watermellon or green pumpkin colors. I like to try and hit any tree or stump that he has missed, along with ones he also hits. Alot of times boaters will troll by cover and fish it and then turn around at the end and go back, so there are always uncaught fish left that non-boaters could catch. Take advantages of times where boaters are fixing their baits or re-rigging a new soft plastic. Hit any good looking area while they arent fishing.

[CJ]

Alot of good advice already.I'll second that you need to finesse behind him if that is what you feel you need to do once you are there.The main thing is to keep an open mind and be prepared(in other words pack a variety of confidence lures).If you don't know how you are going to fish until that morning your going to need mental preparation.Don't get to carried away with thinking about it just go fishing.A big factor will be if you are fishing deep or shallow.If he goes to wearing some fish out on a specific lure and presentation you may need to fish the same thing amd just pick up what he misses which will be easier in deep water.

[TLBassin]

OK....In my opinion and my experience, I would trade the front for the back ANY day.  (and no Im not crazy either).  All the times that I have fished from the back of the boat I have tore the boater up and number/quality wise.  Now that I have my own boat and fish the front, I get tore up by the guy in the back.  Since I like the back so much, I get my non to run the trolling motor and let me fish the back, and waaalahhh, I get more fish.  IDK what it is but I know I have more confidence in the back.  To me when I fish the back my mind is solely focused on fishing and fishing only.  When in the front i have to worry about running trolling motor, whats ahead of us/where to go, and the fish finder to make sure I am not going to shallow.(I have learned to do it all pretty fluently, but it still aint the back)  Thus breaking alot of my focus and not catching as many fish, I believe.

Things that I used from the back where C-rigs, cranks, and jerks!!

GOOD LUCK!! ;D ;D

[FL_fisher]

OK....In my opinion and my experience, I would trade the front for the back ANY day. (and no Im not crazy either). All the times that I have fished from the back of the boat I have tore the boater up and number/quality wise. Now that I have my own boat and fish the front, I get tore up by the guy in the back. Since I like the back so much, I get my non to run the trolling motor and let me fish the back, and waaalahhh, I get more fish. IDK what it is but I know I have more confidence in the back. To me when I fish the back my mind is solely focused on fishing and fishing only. When in the front i have to worry about running trolling motor, whats ahead of us/where to go, and the fish finder to make sure I am not going to shallow.(I have learned to do it all pretty fluently, but it still aint the back) Thus breaking alot of my focus and not catching as many fish, I believe.

Things that I used from the back where C-rigs, cranks, and jerks!!

GOOD LUCK!! ;D ;D

Can I be your nonboater ;D. Are you new to being in the front of the boat?

[Wildbillb]

do you know the boater?  Is he going to "front end" you?  I have fished as a non-boater only in tourney's.  If I know the guy I am fishing with well enough I can usually sneak my was up beside him (20+ foot boat) and fish too.  

[craigaria]

Man this post is funny..I was gonna post the same thing to ask if in the back of the boat, how much of a disadvantage the angler has had... I have gone out three straight times with a buddy of mine and he has caught a average of 9 fish each time and I have caught an average of 1.. I go by myself in my boat and I catch 8 to 10 in the same lake..He fished rattletraps, flukes, buzzbaits, and now sammys and I fish buzzbaits,rattetraps,crankbaits,and topwater frogs..I have exactly no confidence in plastics anymore..Thanks for your comments here..

I am "that guy" ;D Me and Buzz both fish the same. Covering alot of water with fast moving baits... We try and seek out active bass with fast baits, then slow down and fish the same area with plasics. We have been discussing this topic the past few fishing trips. I have seen it go both ways. Here recently, I took Blueeyedfisherchick out on the boat, and both times she outfished me from the back of the boat. Both of those trips she threw a rattletrap the whole time while I concentrated with a buzzbait and thew a fluke here and there. The same is true for the last few eve trips with Buzz. He concentrated with a buzzbait, while I mainly threw a rattletrap and fluke. The last time I got a few bites on the sammy, but they wouldn't hit the buzzbait. But I know why he is throwing that buzzbait (big fish) When the buzzbait bite is on, it is worth it! The few times we both threw cranks and rattletraps the whole trip, we both boated fish and nice ones too.

I have had good and bad luck in the front of the boat. The same goes for the back seat also. Lets go hit the lake this eve, and you can run the motor. It will be a nice break for me, and we can do a little experiment. I wouldn't have a problem alternating driving either. It will be easy to see a pattern if we switch everytime. 8-)

Oh, by the way, I got another one on the sammy this morning 5lb 3oz ;D Had 2 others slam it but didn't get it in their mouth... :'(

[craigaria]

I wanted to add something... I do notice that I catch more fish when I am alone, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I can postition the boat with no concern of the location of the back of the boat. I also tend to get real close to the bank and cast parrallel to it when they are up shallow, just to keep the bait in the strike zone longer. It is hard to do this with 2 people in the boat without screwing the other guy. I try not to put my partner in "the desert" while fishing.

Although I enjoy fishing alone. It is much more fun with a partner, especially when we are both ripping them! 8-)

[Matt Fly]

Stick to the baits you have confidence in and use your strengths to the boaters style of fishing.

Trying something you aren't confident in just to be opposite of the boater can make for long days.  Unless your very versitile and confident with all approaches.

good luck and hookem

matt

[craigaria]

Buzz outfished me from the back of the boat tonight...

[Koikus]

I totally agree with and echo Cragaria's post. I've been outfished a LOT (more than I'd like to admit, ha ha) by my friends at the back of the boat. I usually am in front, but I purposely skip good spots for my buds. When one of my fishing partners caught a 9 pound Largemouth and then another friend boated an 8 1/2 pounder from the back of my boat, I ALMOST thought about not being so nice....just kidding. Seriously, my partners and I always talk about what we want to start throwing first. If we're thinking of throwing the same bait, then one of us will put something else on. This naturally increases our chances of discovering what may or may not be working on that given day. We will continue to change to different lures if nothing is happening until one of us discovers "the key" that day. If one of us (and usually this will happen) discovers a "hot" bait, well the other man isn't too proud to change to that bait.