A Couple Co-Angler ?'s

[james 14]

If you fish a spring tourney and the pro is sight fishing for bedding bass do they usually let you in on the action or are you stuck fan casting the surrounding water while they work the fish? My guess is that they aren't going to let you in on the bedded fish.

Second - Do you typically pre-fish any as a co-angler? I can understand doing so if it's a brand new body of water...particularly if it's a different type of lake than you're used to fishing.

[J Francho]

1. Probably not. 50-70% of the bass don't spawn anyway, so fish the inside weed edge.

2. Always, always, always prefish. Even if you don't fish what you prefished, you'll have a clue.

[lmoore]

I like to find a smaller tournament on the same or similiar body of water within a couple of weeks of the bigger tournaments. Gets me into the tournament "mindset" and is a good way of prefishing, without having as much on the line as the larger tournaments.

[james 14]

Yeah I'm thinking about hitting the BFL Gator division next year and starting as a co-angler. Most of the tourneys are in the Spring and it got me to wondering what I might expect. All of those lakes they fish are very similar so I wasn't sure how much pre-fishing was needed since you don't have much of a say in where to go. If I don't have to make several trips down to Okeechobee I could certainly save that gas money for an entry fee or two. I know the Kiss. Chain well...won twice on it in my local club and looking for another win in two weeks.

[JT_NCbassman]

^{In response to your first question, I have found that most boaters will let you pitch at the fish, I always knew my boundaries when I fished the club tournaments. If I was fishing with a member that I wasn't really close with personally, I would never step on the front deck and never pitch my bait anywhere near the bed. Eventually, he will invite you up to the front deck to join the action. When that happens, don't leave your bait in the bed too long, and make every pitch count. Let him have 2-3 pitches to your 1. Make a comment like - "She looks ready to bite" and then pull your bait out of the water for a couple minutes while the boater is pitching. The reason you do these things, is so when you catch that 6lb. female, the boater will be less likely to try to drown you. lol.}

^{The first tournament I ever won in our club was as a non-boater on Lake Jocasse, SC in April. I gave the boater his space, and only pitched in when it really mattered. I would get those big females to nose down on the bait, and then give it a little "hop". I loved watching that white Lizard disappear.}

^{You gotta have balls to "hop" your bait straight up while an 8lb. female is nosed down on it. Most people will stand there and go "oooooh god please eat it" and shake their rod tip. lol.}

[lynyrdsky1]

Speaking from experience, a few things could happen: Your boater could tell you "tough S***" and knock you off the fish, Tell you he will give you a chance to catch a few, or not fish them at all. I had a boater not fish beded fish due to the fact he had me in the back of the boat. He still won the tournament anyways.

As a non-boater: Always pre-fish. I have had a few times where my boater couldn't prefish so I went for him. Anytime on the water can help.

[TINK]

I will try my best to position the boat to give him or her a chance at a bed fish.