ok guys, excuse my ignorance but I have read a lot of posts about co anglers/non boaters but have absolutely no idea where you find these type of tournaments. I have boat and am going to fish a tournament series next year with my sun but would love to find a back seat to "learn the ropes". Where can I look for these seats/spots?

Thanks

The first place to look is the FLW tour or the BASS Opens. There is one called ABA also but in my opinion, again my opinion, they are not the first trail I would look at because unlike the FLW and BASS (unless something has changed and I am now wrong), they don't guarantee a co-angler before the tournament, you have to basically wait until the day of. Just go to the sites I mentioned and it is pretty self explanatory on how the co system works and what you need to do to sign up. If I were you, I would first start on the BFL level on the FLW tour and then go from there.

The key is signing up for tournaments early as a co because you have a better shot of getting a guaranteed link with a boater. Or, if you know a boater fishing the event, you can call in together and register together to guarantee yourself a spot as a co for that tournament, or all of them if you both choose to fish them all. Just know that you are not going to be paired with that boater, it is a draw system.

To clarify the above statement about possibly not being guaranteed a spot as a co-angler, in the BFL tournaments, you need to find a boater that is entering and "link" with him. This way you are guaranteed a spot. All you do is tell the lady when you call in to enter that you're linking with that boater and the boater has to do the same.

You can find an ABA district locally and fish as a non-boater. Most have plenty of open back seats and at $70 a tournament is a great way to get your feet wet. They don't require a lot of travel. Here's the link to ABA district 52 which fishes in your area.

http://www.drawtrail.com/2016DivPage.php?Division=52

The payouts won't make you rich but you can learn a lot.

so if you are NOT looking to get your butt beat by the boater and something a little friendlier you might look at our club.

we fish every other Thursdays daytime only at Lake Fork (where better) in a draw format with an emphasis on learning new techniques, baits and boat driving.

and our tournaments are only $13 each to enter with a $5 annual fee. PM me for further info