When you guys are fishing with a buddy, do you fish from the front deck with him/her and if so why?

I see guys fishing on the lake and a lot of times I see 2 guys fishing in a nice 21ft boat and the 2 fishermen are side by side on the front deck. What are the advantages gained fishing this way? I have tried it on my boat and with others on theirs and I am very uncomfortable fishing this way. I need all the room I can get when casting/pitching/flipping and setting the hook. What are the pros and cons of fishing this way? Am I missing something?

For me I prefer the other to be up front. Boat control and we won't have to turnaround and go backwards when he gets hung up. Also less opportunity to get whack in the head with a XD10 or a 6/O owner.

In certain situations, like if we are casting to a particular spot I'll invite the person in the back up front or I'll invite myself up front. There is no doubt the person in the front has a significant advantage. If I'm fishing with a buddy and they know what they are doing I'll generally offer them the front of the boat for at least a portion of the trip, especially if it's becoming apparent I'm whipping them. At a minimum, I think it's good etiquette to at least try and save some spots for the guy in the back. We've all been with guys who pound every good spot from the front of the boat. It's not much fun getting sloppy seconds all day. I tend to be pretty easy going on the water, I want myself and my buddy to have a good time.

We do both, normally if we are flipping stumps/docks/etc we will both be on the front deck. If we are fishing deep depending on what we are fishing we will split up. Certain times it is easier to position the boat where the person in the back would not get a good look at the sweet spot, such as fighting wind/waves. Also when tournament fishing it makes it easier to net a fish so one of us isnt running through the boat to the back or the front

One in back one in front. I try to position so that we both have targets to cast at. No need for an extra pair of feet smashing my rods.

No. Been snagged in the head too many times.

This

This!!!

One in the front, one in the back. The older you get the harder it is to maintain your balance all day if you don't have a seat or something to lean on. I can't possibly fish the day from the front and work the trolling motor without a front seat...even if all I ever do is occasionally lean on it...especially in waves. I would end up in the water before long.

Besides, I have removed hooks from three of my friends (I only hit one of them) and I don't want to be next. I am less likely to get a rattletrap in my skull from a guy 15 feet away than one standing right beside me.

One in the front and the other in the back....

As a lifetime back seater, (I have had my own boat so I know about fishing from the front) I prefer the back deck. Yes, the wind is a problem sometimes, and yes I hassle the boater to go back occasionally when I get hung up, but it provides a different casting angle and it gives me the room I like where I am not worried about hitting the guy up front. I will fish up front if that is the only way to attack a spot, but I like to be on the back.

I have caught a tremendous amount of fish in my lifetime. I fish with buddies who have not or have had to give up their boat for one reason or another. I get just as much pleasure watching someone catch a fish and see their reactions. I will run the boat backwards in productive water to give them a first shot. Less experienced people seem to find the back deck easier to operate from. All in all it comes down to the relationship you have with the other person.

Side by side on the front. It's the rule in my boat. I can't stand to have anyone on the back deck.

Also if the boater has poles/talons in back, it get's in the way.

With a guide I'm on the front deck from the get go, if I fish with anyone else I wait for an invite.

Keep him in the back that way you can play the defense game and skunk him.....

Keep the sneaky peckerwood up front so you can see what he is up to.

Unless we are fan casting.

Depends on cover we are fishing my dad likes to stay in back most of time. But most of my other partners tend to fish up front with me.. Not really an issue my skeeter has a big deck so fishing 2 guys up front is no issue.

and i thought it was just me.....

One of my former partners used to leave both the front and back seats out of his boat. I had to tell him before tournaments to bring a seat for me, especially if we were fishing in the wind and waves. Maybe I used to be able to stand on a deck all day in pitching waves with nothing to even slightly push off of to maintain my balance every once in a while...but not any more. If I didn't fall overboard I would at least step on rods all day.

He said he took the seats out because his boat looks better without them. My boat is old and dirty most of the time so looks aren't a consideration. LOL.

My front deck isn't big enough for two. It's barely enough for one. So....never two on the front.

In other boats, I am more comfortable on the rear deck. I was a co angler on teams for a while and got used to fishing from it, successfully too. It's just a different type of fishing from the back. Different baits too. Usually you are second casting a lot of their spots so a totally different approach might catch what they've missed.

Depends on the situation. Tournament fishing, and using a very targeted presentation (flipping/pitching, drop shotting for fish you see on the graph, setting up with your bow into the wind on offshore structure, etc) then yes. Covering water with moving baits, no.

I like to keep people in the back, that way I can front end them all day and catch 8lbers.

I always put my guest on the front deck. I run the TM from the middle or back of the boat with the MK remote.
I have better luck from the back seat anyway!

In my best impersonation of Billy Kallaher, "I've won a lotta money from the back seat of my boat"

My father & I fight about who gets to sit in the back (the preferred location).
the back seat can spend more time fishing than the front having to work the TM & all.
Can't tell you how many times I have been out fished & done the out fishing from the back of the boat.
My family has no issues with throwing to targets in front of the boat from the back deck.......thus getting the best of both worlds.

Dang right. Stay off my rods. I'll run the TM and all you have to do is cast and reel.

Back of the boat unless flipping tight cover or vertical fishing over schools. I am good at positioning boat for team member in back of boat. Plus the fish see baits at different angles which often leads to partner catching more fish. I do not like multiple hook baits slinging around my head.

how does running the TM interfere with fishing?

Typically front and back unless situation calls for otherwise, such as a tight spot.

The biggest advantage to having both up front is boat position. You only have to worry about putting the front end somewhere, it is a lot easier in the wind. If my partner is up front I do not worry as much about making sure he has water to fish.

Im far from being a TM expert but it can be a chore if you have more than a couple of things to worry about at the same time. ( wind, shoreline, rocks, stumps etc.)

I will fish back of boat when a passenger. I will let passenger come on front deck when flipping in my boat but that's it. My casting is main reason on other techniques. I am a side arm and roll caster. Not much of big deal throwing from starboard side but definite no go throwing from port. I know the simple solution is trade spots and let passenger run TM but the guys I fish with can't operate TM worth a darn.

Now I will swop places with my partner if I catch a fish and want to maintain boat position in the wind or to the structure. If my partner is flipping and he's good stick more than likely I'm going to be fishing something different. Only time he and I would be fishing the same lure is if we're smackin'um. My skeeter has a large front deck but sometimes I'm bad about laying rods all over the deck and don't like thinking of my partner fighting a good fish and tip toeing through my rods. Front back for me, if he knows the lake better than me I have no problem letting him run the tm or the boat.

When my brother and I fish tournaments in his boat I let him take the front so he can hit the good spots and catch the kicker , plus he front ends me all day anyway , he is also bigger and younger than I am . When I'm in my boat I'm up front all the time , I fish by myself .

I don't mind co angler fishing up front with me. Can't stand when they are not paying attention and stepping all over my rods