FLW co-angler

Has anyone fished the backseat of the FLW costa tournaments. I've been thinking about trying my luck in the southwest division. I figured for $550, 2 maybe 3 days of fishing with a "pro" and a chance at winning a couple bucks, why not.

I haven't fished the costa series, but I did fish the BASS opens this year. They're fun, but as a co-angler it's all in the luck of the draw. I had fun, learned a few things, I don't think I'll be doing it again though.

I have fished the boater side for many years. You will have a great time with great people. You will not be disappointed

Reach out to Mark Howard with JC Outdoors. Mark is an experienced co-angler on the FLW Tour and the Costa series!

I just finished my second year as a co in the Southwestern division, I fished 3 events the first year and made the championship the second year so I fished 4.
Out of all the boaters that I had, I feel that I had some really good draws. Some were better fishermen than others but I got along with each of them and made some lifelong friends. I'm glad that I did it, I gained some knowledge on the lakes in the division and learned a few tips and tricks along the way but I will be moving to the front of the boat next year. Your success is dependent on a lot of things out of your control but as long as you look at it as an opportunity to learn and maybe win a few bucks like you said, then you will have fun.
If you have any questions shoot me a PM.

My experience was many years ago, so I cannot say that things have changed or not but!!

It was a BASS Pro-AM in 1993, they of course drew who you would be with for each day. The 1st day I drew a basically unknown and did not catch a single fish. He only caught 1. The second day I drew a well known guy who is still active so I won't mention his name. Before we even launched that morning he sat down with me and basically laid down the law (His Law). Speak only when spoken to, he did not want to break his concentration. I could not cast past 90 degrees of the center-line of the boat. If I hung up just break it off and don't even mention to him I was hung. If he asked for help landing a fish--drop your rod and help. Don't ask him for help landing a fish. I had pre-fished the lake during legal times but he had never been on the lake. I suggested many times we slow down and fish timber with jigs and worms as this is how I was catching fish in practice but he insisted on covering as much water as he could with a spinnerbait and crankbait. How his trolling motor batteries lasted the day I will never know. It was wide open nearly all day. He did stop at one place and fished a C-Rig for about an hour. When I say stop, he stopped under a tree which kept me from making a single cast during this hour. He caught 3 fish and if memory serves me correctly I didn't get a bite all day. It was an absolute waste of money. When it was all said and done I had spent nearly $1000 to fish the tourney. I will never do it again!

Wow a 1000 bucks in 1993 for a co angler. You should have posted his name .

I've done it a couple of times....learned more in those few trips, than I had in years of fishing.....

Im thinking about fishing them is a a boater if you want to link up and share rooms etc...Message me

I've fished costas or whatever they are called year to year for eight years I think now as a co and quite a few bass opens as well. I've been fortunate to do pretty well along the way including winning once. I love them because I don't have time in my schedule to do the prefishing to feel confident as a boater. And that's my choice with the schedule, I like it that way. Fishing co isn't for some people. You have to realize you are going to get good draws and bad draws. You can draw great boaters who are on fish, great ones who aren't, great boaters who are on bites that aren't conducive to back seat fishing...and then a whole load of scenarios with mediocre fishermen and guys that shouldn't be fishing at that level. I've fished with them all. Don't let others experiences scare you. There's a lot to it, but in general you just have to keep at it. Give it a shot and you'll likely meet a bunch of awesome friends and see fishing techniques and styles that you could only dream of mimicking. Ron and his FLW staff put on a well organized tournament for sure.