I fished as a co angler all this year. What would you like to know?

I can say it was fun. It was a learning experience having to fish the better spots AFTER a pro has raped it from the front of the boat. You have to be very veratile. It costs $425 per tourney. The boat you are in is a random computer draw. Co angler limit is 3 fish. All the other rules are the same as pro.

Any specific questions? Just pm me.

Co angler is only a "team" or "open" thing. Basically it is so you can "police" each other.

I am afraid its not about the fishery its more about the chamber of commerce lake or association who will pay the up front money to bring the tournament to a particular lake.

I'm not sure about this. The Belle river community of where the Atchafalaya Basin tournament will be held is in the middle of nowhere and its pretty obvious they don't have money just falling out of their pockets.

Morgan City is the host city for the Basin tournament

Did anyone notice that they scheduled the September tournament on top of the last Southwestern Division FLW Rayovac tournament. FLW has had their schedule out for almost a month prior to BASS. Please don't make me choose.

One of the best schedules ive seen.

Launch site Belle River public landing , host city Morgan City. Trust me the economy in Morgan city is in the dumps right now with the price of oil. If you never been to Morgan city don't be fooled by thinking its some big ole city. It should be named Morgan don't blink or you will miss it.

OK,,, PM sent

I had the opportunity to do the co-angling side this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I will probably not have the time to do it again next year. You have to be able to commit three weekdays minimum to make the Wednesday registration and to fish Thursday and Friday. If you want to practice and you're a working man, you will burn up vacation time in a hurry.

It's a fun experience, and I met some great anglers and had the opportunity to fish with some great guys (most of the great ones were also from Texas - I fished with Greg Yates, Chris Berry, Scott Dean and Logan Sherrer). It's hard to go behind those guys and catch them. I don't know if you can go into it with the mindset that you are going to win, because you don't have any control over where or how you fish. I went to them for the experience of visiting different fisheries and learning from guys with a whole lot more experience than I have. I feel like I accomplished both. Like Steez, I will be happy to answer any specific questions you guys have.

I've been fishing the BASS opens and FLW Rayovacs both for a long time as a co-angler. I would be happy to answer any questions you guys have. PM me.

I am excited about this coming year. Will be my first year fishing on the pro side. I am looking forward to a one rod year

Since a few have been asking about the co-angler deal...(copied from my answer to Nutman's PM)

FLW has a co-angler option & suspect other circuits do as well, but I'm not all that familiar with them.

You can take your own boat to practice, and I would encourage it if that's a possibility. I hooked up with other guys who were fishing as "boaters"/"pros" who were kind enough to let me prefish with them. It was really a cool experience...it's a blind draw for your boater each day. Many of the Elites fish the Opens because a win in one is an automatic Classic berth.

I had the opportunity of drawing Jason Christie on day 2 at the first Open at Ross Barnett & missed the Top 12 cut to fish the final day by just 2 ounces. Had the pleasure of fishing with Jordan Lee (runner up for Elite Series ROY) at Ft. Gibson & I got to fish with Brett Pruett at Table Rock (College Series Champion & 2015 Classic competitor) who qualified for the Elite Series next year with his high finishes. I actually made the Top 12 cut for that tournament and got randomly paired with my traveling partner, Jay Brainard, for the 3rd and final day. He ended up being the Central Open Division points leader on the "pro" and thus qualified for the Elite Series. It was really cool to watch his journey throughout the year.

I ended up finishing 3rd overall in the points for co-anglers in the Central Division this year with 13th, 57th, & 10th place finishes at Ross Barnett, Ft. Gibson, & Table Rock, respectively. It was a blast. Fishing as a co-angler has its own unique set of challenges. Expect to be front-ended all day and fish used water. You have to be very versatile with your techniques as you're at the mercy of your "pro". It can be very hard to keep a positive frame of mind if you're a competitive guy like me. The thing you have to remember is that you're only fishing for 3 bites, not 5, like the "boaters".

The Opens pay up to 40th place. From my experience this year, if you can catch at least 2 keepers each day, you'll cash a check. If you can catch a limit (3) each day with decent 3-4lb kicker you have a very good shot at making a Top 12 cut. I learned a quite a bit from some of the guys I drew this year. Getting to travel, fish different bodies of water, & fish with guys like Jason Christie was worth the price of admission. Cashing decent checks 2 of 3 tourneys, making a Top 12 cut, and a 3rd place overall points finish was just icing on the cake. I'll be doing it again next year as a co-angler. I'd like to fish a "boater" or "pro", but I can't justify the additional risk (cost of entry/fuel, etc.) without having the luxury of more prefishing time. After next year I get an additional week of vacay with my tenure so I'll jump to the boater side then

If you have any more specific questions just ask away, happy to answer.

If you need a butt seat, are they provided?

Boaters are required to provide a seat if requested by their co-angler. It's in the rules.