since BASS has done away with co-anglers,thought it might be interesting to hear some co-angler/boater experiences...below is mine and it was back in the day when co-anglers got 1/2 day in front of boat..



Back in late 80's FLW put on their first Golden Blend tourny on Eufaula...this was predecessor to their FLW series and was designed to compete with BASS...several of the big time BASS pros were there(Clunn,Brauer,Roland Martin) and it was biggest tourny I'd ever fished and with the highest entry fee I had ever paid too....also there was a Bass N Gals tourny the next week and couple of the women were in it and bunch of them on lake practicing.......
It was two day tourny and after first day,I was in about 15th place(maybe a little higher)...fishing was a little tough and I think I was within about 4 lbs of the lead....I believe I had 12-15lbs and caught them south right above Pataula Creek where the fish were spawning on a long stretch of sandy bank....my second day draw was a guy from Alabama who didn't own a boat and when I introduced myself,he immediately told me we needed to go to his fish tomorrow......I asked him how he did today and he said he had 4-5lbs but he had missed some fish and the place was loaded with fish.....there was something I immediately didn't like or trust about this guy from the get go so I told him I had 15 lbs and had left the fish biting so that's where we needed to go...even told him my partner had done pretty well and we both should have a good limit..tried to get him to tell me where he wanted to fish and how he was fishing and he wouldn't tell me so that made me even more suspicious......then this guy wants to flip a coin to see where we go first and I really didn't have a choice since the rules said you had to give him half day on his fish(am glad we don't have to deal with this b.s. anymore)...we flip a coin and he loses...he immediately walks away over to where a few of his buddies are and he's kicking the ground,cussing and almost screaming that he lost the flip and his boater won't go to his fish first.....I'm thinking this is gonna be a disaster tomorrow so decide to walk over and tell him that we would go to his fish first but if it doesn't pan out,we were heading to my fish......this mollifies him somewhat but I'm dreading the next day knowing I had a chance to do well but now I've got to put up with this jerk and no telling what kind of place he wants to fish or even if there's any fish to be caught...

.next morning he gets in boat and still won't tell me where we are going so I tell him,I'm limited on gas and I'm not about to run all my gas out running up the river someplace and not be able to get to my fish which are 15 miles south....he tells me then that we are only going 2-3 miles......as you can imagine,we are barely speaking by this time but we head out when they call our number and head north...he tells me to turn into the witches ditch(one of bigger community holes on lake) and we run to the back.....I had decided against fishing here in the tournament because it was getting beat to death in practice and I figured you'd get covered up with boats...stop the boat in the back part and I'm surprized to see there's no other boats back here...before i can say anything, he jumps up front, lowers trolling motor and starts down this grassline and he's got boat up against the grass line where I have limited area to fish so I tell him to get the boat out so I can fish and he does a little better but guy in front has real advantage.....he catches a small fish pretty quick and just as we get to end of grassline,he catches one 3-4lbs...he gets down to put it in livewell and I start running trolling motor.....front deck on my Hydrasport was pretty small and he wants the trolling motor back and I told him no.....we were gonna take turns in the front going up and down this grassline throwing spinnerbaits..he's mad as hell but he gets in the back..we start working back up the grassline and several boats by now have come back in there so it's starting to get crowded....we get almost to end of grassline and I catch one between 6-7 lbs so he takes the front...we fish about another hour without a bite.......,boats are cutting us off every direction we tried to go...it's probaly 9:30 a.m.,way before his half day was up and I decided I'd had enough of this so I just jumped up there and jerked the trolling motor up and told him to get his jacket on,we were going south...He threw his rod down in boat so hard it damn near bounced over the side....I told him to keep in mind that he had lost the coin flip and I'd given in to him and if I wasn't a nice guy(that's a stretch),he'd be 20 miles south already....I had way more weight than he did yesterday and this place was too crowded to fish and we were wasting time up here...we were heading south and we could go to my fish or I could stop at Lakepoint and put boat on trailer....his choice....when we passed lakepoint he didn't point to the ramp so I kept going...

we get to my area and I'm fishing a C-rig lizard dragging it across beds you couldn't see and right away I lose a monster bass...this guy is still sitting down pouting and he damn sure didn't grab the net not that it would have helped because fish came off before it got near boat....10-15 minutes go by and I asked him why he wasn't fishing and he said because he didn't have any C-Rig weights or hooks....I give him what he needed and we both start catching keeper fish right away.....

My Hydrasport had large rear livewell and small one in front that wasn't good for anything except killing fish so we were both using the rear livewell and I was punching hole in tails of my fish(with hole punch)....both of us spent rest of day catching fish and culling up and I think I had one big fish and four three pound fish which gave me 18-19lbs and i thought my partner had five 3lb fish...he's got a little more friendly as day wore on.....but that would change..

we get back to weigh-in,start pulling our fish out and he's only got 4 fish.(despite catching at least 2 limits of fish)..first thing he wants to see is my fish and I had to dump them out and let him see the hole in each ones tail..he even comments that I must have punched a hole in tail of one of his fish which was ridiculous and I told him so..he immediately goes back into his "lip stuck out a foot,kicking,cussing mode"..he was younger and bigger than me and he was glaring at me like he was going to start swinging and I reached down and picked up one of my shorter rods about midway up the rod and I was fully prepared to bust his head with a 5500C if he made a move toward me..he finally calmed down and headed toward weigh-in line .

I moved up to 5th place and won $2,500. which was big money back then(and I finished ahead of all the big name pros and I was really proud of that)....He got a check but would have got a much larger one with one more fish.......and no....he did not offer to help pay for gas....

I saw this guy a few times at Redman tournys over the next few years before he disappeared and a guy I knew that fished with him a couple of times in buddy tournaments,came up to me one day and asked me what I thought of the guy I had drawn out with that day....I told him "not much" or words to that effect and he said I can certainly understand why.....He said he couldn't get along with him as a team fishing partner either....

Stuff like that above- those ungrateful jerks need to get their own boat and be permanently banned from fishing coangler.

BTrap, Can it be bass club events or just money tournaments?

just the BASS open tournaments....the elite series went to marshalls and got rid of co-anglers years ago...
already some comments about cheating will increase....it won't if they polygraph the winner and a couple at random in top ten....

Never had a bad person, but a few clumsy that broke the tip off a rod from being careless. Would such fishing with someone like you described. Life is too short to deal with people like that. That's what takes the fun out of fishing for sure.

Not having tackle to tie up a crig as a co angler - red flag for sure.

First draw tournament I fished, I was in first place after day one. My second day draw did nothing on day one, insisted we flip for boats. He won the flip, refused to let me fish from the front deck. Wanted me to point him to the fish. I never took him close. I caught one fish and finished fifth.

Google Robbie Rose...

I have a feeling multiple GoPro’s will be required.

What are the benefits of not having co anglers in bass opens events?

according to google,87.5% of people cannot beat a polygraph test....

Not having a crybaby with zero skin in the game in the back of your boat for starters.

And not tripping over their [censored]. No waiting on them to get their life jackets on. No feeling like you should have them on fish (my problem).

Sociopaths can pass a poly no sweat

Main reason is that they won’t have co-anglers catching fish that the boater might have caught….

All elites have to have a camera running at all time from back of the boat or at least showing the pro, if it stops they have to call Lisa T and let her know. Happened to me when I was with Wesley Gore last year. She ok’ed it but got it fixed for next day. Just keep’s integrity just in case Marshall’s miss something or anything else.

Cos should have paid their fair share for gas. They have nobody to blame but their own no boat having arses.

This is destined to be a problem. with 200+ "Pros" running around without a marshall or non-boater. With so many of these "Pros" attempting to qualify for the Elite Series the temptation to bend and break rules will be stronger than ever. Good luck keeping go pro's running the entire duration of a tournament on 200+ boats, cameras break, fall off, overheat, die...That would be the first move a cheater would make, call the TD and say "my camera has died", then it sounds like they let them continue their day.

Polygraphs don't hold any weight in court for a reason. Sure its a tool, but it could also falsely incriminate an innocent person. If the stat Beartrap threw out of whatever 15% error is correct, thats terrible.




I didn't realize co anglers didnt have boats or pay for gas

Right.

I don't think I've had the pleasure / displeasure of fishing with anyone that I would call my worst. I've had some interesting experiences, but never considered them worst.

Funny experience:
We had a club tournament where everyone had launched and my co-angler never arrived. Me being the director called the guy who was assigned to me as he wasn't there. About 1/2 hour later, my phone rings and he's on the road to the lake. I stay near the ramp and start whacking them pretty good. My livewell is full when I get a call that he's at the ramp. I make a short run back to him and pick him up. He was so hung over that when we took off he went blue and started to heave chunks over the railing. We get to our spot and I start culling. He lays down on the back deck after 20 or so casts and goes back to sleep. He slept most of the tournament and only woke to drink water after churning the lake.

I did manage the win that day, I awarded it to him chumming the waters.

avid, thats a funny story! that co gave you some cheap entertainment

I've fished with that guy before. And I've been that guy before.

I've owned a couple boats in my lifetime but basically have not had the finances needed to afford it. Now that I can, since my cancer I don't have the equilibrium needed to stand on the front deck and run a trolling motor without losing my balance. I see the comments by Steez and WAWI and wonder what kind of tournaments you fished and who you drew? I fished ABA RAM Series as a co-angler. I fished with a lot of different boaters and got along with 98% of them. I paid my share including upping what I gave them if I made money. I was ALWAYS on time. I didn't bring everything I own. I told the boater at the beginning of the day to give me a heads up when we were going to make a move so I wouldn't hold them up. I was more than willing to break off to not hold things up although most of my boaters were okay about going to get hang ups. I adapted to whatever the boater was doing. I never complained about where we were or how deep or anything they did. It was my job to adapt to all of that and I never put in two cents about where we fished unless I was specifically asked. I was always ready to net their fish and asked at the start of the day if they had a particular net technique they wanted from me because everyone is different. It was a great education and a lot of those guys I fished with are still friends. Most of the guys that fished as co's did much the same so you guys must have gotten some bad apples.

As for my worst experience, it was Day 1 of the 2 Day ABA Championship. I drew a guy I had never met. We made the run to Kickapoo. Started just on the other side of the bridge. I caught a 13 incher in the first 10 minutes and he gave me a look. From that point on, everywhere he wanted to fish, he would pull the nose of the boat to it, make his casts and then troll right over the top of it. He was bound and determined I wasn't going to catch anything until he had his fish. About four LONG hours in to the day he says to me, "I don't understand it. I was up here on Thursday and Friday whacking them all day long. Good ones too!" He had sore lipped most of the fish he needed for the weekend. Finally hooked a big one, but it went under a piece of wood. I had the net out. He came up on it but he couldn't get to it. I told him give it some line and if it swims out of there, I can net it. It was maybe 18 inches of water. He gives me suspicious look, pulls on it hard again, breaks it off and a 5 pounder swims away. Fool. I zeroed. He caught 2 for 4 pounds. He was lucky I took him to a dock I liked on the way back and he caught those. He was a first class jerk. The really bad part was they guy who was leading for Co-Angler AOY drew him the next day, zeroed as well and did not qualify for the Ray Scott. All he needed was one fish. Never saw that arsehole again. I was better for it

One of my best friends… we call him VanDamage. Guaranteed to put atleast 2 reels out of commission and is half deaf so everyone can hear him cussing all the way across the lake.

I fished the Bassmaster Opens one year as a co. I was speaking about myself. I am a horrible co angler. As for now…I have one fishing partner that I like. If he can’t fish, I’ll go solo. You’ve met him. He’s a great guy. His bad thing is he likes to dance on the back deck…and he’s about 6’2 and weighs 250. He’s starting to crush the livewell lids and bilge lid.

Greatness. Luckily for my partner, I don't dance

I ain’t kidding. Play some Micheal Jackson….and the boat starts bouncing.

The worst I had was a co that pouted every time I caught a fish. And I pit him on fish! He was catching fish but still got grouchy when I locked up. It was chore to get the net too apparently. I didn't worry to much about it but when I hooked like 4 or fish fish in a row that I boat flipped so he could just mind his business he literally sat down in his seat and nitched to himself. A co on a place like lake of the pines in the winter with 12 or 13 pounds shouldn't really b*tch and grumble. However, when I looked back about an hour later cause I forgot he was even there the dude was still sitting there pouting pretending to dig through his tackle. I started laughing a little, then a LOT. I don't know why I found it so funny at that moment but I was almost historical. I collected myself and then noticed he had started fishing again. Gawd that's funny. His little pouty face hahahahahaha

I was fishing the ABA Ooen series on Texoma one year and had my co kneel for the national anthem inon the back deck of my boat. We never spoke the rest of the day and he never caught a fish. He commented at the end of the day that I did not operate the boat to where he had a chance to catch fish. My only comment was, actions have consequences.

Dude took a knee- what a goober these folks are so uneducated and easily manipulated.

Should have told him to swim.