It is a valid excuse. Trust me, I am not the kind of guy to spothog, but I could easily make it so that my non-boater never had a chance. If I am in a tournament, fishing against the guy in the back of the boat, I give him the opportunity to hit good spots. You are mistaken if you think that I won't thoroughly soak the spots I want to, though.

if your that good to outfish people outta the back of the boat alllllll the time i would be a co angler then for the FLW tour and you can make a living at it. or if your that good you should try the opens and make the elites

I catch more when I move to the back. Not thinkin about t-motor and moving here and there.

I can admit that I have been outfished from the back numerous times. Seems that I have the tendency to speed up and miss alot of opportunities! Especially during tournaments.

thats not the excuse I hate. Its the one where someone blames a zero on the fish being postspawn. I never knew all fish were postspawn at the same time since not all spawn at the same time but according to a lot of people here they all go to postspawn at once...LOL

Actually, I prefer fishing from the back of the boat; it's more relaxing not having to worry about working the trolling motor & positioning the boat while trying to cast to your spot without getting your boat caught up in the rocks. I�m just fine in the back. No excuses.

I think the biggest advantage to being in front is getting to pick the fishing spots.

I prefer the back, it gets difficult when front guy dials up the speed on the tm and you are trying to finesse fish. But this year has been good for me from the back so far.

I don't mind the back of the boat, but I just hate it when the guy in the front has to tell you that everything you are doing is wrong or that his way of doing things is better. I've got a buddy who "knows it all" who I take out because he cracks my back for these free trips but he wants to run the trolling motor all the time because I don't do it right or the way he would do it. So OK do it, I always can use another back alignment. I just let him sound off and run the motor and I just fish the way I want. Funny I can do all that stuff myself when I go out alone and I do pretty darn good. Lots better than when he goes along for sure, but friends are friends, and free adjusts are still free, even when the "know it all" is up front.
Al Grab (AKA Propman) <*)}}}><

The guy up front has a big advantage, especially boat position/control, but if you are fighting the wind up front, the guy in the back would have a equal advantage.

My $.02

I rarely out fish people in my boat, I would rather them catch more fish than me. I have always thought of fishing as a way to spend the day not worrying about anything if I catch a fish its just a bonus, granted when I go it only cost me about 20 bucks but still if they catch more who cares it is called fishing. both spots have thier advantages and disadvantages. As long as everyone has fun who cares who catches more or less

I think there a lot of variables involved. Wind, type of structure fishing, and speed of fishing. If I'm going down a bank fishing isolated stickups or grass patches then I feel I have the advantage out of the front of the boat. If there is plenty of targets and angles then the front fisherman's advantage is not as great. Open water is pretty even for both as long as the man up front isn't playing "Match Fishing". If the wind is blowing like it has been this spring then I just as soon be in the back while the front man has all the fun. IMHO

honestly it all comes down to how thorough both people are there are times when i can catch a ton more fish out of the back than the front and vice versa and no matter what the person in the front of the boat is not going to catch all the fish its just not feasable or possible just gotta throw either different baits or use a different presentation to pull a few more fish out

If you're fishing with a guy who knows what he is doing being in the back of the boat is a big disadvantage. I know it when I'm in the front of my boat, and I know it when I'm in the back of someone else's boat. It's just a fact of fishing.

There are factors that make the back seat disadvantage bigger or smaller, however. If you're fishing a big hydrilla flat, there are fish in every direction so the front of the boat advantage is lessened. The same goes for fishing the middle of a creek in timber, etc.

On the other hand, if you are running a bank or ESPECIALLY fishing boat docks, being in the back of the boat is a huge disadvantage. Try fishing from the back of the boat when the guy on the trolling motor is paralleling the bank throwing a buzzbait or a rattletrap. Good luck not getting smoked in that situation.

Of course, it all has to do with how considerate the guy in the front of the boat is. If he only throws at every other dock post, or gives you a shot at the right side of every dock...or something like that...you have a chance. But if he really wants to fish every spot thoroughly and catch every fish himself, you are pretty much screwed unless you just get lucky.

Join a club or fish some tournys out of the back and unless your throwing carolina rigs when you get to the scales you might realize that maybe you werent catching as many as it seemed.