This may sound like a really strange question but can anyone give me an idea of what is considered proper for where the front seat fisherman and the rear seat fisherman is supposed to fish or not fish. My boat partner has a very bad habit of casting forward from the rear seat ever so often and it really bothers me when he does it. Should it? When I question him on it he claims that I am guarding the front of the boat and keeping him off the fish. I offer to allow him to drive the trolling motor from the front but he refuses. So if I'm fishing front seat and running the trolling motor how can I be "Keeping him off the fish"? Any thoughts?

do the same thing...cast ahead of the boat.

Kick him off the boat and into the water. Should produce results.

Sounds like you need a new partner, if you are ever fishing for "your" fish, then it won't work.

tell him when he gets a boat and takes you , he gets to fish the spots first, until then ....stay back jack

Depends on how fast you are moving down the bank and what lure is being fished. When my partner is in the boat he knows he can throw anywhere he wants. I don't care who catches the fish as long as we catch them.

IMO, if your moving then both the guy on the front deck and the back deck should be casting at a 45 degree angle forward.

We would always cast forward at the SAME tiem (takes practice), and as the drift of the boat took us forward our lines would stay parallel and we could both retrieve. Other than that, we would alternate "choice spots" by saying something like "reel in and hit that stump" and take turns with the choice spots. We would also pass up choice spots to whoever was having an off day, on the theory that everyone catching some fish was better than one guy ruling the stats.

Sounds like you aren't really there to enjoy the company, but to catch as many fish as possible. Nothing wrong with that, and it may be you that you don't really want to take a buddy along.

Bromance is headed downhill

Vern W. & Bass & More are both right. X2

It really depends. I am regularly in both situations because my friend and I both have boats, and we just take whichever or we run the t-motor whenever the other wants a break.

Personally I prefer the back of the boat because I can concentrate on fishing, not driving.

What happens a lot is that we will be fishing say dropshot and suddenly he grabs a crankbait and off we go. I have to grab a search bait and sometimes he's back to the slow stuff before I can get a few casts out. Either way, I just have a few rigged with fast baits and slow ones, and I grab what I need for the moment. We fish at the driver's pace. That's the perk for driving.

Neither of us care where the other casts. We often cast right behind one another, especially if one of us picks up a fish because often another will be trailing. Lots of doubles like that.

We have friendly comp but either of us would by the dinner if we could just find the fish, so we always welcome a good butt kicking.

You guys are lucky to have such a strong Bromance

I personally don't care how we fish as long as we don't hinder each other and we catch fish. I'm usually more excited when my partner hooks up. Most of the time it's the big fish of the day.
I actually perfer that we are both up front. I cast lefthanded and he casts right and it really works great. Find a way that's work for both of you and it will be much more enjoyable.

this is a great question, seriously... reading your post you say "partner", I would assume you are fishing as a team and putting together your best five is the goal - so regardless of who catches the fish - hey it's one more for the boat...right ?... if you two are fun fishing and he is casting past you to clean water whats the big deal ? if your that concerned that your buggy has clean water to fish then maybe you are trying to "back-seat" him/her and you should re-think your relationship...now if your in a club/draw tournament and the dude is casting over you then you need to address that pronto especially if you are close to cover and picking apart the cover, now the same situation but you are off the bank and if he is casting ahead of you in a timed manner that you cast and are retrieving then he cast in front of the boat and it is harmonious and the two of you are fishing clean water then all is well, but if you still have issue with what is going on then you need to discuss the way things are going to be on your half of the day...if he doesn't want to run the front for his half of the day then he shouldn't have much grievance - best rule of thumb is before the day starts have a little meeting, set the expectations for the day - if your the boater you have the first choice as to where and how your going to fish if you have nothing in the morning but have afternoon fish say to your partner what do you want to do in the morning because I have an afternoon bite...ect., ect. and work it out, this is supposed to be fun - make it a fun day for the two of you - otherwise neither of you are going to be happy and who has time for that ?...just my two cents, good luck !