|
Had
a good friend give me this idea for an article. It is going to be
about being a back seater in a tournament. It is something I have
found out to be somewhat of a topic.
I have been fishing Pro/Am tournaments for some time now. I
would like to discus some of the dos and don’ts of being the guy
in the back.
If you have fished very many tournaments at all, you should
have an idea as to what I am saying. Just going to try to give you
some helpful hints, as to what your partner might expect from you.
#1 Try to not take a lot of tackle with you as you will have
more room and be a little more comfortable. Meaning you will have a
little more legroom and that long ride will be a little more
enjoyable for you and you partner.
You will find that most of the time your pro will give you
some tips on what to bring, if you talk to him before the
tournaments starts.
#2 Try to eliminate some of your rods, and the rods you do
carry try to keep the hooks covered as to not get one stuck in the
poor guys boat seat. These guys spend a lot of money on these boats
and most, try to take very good care of them.
I
for one run an older boat but really don’t like it beat all up.
Such as lures flying around and beating up the gel coat. Those
little dings add up after a while. My suggestion is try to limit
your rods down to 3 or 4.
#3 try to help with keeping you things in an area that
everything is not in the way. You need to be able to move around the
boat with ease. My pet peeve is to have a path from the front of the
back to the front. You never know when you are going to have to get
around quickly. Such as when you are fighting a fish, some of the
big ones will make you dance all over the boat. If there is not a
path you could get into trouble very quickly. Let me give you an
example, when you remove your lifejacket, put it in your seat you
just got out of, that way it is 1 more thing that is out of the way.
Keep your tackle bags out of the way also. Most of the pros will
have some sort of space for you to store some small stuff. I for one
always try to give my partner a place to store some stuff out of the
way.
#4 another thing you need to do is to try to help the pro out
as much as possible, as I am sure most of them will try to help you.
Such as if he yells for the net try to accommodate him. Don’t just
stand and watch. I have had several people do that to me and it is
very bad when you are trying to handle a big fish. Just try to put
your self in their place. And think would I want help??? If you are
not sure what to do just ask I am sure he will instruct you, as what
he wants you to do. The one thing I hate to tell you are you will
run into some pros that are out for their self and not willing to
help you at all. Hate to tell you that but it is the truth. I have
met several us and they really get under your skin.
#5 Always make sure you offer the pro money for gas. Some
will take it some won’t. But make the gesture anyway. At this
point you need to think what that man just put out. Not just for
gas, but his boat payment and insurance and oil isn’t very cheap.
I personally run pure synthetic, which is very expensive. I don’t
want much from a non-boater but ever little bit helps.
The
normal in a Pro/am tournament is about 30 dollars. And I don’t
think that is very much to ask. You need to remember that you just
spent the day with a very good fisherman for the most part. And I
would be willing to bet that you learned something. Even if it
wasn’t much, but none the less you did learn something. Now how
mush money do you think that pro paid to learn and get where he is
at. Thousands maybe, I know that I have spent at least that maybe
more.
#6 Be on time when you agree to meet the man or woman. There
is nothing that makes a day start off bad then to have a partner be
late meeting you. You will normally get to meet your pro the night
before the tournament to discuss what you are going to do. Some will
be very tight lipped, so good luck getting anything out of them. But
they should at least give you an idea as to what to bring. I always
try to tell them a half way idea as to what to bring.
Well I better bring this to a close as I think you all get
the right idea as to what I am telling you.
If
you try to help them I am sure that about 80% of them will try to
help you.
______________________________________________________________________
Another
article by Jim “The Spinner-bait Professor” Hale
I
have a couple people I would like to thank for this article:
-
Cobra
from www.probass.com;
-
Minn
Kota for all the help they are giving me, trust me guys it
always gets me where I want to go ANY TIME - ANY WHERE and that
is the truth;
-
www.carolinachip.com
for building my crank baits;
-
And
last but not least www.probass.com for posting my articles on
their site.
|