MLF Co-Anglers asking boaters to pay the entry fee.

[Toni]

Mark Zona is doing his best to make chicken salad out of chicken sh-t with these FFS tournaments , no more stars to cheer for just the back of their necks visible .

Take the screen out of the equation, tell me, what exactly would you be watching that's any different? The fish are where they are, there's no changing that. The fish are caught using that technique, there's no changing that. So I guess maybe if their heads were angled up 5 degrees watching their line that would just be such a game changer for the viewer?

[LTZ25]

I guess I just like a little more visual action , you know like the jig under the dock cast and the frog action but I can see what's happening and it's ffs , I recognized one angler in the top ten and miss the older guys .

[Toni]

I guess I just like a little more visual action , you know like the jig under the dock cast and the frog action but I can see what's happening and it's ffs , I recognized one angler in the top ten and miss the older guys .

Couldn't agree more. For me, watching people fish is like watching golf. I'll take the highlight reel any day.

[JJohnSind]

Imagine that. Wannabe pros get to make all the decisions and call all the shots (including dangerous ones), don’t want their coanglers to catch any of their fish, and now with FFS, can point the boat and selfishly concentrate on a single fish… then at the end of the day, expect the co to pay him money for gas ‘cause “owning a boat ain’t free”. Treat your partner like a red headed stepchild (no offense to redheads) and they will revolt. They probably need to just get to the point where the pro pays an extra $100 in entry to cover the cost of paying someone just to sit in the boat and be strictly an observer. Even that doesn’t guarantee that there are enough people willing to sit in a boat all day with not much purpose.

[carp_mstr]

People have been paying co-angler fees for a long time to insure that they get to be a boater in BASS Nation Qualifiers for years.

[Hoot]

Calling a boater a Pro in a BFL is some funny shit. He'll some of the guy's I see fishing here in these events hardley can run the boat much less catch fish.

Think I’ve met those guys

[ECobb91]

Calling a boater a Pro in a BFL is some funny shit. He'll some of the guy's I see fishing here in these events hardley can run the boat much less catch fish.

Some guys just do it for the fellowship and camaraderie, kind of treating them like a local club. Nothing wrong with that. I’ve only fished about 6-7bfls as a coangler, only twice did I have a boater that was actually competitive

[samleary]

Take the screen out of the equation, tell me, what exactly would you be watching that's any different? The fish are where they are, there's no changing that. The fish are caught using that technique, there's no changing that. So I guess maybe if their heads were angled up 5 degrees watching their line that would just be such a game changer for the viewer?

If you can’t chase and harass some of those deep fish, making multiple precise casts at 0 structure, it is not as productive. Many of those fish would not be being fished for, there would be some deep success, but not to the degree we are seeing here.

it is what it is, but I don’t think it reasonable to assume that the same leaders would be doing the same thing without FFS.

[Quillback]

Calling a boater a Pro in a BFL is some funny shit. He'll some of the guy's I see fishing here in these events hardley can run the boat much less catch fish.

For sure. You can still learn something from a reasonably competent boater, but it's not like you are out on the lake with KVD.

[Whiteboat]

It kinda shows where our "sport" is in the eyes of the general population and up and comers. For what you pay as a co angler or marshal you would think there would be a couple hundred people jump at the chance to spend the day with a pro or a triple a guy. It would seem some of these college anglers or younger guys with aspirations of going pro would love to share a boat with any of them just to pick their brain a little. How many people that golf as a hobby would pass up the chance to walk the course with one of the pro golfers. From the size of some of these high school events you would think tournaments would be busting at the seams with new anglers. I don't see it in our area. Do they just stop fishing after their dream of going pro fizzles?

Reality and life eventually catches up to all of us - it is an expensive sport with no sponsors with very low odds of success. Trying to live “the the dream”generally becomes a financial nightmare for most of them.

[Hoot]

Reality and life eventually catches up to all of us - it is an expensive sport with no sponsors with very low odds of success. Trying to live “the the dream”generally becomes a financial nightmare for most of them.

They must have figured out there are a lot of Myths on the BBC about what it takes to make a living Tournament Fishing.

Many would probably prefer to fish a Team Tournament rather than waste money spending a frustrating day as a Co.

They also probably read some of the Negative Posts by Boaters on the Bass Boards including this one that didn’t make it sound like a very desirable experience.

Others might take the money wasted as a Co then hire a Guide or a Good Stick to take them fishing..

[JR19]

Back in the day when FLW was alive people would pay a co angler entry for a chance to get a "guide" trip with a high profile pro. Now that live sonar is so popular who wants to pay to sit out in the middle of the lake and blind cast while the pro is video game fishing. I'm not anti live sonar but the loss of people signing up to be co-anglers is just another example of the negative effect people see with live sonar.

[Rangerdeepv]

Probably too many personality clashes?

[skeeterator]

I lost my guaranteed co for the bfl's for this season. I posted on the linking page this week that I need a co link for the season and that I'll pay for 1 of their 5 entries, I've had no takers.

[Sam378]

Imagine that. Wannabe pros get to make all the decisions and call all the shots (including dangerous ones), don’t want their coanglers to catch any of their fish, and now with FFS, can point the boat and selfishly concentrate on a single fish… then at the end of the day, expect the co to pay him money for gas ‘cause “owning a boat ain’t free”. Treat your partner like a red headed stepchild (no offense to redheads) and they will revolt. They probably need to just get to the point where the pro pays an extra $100 in entry to cover the cost of paying someone just to sit in the boat and be strictly an observer. Even that doesn’t guarantee that there are enough people willing to sit in a boat all day with not much purpose.

They can bring their wives
I just busted out laughing,

[Spot-a-saurus]

I lost my guaranteed co for the bfl's for this season. I posted on the linking page this week that I need a co link for the season and that I'll pay for 1 of their 5 entries, I've had no takers.

I was going to fish a couple BFLs close to home this year, but my group of friends I usually travel with are all having trouble getting links for the season. I’m not sure if I’ll even bother lol. I’m gonna ask a couple friends if they want to sign up with me but if they pass I probably will too. I’ll just fish something local with my dad on those days like I do all other weekends

[Spot-a-saurus]

They can bring their wives
I just busted out laughing,

Every person takes someone else’s wife or girlfriend on the boat on tourney day, now that would be a good tv show

[Sam378]

Every person takes someone else’s wife or girlfriend on the boat on tourney day, now that would be a good tv show

Might be a few divorces once the wife finds out he really is not as good as he been telling her and she starts questioning where all the money went

[Spot-a-saurus]

Might be a few divorces once the wife finds out he really is not as good as he been telling her and she starts questioning where all the money went

Be great for ratings tho

[kry29]

Talk about a turn in the debate. We went from co anglers being expected to pay boat notes, gas, and meals for a boater to now the boater needs to pay the co anglers entry. Thats funny