Advice for New Co-Anglers Entering a BFL

hey everybody welcome back I I kind of want to update my VFL co-angler video and get a little more in depth this year I've noticed since they've had on Facebook the BFL and flw co-angler link page that it's gotten there's some pretty big debates about certain topics and and a lot of new co-anglers have questions and so I thought I would update my video and just just kind of tell you since I've fished some I haven't fished ISM many as some and I fished more than others so I just wrote a couple things down actually a lot of things down let's just start at the beginning when you're entering a BFL you contact FLW or get online check it out pay for a membership now you got to pay for the for the competitor membership think it's 45 bucks so that makes you competitor they send you a magazine they send you whatever then you sign up for the tournaments find a guaranteed boater for the tournaments or sign up real early because if you if you don't have a guarantee then that doesn't keep the field equal so you'll be put on a waiting list and you'll only get in once a boater without a co-angler gets in so do that find one if you get to your first tournament and you don't have one but you make it in because you signed up early then you know tell them they will they will say they'll ask anybody who doesn't have one to raise their hand they'll try to pair you up so do that if you're not confirmed call you can call them and see hey how far am i out they can tell you how many boats they're waiting on the tournament director can help you sometimes find a boater if he know if he's knows a lot of the voters in that division that's pretty much it and then the pre-tournament meeting you show up and make sure you pre-register before the meeting either online or call in or what so then you get to the the pre-tournament meeting you find out you know except that you're going to have jitters you're going to be nervous you might not even sleep very well that night understand that that's part of it and you want that because you know that's why you do this make sure you know all the rules each lake is different limits and sizes and off limits and make sure you know as well as a boater maybe the motor didn't realize he was coming into a off-limits area make sure you know so you can you can be part of that because you don't want to be disqualified also so after you pay attention to all the rules there they have a listing of the rules to get a pamphlet and check out the rules enter the little giveaways and stuff like that once they name your boater find your boater two things you're going to want to ask your boater is where to meet contact info what he's driving how to find them where to find them and the other thing is what depth in cover you'll be fishing it you don't have to get in depth of hey have you been catching them or or you know exactly what he's using her just say hey how deep are we fishing just so I know how to how to prepare my baits for in the morning so I'm not tying them on once we get to our first spot if you know the depth you should be able to tie on certain baits to get you get you there and then you can adjust from there money that's a very sticky topic and some of these some of these uh some of these voters expect you to pay their first and last boat payment other ones are very respectful and they don't want any money at all if even if you caught fish you didn't catch fish they don't want money at all here's the deal set up put a set amount of money that you are gonna budget if you're going to enter this tournament budget the entry fee all the the room the food everything plus money to give him I always give a certain amount and then if I do well in the tournament I'll give a little extra it doesn't you know you're not there to pay his boat payment you're not there to pay his insurance payment you're you you just need to be respectful set a certain amount I say at least at least thirty but be respectful and give him budget in some money for him now after you get paired up with your boater you find out where your now's the time to get prepared for the tournament have everything you'll need except for a bump board and and don't expect that boater to have anything for you some of the things are call tags lifejackets rain gear your all your lures your rods of course limit your lures to one bag your rods keep it under five fibre under it'll just get in the way and and you don't want to make yourself unorganized and it be a hassle for you throughout the day make sure you have pliers a first aid kit small one that fits in your bag food drinks they'll usually have a cooler for you and they'll also usually have a one bin in the back that all this stuff has to fit in pain medication in case you get a headache or your motor stresses you out sunblock that's a big one people don't don't remember that sometimes bring the coal beam and anything else you can think of throw you guys throw a list on there and kind of mention some of the things that I'm forgetting but those are those those are the basic things that you're going to need and you'll be okay the morning of be on time be early but make sure you're on time to meet your boater get a feel of what type of boater you have you know if you can kind of kind of see if he's going to be standoffish or if he's going to talk to you or from whatever so kind of get a get an idea of who he is and how the day's gonna go and prepare yourself for that and ask if he needs help getting the boat ready he'll usually have it ready if he needs help help them out after you get the boat in the water Oh big thing is at the when you meet him let him know if you come back about it he's you guys need to just be honest if you can't back a boat or if you don't feel comfortable pulling four-wide down a ramp in the dark early in the morning when you just woke up and you didn't sleep all night because you're so nervous let him know that you can't back a boat or tell him he's comfortable but after the boats in the water use the restroom I had a boater that we took off number eight out of 120 and he stopped in the middle of the lake to take a piss and you know you watch 60 70 boats past you so that's not cool you know figure out your game plan once you get in the boat he's more likely to tell you exactly where you're fishing what he's been catching what he's using don't you don't need to get that out of him the night before just like I said earlier to get to get the depth of the water and the kind of the cover you're fishing but then you know you got you get your game plan you can talk to them about what you guys are doing and your gears already ready because you found out what column of water you're fishing ask him about the net if you want to if he wants you to use it most guys want you to net their fish and you net them that your fish but some guys don't because they've had bad experiences with co-anglers that don't on a net a fish and it it is part of fishing you need to learn how to net a fish so ask him say hey you know you want me to net your fish when you get one on or do you want to call it out and he'll you know usually you say hey fit net once you get on the water use your head fish different baits different water columns in him but say at the same speed as him if he's throwing a spinnerbait throw crank bait or top water or something you know say at the same speed but use different baits don't get frustrated these tournaments are tough don't get frustrated if you think you know how to fish better than him or you know what's going on better than him or you think you're better than him and don't be with that co-angler I mean you pretty much can pick them out when you talk to them you know it subtly mention if you did well in practice doing something else let him know say hey once the day goes on you're not catching anything see main uh you know we're catching them on this or we were doing this so and it's his decision so he'll let you know if he wants your opinion don't cast in front of him don't cross his line pay attention to where he casts but look for different angles I mean the same stump could have a different angle that fish could be sitting on that stump a different way and just didn't want to move for that bait so keep that in mind don't cast through the front unless he says hey I'm casting parallel cast up here does just don't do it stay focused have a good time never give up you can come to the last cast of the day and catch big bass or a lot of tournaments I fish in the Illini Division one bite we'll get you a check so don't give up and learn everything you can throughout that day let's let's go into netting netting a fish now if he gets a fish on reel your line up pretty quick pick up the net make sure it's not going to hook into anybody's hooks or anything like that pick up ask him hey where you want me he'll say I'm going to bring the bow to a fish over here if you have time sometimes the fish is in there before you can talk about it but if you got time say where do you want me he might want to bring the fish back around the other side of the boat just by the way the fish is fighting put the net down in the water and then he'll bring the fish to the net do not stab at it don't get nervous just put the net in the water let him bring the fish to the net then hopefully you got finished hopefully he caught fish sometimes you don't so get used to it at the weigh-in be careful with the truck in the trailer I know you're tired you're ready to get up going there's a lot of traffic in the parking lot don't hit anybody watch when you're pulling that truck out so you don't rub his trailer against somebody else's when you jump out to get your bags you have to get a bag for him and he might stay with the boat or as long as he is in I contact with you I think it's okay but don't track a bunch of mud in his boat be kind of conscious of what you're doing and his property respect it stay together you're gonna have to sign for each other make sure you guys follow the rules you cannot fish from the front unless you're landing a fish don't do it don't touch the troll motor unless there's an emergency and after that help him clean up the boat that's when you will give him money if you didn't before the before the day but you know that's up to you but make sure you give him some money that's just it's common courtesy and hopefully you end the day with a new friend that you picked up and that the next tournament when you walk up you're both going to say hey how's it going how you doing and you're gonna you're gonna you're really going to meet some cool people fish in the VFL and it's been great I love it and I'm going to continue doing it so I just wanted to update this video and and hopefully you guys can take some tips and also mention some things to me if I forgot and just uh you know good luck and I'll see you out there you

Channel: Phantom Fishing

Views: 25,999

Rating: 4.9767442 out of 5

Keywords: fishing, fish, bass, tackle, gopro, lures, how to fishing, angling, angler, Largemouth Bass (Organism Classification), Lake, tournament, co-angler, passenger, FLW, BFL, Rods, Bite me baits, Catch, phantom fishing, Advice for New Co-Anglers Entering a BFL, how to get sponsored, bfl tournament, bfl, bfl co angler, co angler, co angler tournament, co angler tips, bfl fishing, how to be a co angler, flw bfl co angler, fishing as a co angler, co angler fishing, flw co angler, bass fishing tips

Id: USn0gb2gR0M

Length: 14min 50sec (890 seconds)

Published: Sun May 17 2015