I am fishing a tournament on April 19th with the club I am in.

This Saturday the 12th, I am prefishing with a guy in the club who is kind enough to drag me along.

Now I'm not the type of person to get paired with someone who has a 200hp motor and fly to the good spots before my buddy who again, is kind enough to take me prefishing with him and only has a small outboard on his boat.

I think it'd be down right ignorant to race to one of the spots he found and try to fish it first. Not to mention I'm sure he'd never take me along again to prefish for a tournament.

My question is what is the best way to handle this situation?

I think he should get dibs due to him asking me to go with him in his boat, but possibly stay close and wait for him to leave.

What should I do?

There is a pattern there find that pattern somewhere else on the lake. My .02 cents.

Exactly - Take what you have learned and find your own spots.  Use his spots with his permission only on days that you will not be fishing against him.

Ask him when your pre-fishing, if he cares. Ask yourself this... If it wasn't for him would I know about this ? You gotta go if your answers no!

Fishindaddy has right. Only fish it if your not going up against him. A little Etiquette goes a long way.

Find the pattern.  What is working in one spot on the lake will work others.  Pay attention to what makes this location unique and apply it to other spots on the lake.

Fishindaddy is right, especially if its a guy in your local club. There will be plenty of other tournaments, if you slay the fish prefishing let him have the spot.

There are plenty of other places to fish and generally the same pattern might work somewhere else on the lake, just look for a similar spot.

pretty much what everyone else said, unless you get the nod, just find that pattern somewhere else on the lake.

Common predicament, I'd think. Especially for co-anglers.

These guys are suggesting the right thing... unless he tells you to have at it, you should find another spot. 8-)

Let's get this right; you're pre-fishing with someone with a 200 hp motor and he wants you to take him to your buddy's spot that has a smaller motor?

If this is correct its simple take him to the wrong spots or don't go at all  

Finding fish is each boaters task, if I were to take a person out to give them an opportunity to get on the lake and they went to spots I found I would be upset. I suggest you do not burn your buddy, just look for other places. Your friend will continue to take you out. This can be a pretty touchy deal and friendships will be damaged if we don't use wisdom.

I think if you are trying to locate fish together, he shouldn't get mad if you beat him to the spot. Make sure you clear this up before you pre-fish. If you get the sense that it's not ok, go pre-fish by yourself. He may be trying to see what baits you are going to use, especially if you are getting bites. Think about this, he pulls up in a spot and you start fishing. You start to get bit on a certain lure. He switches and start catching fish.

Ask him.  Let him know it is entirely his call and you want to respect the spot (and your friendship).

Even though its public water, I get irked when I see people on "our" spot.  I'd be really irked if my buddy burned me on it.

I saw in a show once about tournies. The host said watch out, because they might be trying to lead you in the wrong direction. Keep an yey on the spots and if he fishes them on the tournie.

I saw in a show once about tournies. The host said watch out because they might be trying to lead you in the wrong direction. Keep an eye on the spots and if he fishes them on the tourny.

I highly doubt this is the case in the local club he's fishing......

Thanks for the replies.

I will talk to him about it and get his take on the matter first.  

If he does mind, which I doubt, I'll look for other similar spots and try there.

If his spots are working

find your spots on tourney day if you have to, if i took you prefishing and then i saw you on those spots with someone else, you will earn a reputation you dont want. cause the fact is on tournament day (if im reading your post correct) you will still be in someone elses boat and taking them to spots someone else showed you is just wrong

Hard decision, but was the understanding that you were prefishing together to look for spots for both of you?  You should be talking about this the whole time your out with him.  

find your spots on tourney day if you have to, if i took you prefishing and then i saw you on those spots with someone else, you will earn a reputation you dont want. cause the fact is on tournament day (if im reading your post correct) you will still be in someone elses boat and taking them to spots someone else showed you is just wrong

Cajun1977, it's good to see you back on the forum.  

Let all the air out of his tires the night before.  

Never ever carry someone to another anglers spot in a tournament(Or any other time)

Good question... A lot depends on the quality of the competition. In the higher levels there are usually few secrets. On the local level there are even fewer. If you fish essentially the same lake all the time, the better holes are well known and usually even have names... The Swirl Hole, the Lunch Box, the Snack Bar and etc. Does this mean if your friend fishes one or several of these spots in his prefishing, that you are then prohibited from going there... for how long?

I fished a tournament years ago on Rend Lake Il. I had several holes all lined out and the plan was to hit as many as I could. The second spot I stopped happened to be a spot that the coangler had pre fished with his buddy. He became so upset when his friend saw us there, I thought he was going to cry. Truth is I had found that hole YEARS before and even had won a tournament there.

The best idea is to beg, borrow, or buy your own rig (even if it is a 10 horse on a Jon boat) and do your own pre fishing. The first few years of tournament fishing, I would take a buddy with me and I would find enough fish to do well in the tournament. The problem was we would wind up sharing my fish and neither of us would make any money. I quit taking him along and I finished in the top 5 in two divisions of a well known circuit that year.  

After that I actually bought a Jon boat and woud often prefish in it.  Nobody paid any attention to the perch jerker!

Hope this helps.

Never, ever, fish any spots that someone has taken you to during a tournament.. If you do you may lose a chance to fish with him again, and could get you  kicked oput. I would never go back and fish a spot someone had shown me, unless it was known as a community hole. Find your own.