I've had several times that fishing on a spot yeilded a nice fish but after maybe 10 mins of casting to the same spot.

Thus is fishing from the back of the boat being a negative an over stated negative?

Not to mention the fact of being able to concentrate on fishing more due to not dealing with the boat

Depends on what the guy in the front of the boat is doing and positioning the boat. I like to fish with my buddies and prefer it to fishing by myself, but I position the boat different if someone is in the back of the boat. on the flip side, I always catch more fish when I am by myself. Then I can position the boat with one thing in mind... where do I need to be to make this cast, pitch or flip to this spot.

I've been front ended by the boater before, and have lost fish to them, but I have also outfished the front guy.

Depends on what the guy in the front of the boat is doing and positioning the boat. I like to fish with my buddies and prefer it to fishing by myself, but I position the boat different if someone is in the back of the boat. on the flip side, I always catch more fish when I am by myself. Then I can position the boat with on thing in mind... where do I need to be to make this cast, pitch or flip to this spot.

That is totally right.  It's all about boat position.

When fishing shallow,being in the back can be tough.When fishing deep offshore,it really could go either way.I've been intentionally handicaped before on a ledge while fishing from the back.Yet,during some team tournaments my partner up front has held the boat down in the wind for me to fish out a hole.

I've been outfished from the back and outfished a few from the back.  It's has some advantages.  Dealing with the wind, avoiding stumps, etc on the tm does take away from the fishing at times.  Also, my deck is big enough that my partner for the day is always welcome to join me up front.  

I agree that fishing from the back of the boat can be fine if the boater is motivated to see you catch some fish.

If not it can be a very long day.

Another vote for boat position.  There is nothing worse than being in the wind and having the front end of the boat stay pretty much in one spot while the back end of the boat swings around.

The biggest problem I have fishing from the back of the boat is that often times the buddy I fish with tends to go into KVD mode, making 1-2 quick casts to target and then moving on.  There are times I feel confident that a piece of cover is holding fish if it was just worked over a little more thoroughly, but I don't get that chance in the 30 seconds we breeze past it.

I remenber a TV show about a tournament a couple of years back.

I think it was prespawn or postspawn fishing, the pro in the front was sight fishing, the amateur in the back didn't get any shots to catch anything. After a while the amateur started casting a C-rig toward the deeper water.

He outfished the pro big time, cought the big fish of the day, and won the amateur 1st place( Ranger boat+money)

The pro was catching males, the amateur got the females

Fishing from the back of the boat underrated?

I've kept detailed records of every trip to Toledo Bend since 1972; many of these trips were with my good friend Patrick C. Miller. We both spend close to the same amount of time in the bow seat as we do in the rear seat. According to these records we are dead even on numbers of fish caught from each position. But keep in mind we don't try to position the boat to where one has an advantage over the other

I've always believed Pro/Am tournaments should be the combined totals of both stringers thus forcing the Pro to actually teach the amateur.

As long as the guy (or girl) up front is competent I would rather be in the back. It is great when all you have to think about it fishing. Especially on a day like yesterday when my partner and I were worming in 10-25ft of water with 25-35 mph winds that were gusting up to 50. When I was up front he caught more fish and vice versa.

You just have to fish according to the speed of the guy in the front. If he is fishing fast it makes it hard to fish slow like plastics etc. Its hard to flip or pitch to a spot pick it up once and then having to reel it in because its behind the boat. As long as you can fish your lure effectively you both have a chance at that hog.

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