When Bassin' Partnerships Get Out of Tune

Among the things that once brought my dad great joy was an opportunity to play twin fiddles with someone. And make no mistake about the fact it was "twin fiddles," not "twin violins." The latter, according to Pop, was reserved for people who played in orchestras, not western-swing bands like his.

In any event, I remember one Saturday-night dance oh so many years ago at the local VFW Hall in which Dad had such an opportunity. He and his fellow fiddler were playing "Wildwood Flower," an oldtime, upbeat fiddlers' special, when, without warning, Pop's fiddle started going out of tune. The other fiddler immediately started adjusting the strings on his instrument, despite the fact Dad was trying to signal for him to stop. Dad knew the problem was his alone.

Anyway, long story short--the fellow fiddler kept adjusting the strings on his instrument until one of them finally broke. So what does this anecdote have to do with bass-fishing partners?

It's just that similar circumstances sometimes happen here, too. Something about the relationship starts rubbing one or both the wrong way, the tension grows, and before you know it, the "string" holding the whole thing together breaks. Following are some examples of what I'm talking about.

A boater had a backseater who chewed tobacco and always was spitting in the water. When the boater would get home, he always had to clean dried tobacco off the stern. For the longest of times, the boater never said anything because he didn't want to hurt the other guy's feelings. Besides that, he had known from the git-go that the guy liked to chew. But one day as the duo were getting ready to head back to the ramp, the boater wet a small towel and announced that he was going to wipe the tobacco spots off the stern. The backseater promptly replied that he had planned to do that when they got back to the ramp. The boater figured the problem now was resolved, but he figured wrong. When they returned from the next fishing trip, the backseater made no effort to clean up his tobacco stains, leaving the boater once again to do it when he got the rig home. Bottom line: They no longer fish together.

A backseater fished with a co-worker who had made it abundantly clear a number of times that he felt the only reason he wasn't a tournament pro was a lack of money and sponsorship. The backseater consistently outfished the co-worker, which sometimes would make the co-worker so mad he would start throwing his rods in the bottom of the boat. Finally, the backseater quit accepting his co-worker's invites and told him what he really thought about his angling skills. That ended the partnership.

A fishing duo, both of whom had retired from the same place, broke up after fishing together for 15 years, which really was sad because both loved the same kind of fishing, and they always had lots of fun when their personalities weren't clashing. Their problem stemmed from the fact that one of them couldn't let his old gripes go about the workplace and the employer they both hated. Every time the two of them were together, he would just keep going on and on about the place and its people. This same guy also kept bringing along his grown son--uninvited--on all the fishing trips. In fairness, the other fella admitted that he was moody at times, due to sleep-cycle problems. Despite these difficulties, the two continued fishing together until the moody angler decided to start asserting himself a little bit. The other guy didn't take the change very well, so they called it quits.

So, how do you go about finding a lasting fishing partner? One angler responded thus: "About as carefully as choosing a wife!" Depending upon how many tournaments you plan to fish, coupled with how much practice time you plan to devote, you may spend almost as much time with your tournament partner in a given season as you do your life partner.

With that thought in mind, your partner needs to be someone you can get along with, not someone you'll be wanting to dump over the side the first tough fishing day you have.

You and your partner also need to have some "chemistry." In other words, you need to be able to work well together as a team and be able to trust each other. The trust comes into play if/when you each go off on pre-fishing trips to find good spots. You must have as much confidence in your partner's spots as you do your own. If you don't, you won't fish effectively, and that means you'll be wasting your time.

You further want a partner who complements your style, rather than mirrors or interferes with it. A partner with fishing styles or techniques different from yours adds to your team's versatility. In the long run, though, it's better if you both prefer to fish in similar ways, or one of you is not going to be very happy a lot of the time.

Some people may prefer a partner who has less experience than they do, as they are comfortable in a leadership role. Meanwhile, others may prefer a more seasoned partner, hoping to learn some things and improve their own skills in the process. Either way can work, as long as both anglers are comfortable in their roles. However, in order to reduce the chance of friction and maximize the chances of success, it's best if partners are of basically similar or equal skill levels and experience.