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| Not every draw-partner bass tournament ends up with the boater and co-angler smiling like this pair of anglers. |
It doesn't take much research on the Internet to find several cases of draw-partner bass tournaments in which neither the boater nor the co-angler would have subscribed to that belief at day's end. Many times, or so it seems, they were ready to rip each other's heads off as a result of events that had transpired while they were in the boat together. Here are a couple of the more unforgettable tales I stumbled across during a little recent research.
The first story comes from a fella who entered a Federation Nation tournament as a nonboater. From the moment he met the boater, he was inundated with reasons why this guy didn't like B.A.S.S. and how much better FLW is. "If he dislikes B.A.S.S. and all these people so much," the nonboater thought to himself, "why doesn't he go find an FLW tournament?"
This particular event occurred one very cold and rainy day in March. After running for an hour from one end of the lake to the other, the boater finally stopped and immediately lapsed into telling the nonboater how he "dislikes draw tournaments because I hate bringing strangers to my spots." In an effort to put his mind at ease, the nonboater explained that he had been "buried so deep in my parka on the ride that I have no idea where we are."
At last, the duo started fishing, but the boater's diatribe continued unimpeded. As later related by the nonboater, "He spent the day telling me what I was doing wrong and/or complaining about everything imaginable. He really threw a fit when he lost a fish near the boat, blaming me for not netting it soon enough. In reality, the fish wasn't even close enough yet for me to reach with the net."
By day's end, the nonboater had endured about all he could stand, given the cold, wet conditions and all the annoying banter from the boater. He couldn't wait for weigh-in to be over so he could put this guy in his rearview mirror. As it worked out, though, the nonboater took first place and big bass in the nonboaters division, and as a friend reminded him, it was customary to share his winnings with the boater.
He was walking across the parking lot (shall we say "unenthusiastically"?) toward the boater when the latter saw him coming, jumped in his truck, slammed the door, and sped away.
The second story involved a high-school tournament. One boy was walking around, asking different classmates if they would be his partner, when, off in the distance, a boy named Bubba heard him and said, "I'll fish with you." Unfortunately, it wasn't until later that the boy who had been looking for a partner took time to find out a little bit about his newfound "friend."
Turns out Bubba had caught only one bass in his whole life and that was with a jig pole while crappie fishing. He was, in several people's opinion, "a nightmare of a fisherman."
The boy realized he was in trouble when Bubba showed up at his house the night before the tournament with an ultralight bream rod, rigged with 5-lb. test line. The situation didn't get any better the next morning when it became apparent that Bubba didn't even know how to tie a good knot. Lures kept flying off his line into the trees.
After babysitting Bubba all day, the boy was more than a little "put out" with his partner and only had three fish to show for his efforts. "How can you catch fish when you're mad," he was heard to have remarked. Even with that, though, he thought he might have a shot at winning some money, since the tournament was paying three places. Imagine the depth of his disappointment when the scales revealed he had fallen less than an ounce short of that goal.
There are no guarantees when it comes to draw-partner bass tournaments. About the only certainty is that, if the two of you are, for any reason, incompatible, it likely will seem like one of the longest days of your life.
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