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This is
a very interesting article about boating partners. You may want to
read it. |
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On this page just let me know if
you need a partner to fish with, the date and the lake that you are At the bottom of
the story is a list of people who would like to fish
but have no boat... |
| If you are a member of our club and need a partner with a boat or one without a boat go to this page. |
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Boating
Partners-Are You a Good One? You’ve just gotten off the phone with an acquaintance that has invited you to go fishing with him next weekend. He is going to take his boat to the lake and you get to be the passenger along for the ride. While you are wondering what equipment you should take and whether the fishing will be any good, you should also be thinking about what you should be doing to be a good partner to make this trip an enjoyable one for you and the person that invited you along. Here is a list of some “Do’s and Don’ts” to make things run smoothly and increase the chances of being invited back for another trip. DO be on time. Make sure you have directions to the pickup point and know how long it is going to take to get there. Being late is not just an inconvenience to others it is also rude if you are one of those people that are habitually late. DON’T bring all the fishing equipment that you own. Travel light and work on the assumption that you can live without something you left behind. Two or three rods should be the limit. Bring your lunch (and your partner’s), drinks, and maybe one large or two medium size tackle boxes. I would much rather have someone travel light and borrow something of mine then to see them show up with more stuff than I have in the boat and then try to figure out where to put everything. DO ask what you can do to help. Offer to help uncover the boat, back it down the ramp, park the truck, hold the boat at the dock or whatever else you can do to help smooth out the process. Fishing all day and driving to and from the lake can make for a long day. If you are experienced at towing a boat, offer to drive part way. If the driver doesn’t accept the offer, that doesn’t mean you have the OK to curl up in the corner and go to sleep. Stay awake and alert and help the driver do the same. DON’T do things without asking first. Some things may need to be done in a specific order or specific way and it is easier for the boat owner to do it themselves than to explain to someone else how to do it. Disrupting a pre-launch routine may cause the drain plug to be left out or the rear tie downs left on. DO offer to run the trolling motor when the guy in front has a backlash, needs to repair or change tackle or just to give him a break. One of the great things about fishing in the back of the boat is the amount of fishing that you get done in the course of a day since you are not running the trolling or the big motor. This can especially true in rough water conditions or where there is a lot of timber in the water. Offer to swap places with the guy in front and spend your fair share of time there. It will be a better, less tiring day for both of you. DON’T borrow equipment without asking. Most people don’t mind sharing but you don’t want to make that assumption. You never know when the lure you are reaching for is the guy’s best “go to” lure in tough situations and it is in a color that is no longer made. I know I wouldn’t want to hang that lure up, break it off and then spend the rest of the day with the guy. If you borrow equipment and you lose it or break it, replace it as soon as possible with the same or equivalent items. I don’t worry about hooks and sinkers but some lures and other items need to be replaced. DO make sure you cover your fair share of recognizable expenses and then some. If your partner is pulling the boat, buying boat gas and oil, and paying for maintenance on the tow vehicle, splitting just gas for the truck isn’t really enough. A 500 mile round trip is 1/6 of an oil change, may be 1% of a set of tires, and you know all the rest of the costs of vehicle ownership. Oil for the boat gas isn’t cheap and you can burn a pint per six gallons of gas. High-octane gas for the boat is now costing more than $2.90 per gallon on the highway in my area and will only go up in the future. Gas at a dock will run even more money so make sure you cover your share of the all the out of pocket expenses. DON’T try to pay for everything. You probably weren’t invited along to cover all the expenses. I’ll bet the guy who invited you enjoys your company and just wants you to help cover expenses, not pay for the whole trip. FISHING with someone almost always beats fishing by your self. It is even better if that person is not a regular fishing partner and you both have the opportunity to learn something from each other over the course of the day. It gives you the chance to explore new spots, use different lures and do something different than what you have always done in the past. Be a good partner and you will probably find that you get invited back again. |
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Boating Partner Needed |
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GREG CHENEY |