Saturday, June 09, 2007
Water rarely more clear on the other side of the boat
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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HUDDLESTON -- When Tom Embry stepped on the stage at the biggest bass tournament in his life, the announcement of his name prompted a few polite claps from the crowd of bass fans.
Embry didn't mind.
In two days of fishing in the Bassmaster Elite Series Blue Ridge Brawl he'd boated just two keeper bass. But he'd had the experience of a lifetime, fishing alongside Davy Hite one day, and Mike Iaconelli the next.
Embry, of Williamsburg, was entered as a non-boater, competing alongside other amateur fishermen who toil away with little fanfare from the back seats of the pros' boats.
Fishing as a non-boater may not be glamorous, and it can be downright difficult.
But it has its perks.
Prizes can be nice -- the winner of the non-boater division in this event scores a $50,000 bass boat package -- but the real reward for many non-boaters is the chance to fish with the sport's best.
"I watch these guys on TV," said Robert Peaslee of Roanoke. "It's special to be on the back of the boat with them, watching them in action."
Rules limit the amount of information pros and non-boaters can discuss. But the back-seaters, who are randomly paired with the pros before each day of tournament action, can learn a lot from just observing their pro.
John Cole of Buena Vista fished Friday alongside Greg Hackney.
"They fish fast," said Cole, who is 46 and self-employed. "Greg Hackney is just incredible. He's so enthusiastic; it's just fun to watch."
In 21st place after the first two days, Cole made the 50-angler cut to the tournament's third day, meaning his $750 entry fee worked out to $250 a day -- about the cost of hiring a fishing guide for three days.
"This big of tournament might never come back this way," he said. "I've had a great time."
Many amateurs who enter tournaments as non-boaters, which are also called co-anglers, do so hoping the lessons they get from the back seat can help them make the jump to the front of the boat.
That's the dream of David Clements of Amherst, a 43-year-old martial arts studio owner.
"Sooner or later you've got to make the jump to the front of the boat," Clements said.
Peaslee, 25, who manages a nursing care business, is in his second year of fishing as a co-angler, mostly at smaller tournaments such as in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. He said he hopes to be able to fish from the front in more tournaments next year.
He has a chance to be fishing from a new boat.
With a two-day catch of 20 pounds, 3 ounces, Peaslee is just four ounces behind non-boater leader Jeff Freeman of Max Meadows.
On the pro side, Boyd Duckett of Demopolis, Ala., stayed on top, with a two-day total weighing 33 pounds, 14 ounces.
But Duckett, who started the day with a lead of nearly 3 pounds, is just 13 ounces up on his tournament roommate -- South Carolinian Casey Ashley, who made a huge jump after bringing a tournament-best 22-pound bag of five bass to the scales.
The field was cut to the top 50 anglers for the today's action, after which the non-boater champion will be named and the top 12 pros will advance to Sunday's final day.
Salem's John Crews made the cut at 39th place, and Kurt Dove of Alexandria also advanced.
But Rick Morris of Lenexa, who was sixth starting the day, was a surprise victim of the cut after his Day 1 catch was disqualified.
Tournament officials learned that Morris had left the boat to catch a hooked fish that was reportedly tangled up in an underwater obstruction, a violation of tournament rules.
That the 50th-place pro had a bigger catch than non-boater leader Freeman illustrates another fact of life for back-seaters: The fishing is difficult.
Pros make all decisions on where and how to fish, and non-boaters simply must adjust to the opportunities they have.
When pros use certain techniques, non-boaters may be left with few opportunities.
"If you're fishing docks and they're real thorough, they don't leave a lot for you," said Tom Frink, a Californian who is third in the non-boater division.
Frink said adjustment is the key to being able to catch fish from the back of the boat.
For example, if his angler is fishing shoreline cover, Frink said he may fish a Carolina-rigged plastic lure in deeper water. Or he may choose a smaller lure than the boater is using, or just focus on casting at targets the angler might not have hit.
Frink is executing that philosophy well.
He won twice as a co-angler on the Elite Series last year and also had a second-place finish.
But while Frink is one of those guys who hopes to parlay backseat lessons and success into a full-time gig as a front seater, Embry, 41, is not quite as ambitious.
Unlike the other non-boaters, the Virginia State Police special agent didn't even pay the $750 entry fee for the event. He won the entry through a raffle at Bass Pro Shops.
And there he was fishing with Iaconelli, whose on-the-water exuberance has earned him scores of fans.
And Iaconelli didn't disappoint.
Landing a big bass after a tough fight, Iaconelli held the fish up for fans watching from nearby boats, then cleared an open space on the boat's deck for a celebratory break dance.
"To see him up close doing the break dance, that was nice," said a grinning Embry.
Embry also had another reason to be happy.
During the day he became overheated.
"Fortunately, Ike had brought some ice," he said, still smiling. "He iced me down."
Embry was able to keep fishing, and he will keep on fishing.
Those two bass were enough to help him make the cut in 42nd place.
He'll fish today with Ish Monroe, another big star.
"That," Embry said of the free entry raffle, "was the best thing I ever won in my life."
