What Should Non-Boaters Be Paying Boaters?
If you haven’t noticed, I have touched on a couple of things this week that make mention of the changes that we as anglers have had to make due to the increase in participation costs. Mostly because of fuel. Another effect that always comes up when this is discussed revolves around what Non-Boaters/Co-Anglers should be paying Boaters/Pros to help with fuel costs. Before I get into this, let me just say that I am surely going to tip toe my way through this and steer clear of being one-sided. One thing to remember is that while I spent a couple of years as a Non-Boater, I fully compete as a Boater/Pro so those are the eyes or mind that this is coming from.
For the past 5 years or so, it was easy to just slip a Boater $20 bucks after a day of fishing to help cover the cost of fuel and oil spent throughout the day. The length of run didn’t really matter because gas wasn’t the calculating factor in whether a long run was going to be made in order to catch fish. Now a days fuel costs are definitely a driving factor in deciding where anglers are headed to fish. With so many tips and tactics article being published telling everybody to just fish close by (usually at the take-off marina for release fish) those areas are packed with anglers trying to save a buck. Sometimes trying to save a buck can come at the cost of winning a buck. So again, what’s sufficient to give to a boater? Your still not going to get a straight answer. Just considerations.
My experience as a non-boater taught me something that I think is a valuable lesson. Last year I was fishing a draw tournament and got paired with another young man who was fishing as a non-boater. Usually, non-boaters get a cold shoulder from boaters the night of the pairing. The cold shoulder is usually in the form of a low level of communication where the boater is hesitant to give the non-boater to much information or insight about the fish they are on, their practice, or the conditions they are going to be faced with. As a non-boater, that put me in a bad spot more than a few times. The boater always fears that the non-boater is going to go pipe off to his boater budies about where to fish. Maybe that happens, but if is going to, the non-boater will just go and give all of the details away after the event so you’ll just see them in your spot at the next event on the that water. Usually not the case though. Back to my story….. So after the pairing, I spoke with my non-boater about the fish I was on. I told him that I had a good load of fish but was hesitant to make the long run because of how much fuel it would use. The weather was supposed to turn bad over night and if I made that run and the whether trashed the area, than we were going to be stuck and have to grind it out because all of my gas money was going to be expired to get to those fish.
As a result of talking with my non-boater, I believe that a level of trust was gained on his part and he was convinced that we needed to try and get to those fish. So he went ahead a gave me $60 that night so I could put that money in the fuel tank in advance. This way the gas was going to be there in case we needed it and we did. The area was not only trashed, but loaded with many other anglers so we spent the day running and gunning some other areas. The end result was a 12th place finish for myself and a 2nd place finish for the non-boater. The communication between the two of us benefited the both of us I would say.
I tell you that to tell you this. Many non-boaters are hesitant to give more than $20 or $30 dollars because they feel like don’t really get any good water to fish or are kept out of the loop of what is going on. Again, my experience as a boater has shown me that if you show your non-boater pairing that he is just as much a part of that boat as you are while out on the water for that particular day, that you are allot more likely to receive what you as a boater feels like is fair and the non-boater won’t be so hesitant to offer it up.
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2 opinions for What Should Non-Boaters Be Paying Boaters?
Rich
Jul 11, 2008 at 8:32 am
Good perspective, I have found much of what you said to be true!
Don Zaegel
Jul 11, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Thanks Rich. It seems like no matter who you ask about this situation, they typically are hard liners to one side or the other.
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