How hard is it / or was it to find a partner with your drive?

I have one that is reliable but not to my level of "Die hard".

Examples:
He has a bass boat but will only pre-fish with me (I told him its better if we do this apart as I may find fish and he may find other spots.

He always talks about the weather either its going to be cold or its going to rain (I bought rain gear to use it)

Anyway he's a great guy but not to the drive I have.

Butch

There are good and bad points about separating in practice. What makes a great team is TEAM work. The guy in the back will be doing something different from the guy in the front. If the partnership is not flawless it can become very frustrating. On another note it is an opportunity to find different schools of fish. I have been doing tourns for years and prefer to stick with my partner and work as a team. Tell your partner rain can be very productive and a cold snap makes the better fisherman shine. Use all your individual strengths to make a great partnership and kick butt. Good luck and tight lines.

Interesting thing about splitting up for practice... there are pros and cons. Yes, you can cover much more water when you split up, but now you need to determine who's water you will be fishing on tournament day. If you both have located what you feel are very strong or winning areas, you might need to make a choice between one or the other depending on location/travel time and other factors. That can be tricky depending on your partner.

If you have multiple days to practice, say 2 or 3 for example, you could split up on 1 or 2 days and use the 3rd day to visit the "key areas" you both found. Visiting these areas together will give you both "confidence" in each others spots. In theory, you should be able to make a final game plan decision together that you both feel strongly about.

Personally, I prefer practicing with my tournament partner in the same boat. I feel that it helps to get us in sync as a team leading up to tournament day.

Just my 2 cents...

I always liked practicing separately the first practice day and together the second. I liked deep and my partner liked shallow, I liked plugs and grubs and he liked spinnerbaits and worms. We would each fish to our strengths and then try to refine our patterns and locate new water the second day. For little one day tourneys we always practiced together. Communication was the key, speak your mind and never hold back an idea, regardless of how goofy it seemed.

So when did you get that shirt of yours that says "sit down, shut up and hold on"... was it after those days?

Just kidding!

Right after I got Married!!

LOL Great comments. It took me three years before I hooked up with a good partner. We both have a passion or should I say addiction for fishing. First and formost all expenses are split down the middle. so there is no argument over money. We also disscussed what eachothers job is besides fishing. Who does what with loading and unloading the boat. Helping to clean the boat at the end of the day. Ice,drinks,sandwiches,snacks. A good partner could last for many years. The more you work at it the better you can work together. Especially on long away trips with hours of driving. Once you have it down you'd be surprised how much more fun it can be on the water.