It looks like Dustin Connell and Jacob Wheeler are fishing a buddy tournament in Connell’s boat. After Wheeler’s boat was disabled by a voltage issue, he talked to fellow first-year Elite Series angler and friend Connell, who came to the rescue.
If you’ve seen any of this on Bassmaster LIVE, you know the two young anglers are having a big time fishing side-by-side from the bow of Connell’s boat. Wheeler started the day in second place, 1-6 behind leader Jesse Wiggins. BASSTrakk shows him in fourth place now, 3-9 back of the leader.
B.A.S.S. rules allow for one competitor to pick up another and continue to fish in this situation. And there’s some interesting history of doing so. In 2013 when Keith Combs won the slugfest at Falcon Lake, Clark Reehm picked up Combs on Day 3, when Combs had only 4 bass in his livewell. Combs caught a 3-pounder while running the trolling motor in Reehm’s boat to fill out his limit that day.
The anglers are required to clearly tag their fish and use one livewell each in this situation