Great Lakes Bass Fishing Forum

FLW announced changes to Co-Angler practice for the tour events today..You can go to flwoutdoors.com (http://flwoutdoors.com) to get the full story.
In a nutshell it says Co-Anglers in Tour events may practice out of their own boats but cannot share information with the pros.  Basically Co-anglers will be practicing to establish Lure choice and patterns that they can use when fishing with the pros.  I would say this is a big improvement over the initial rules that FLW originally published.

Tournament waters will go off-limits to all contestants 12 days (11 days for FLW Series) prior to the first practice day in all events. Contestants, including those on the waiting list and late entries, may not enter tournament waters to fish, test equipment, sightsee, etc., during the off-limits period. Flights over tournament waters are not permitted at anytime after the start of the off-limits period.

During the off-limits period, practice and competition days, pros may not solicit and/or receive fishing information from anyone except confirmed pros and other publicly available information (pros on the waiting list are not considered confirmed). Beginning with practice and extending through competition, pros may not obtain fishing patterns or locations from co-anglers or fishing information from noncompetitors or follow a noncompetitor's boat or participate in the practice of "hole sitting" or the placing of markers by anyone. Anglers eliminated after each round of competition are considered noncompetitors. Pros in the top-10 cut may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except other top-10 pros.

During the off-limits period, practice and competition days, co-anglers may not solicit and/or receive fishing information from anyone except confirmed contestants and other publicly available information (anglers on the waiting list are not considered confirmed). Co-anglers who share fishing patterns or locations obtained during practice or competition with pro competitors will be disqualified along with the person utilizing this information. For the FLW Tour, co-anglers in the top-10 cut (Day 3) may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except other top-10 contestants.  
The purchasing of or bartering for information or the hiring of services will not be permitted after the start of the off-limits. The sharing of tournament winnings in exchange for fishing information is strictly prohibited.

Tournament waters will reopen for practice four days (Saturday through Tuesday for the FLW Tour; Friday through Monday for the FLW Series) prior to registration day. Pros and co-anglers may practice alone, with another competitor, with a member of their immediate family (mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandchild or spouse) or with approved sponsor representatives who have also observed the off-limits period and procedures or with approved media representatives. Tournament waters will be closed to all contestants on Wednesday, registration day, (Tuesday for the Series) prior to the first day of competition.