I sometimes watch YouTube videos of anglers being harassed by shoreline owners. Well, it happened to me this morning. I fished my pal's pond again, which has houses on two of the four shores. I was fishing about 25 yards off the shoreline of the last house, which was set 100' from the water, the required setback for new builds on this pond. I was busy fishing and not looking at the house.

 

Then I heard someone yell something. It was unintelligible.

 

Then I heard, "Excuse me, may I have some privacy here?"

 

I thought maybe I'd happened upon someone skinny-dipping, but then I realized the woman was yelling from her screen porch. The screens were black and I could only make out her outline. I realized she didn't want me in front of her house, but I felt her request was ridiculous.

 

So, I replied, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm 60 yards from you."

 

"Oh, you know," she answered, "and if you don't know, maybe you can figure it out. Thank you!"

 

And in case I missed her sarcasm, she said "Thank you!" again and went inside her home, slamming the door.

 

Of course, if I was walking on a public street in front of her home and she said, "Excuse me, may I have some privacy here," her request would be ludicrous.

 

I wish I'd seen her face. Then if I were to see her in my town, I'd ask for some privacy too.

 

Anyway, I caught 32 bass, bringing my 2025 total to 615 and the best five would have given me a 15-pound bag or thereabouts. I also caught three 17" smallies, but didn't photograph them. I did photograph some of the lmb and I caught most of them on an underspins with a white Crush City Mayor and a golden shiner 6" Deps Sakamata Shad on an Owner Twist Loc 4/0 hook. Here are the bigger bass:

 

 

And here are some smaller ones:

 

 

I'd share more, but a car just drove past my house and I want to chase it to ask for some privacy in my home.

now you'll never go down that bank and not think of that.  I think the concepts of space and privacy are different for everyone.  Similar to others in boats that are fishing (or not some times).  On lakes that have a boat dock and lake house every 50' I think most owners just accept that people will be there.  Similar on community holes- you just expect that there will be others fishing it so you make it work.  On a remote pond in Maine you kinda expect a lot more space and a lot fewer people.  Not saying she was right by any stretch, in fact she was very much in the wrong, but I can see how she might have gotten there.

 

I had one confrontational experience a couple summers back. I was much closer to the shoreline and the person was on their deck which ended at the waterline.  We were probably 30 yards from each other when she kicked off about owning the property down into the water (accurate) and that I had to stay x feet away (inaccurate).  It transpired that the didn't want anyone casting close to her boat because she had to put a new bimini on it from someone snagging it and making a hole.  People all have their touchy points and the fight on the water just isn't worth it for me.  I'm out for peace and quiet.  

 

Congrats on the bass.  

Maybe you shouldn't cast so far that you have to use binoculars to see your lure. She might've thought you were looking in her window. 😂

 

Some people think they own the world, and that it revolves around them. Nothing can please that type of person.

 

those bass need to eat more!!  skinny huh?

i have yet to get yelled at from shore, but i'm expecting it.   i'm ready with my deep breathing exercises and full on ignoring skills.

I’ll never understand some people.  
 

Heck, I’ll probably never understand most people.  

 

Anyways nice fish as always.

At my age I'm pretty much am only interested in interactions with fish, people not so much anymore, dogs are cool too 

I hate encounters like that. My strategy is mostly smile, nod, say something vaguely pleasant, and carry on my way. People are on hair triggers it seems these days. Maybe they should try fishing 😂

56 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Not saying she was right by any stretch, in fact she was very much in the wrong, but I can see how she might have gotten there.

 

There she was, sipping coffee on her screen porch, waiting for some loons to paddle by and who arrives??? Why, Maine's biggest loon! 

 

22 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

Anyways nice fish as always.

 

Thanks, buddy.

 

1 minute ago, Rucksack said:

Maybe they should try fishing

 

She had boats at her property, making me wonder if she launches and stays 200 yards from every other property.

 

49 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

those bass need to eat more!!  skinny huh?

 

They just finished spawning. They'll beef up in a month or two.

 

51 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

Some people think they own the world, and that it revolves around them. Nothing can please that type of person.

 

So true. Such people aren't happy unless they're unhappy.

 

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

now you'll never go down that bank and not think of that.

 

You are so right! However, I'm having my canoe fitted with one of the 16-inch turrets from an Iowa-class battleship. I'll be prepared to return fire.

 

That's wild. Sorry you had to deal with that. I have yet to deal with anything like that, probably because I mostly fish public access shoreline from the bank. People get very strange when their land adjoins water. 

25 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

There she was, sipping coffee on her screen porch, waiting for some loons to paddle by and who arrives??? Why, Maine's biggest loon! 

 

 

They just finished spawning. They'll beef up in a month or two.

 

 

See!  Now you get the humor in the situation.  Next time just remember that as she's screaming down and make a cast for the next fish.

 

Did you ever find a bass bed?

4 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

 

See!  Now you get the humor in the situation.  Next time just remember that as she's screaming down and make a cast for the next fish.

 

Did you ever find a bass bed?

 

I never did. I think our water's too dark and I'm too low. Plus, my cataracts might be in play.

 

20 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

People get very strange when their land adjoins water. 

 

Shoreline people become this:

 

Wow! That's an amazing story. Hard to imagine what motivates people to act like that.  The important thing is that the bass did not demand privacy They were posing nicely for the camera!

I would have told her to get bent. Actually she was invading your privacy. 

I might have had to take an emergency bathroom break in that situation 😂 

I find that quite often it's just easiest to ignore people in those situations.  It's easy to respond with something derogatory but quite often all it does is increase your own blood pressure along the way.

 

I fish docks frequently in the summer months and I try to respect people's personal property. Obviously your situation is not like mine being that you were simply in open water fishing.  When I see someone on their dock or in their yard or on their deck, I just move past that one.  Avoiding confrontation makes the day better.

 

And I only use soft weightless plastics.  Nothing announces your presence to the entire lake more than a 1/2 ounce jig head bouncing off a metal pontoon float.

23 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Actually she was invading your privacy. 

 

She did. I was oblivious of her. She thrust herself into my space. I wonder how long she'd been secretly watching and judging me. She's a creep. 

 

1 hour ago, pdxfisher said:

Hard to imagine what motivates people to act like that.

 

Ironically, her house is the newest house on the pond. She's only been there for two years and seems to have already claimed the water.

 

12 minutes ago, gim said:

When I see someone on their dock or in their yard or on their deck, I just move past that one.  Avoiding confrontation makes the day better.

 

I might skirt her place in the future. I wish I knew how much of the pond she's claiming.

You could amend your signature line to say...

 

Neither cold nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night NOR CRANKY KAREN stays Swampy from the steady completion of her appointed casts.

 

14 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

You could amend your signature line to say...

 

Neither cold nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night NOR CRANKY KAREN stays Swampy from the steady completion of her appointed casts.

 

 

DONE!

Wow, what a weirdo. If she wants privacy, she should put up a fence. 

Karen’s gotta Karen.

A male version of that told me I couldn’t fish his dock ( from my boat ) because his grandaughter fished there. I didn’t say anything because I thought  I couldn’t possibly have heard him right. I just looked at him and he said it again.

I was getting angry so when that happens I will leave because I have had a terrible temper and will take it too far. 
He was still running his mouth and I never said a word.

Thought seriously about coming back and trying to catch all the fish I could there. But I decided that wasn’t the Christian thing to do. 😇

I've seen it from all sides of the fence. Long and the short of it is there are all kinds of people in this world, and sooner or later if you're out and about enough, you will run into them. Life is too short to spend it in conflict. Had one old guy get grumpy for fishing too close to his dock. It turns out the day before he had to take his grand daughter to the ER to have a hook taken out of her foot that someone left stuck on his dock. I have grand kids. I saw his point. 

52 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Wow, what a weirdo. If she wants privacy, she should put up a fence. 

 

One high enough so that she can't even seen the big Maine loon in her canoe...as well as the pond and the little loons.

 

Just now, jbmaine said:

It turns out the day before he had to take his grand daughter to the ER to have a hook taken out of her foot that someone left stuck on his dock.

 

I don't cast at docks for that reason. I'm good at casting, but not perfect.

I see this when it's a new cottage/home owner, unfamiliar with living on waterfront property. It's also a trend with a certain generation that that starts with an M and seems to feel a bit entitled. I grew up on the water and the water is basically like living on a public park. I've made so many friends living the dock life and rarely have I encountered a rude boater. The few I have weren't anglers and weren't residents. If someone wants it all to themselves, then dig a pond. 

The thing with my incident was that I was bream fishing out in front of his dock not under it. I had my best friends teenage son with me. We had already caught several ( and released them) . Talk about defensive. I nearly told him” I have 3 grandaughters that fish at my dock, and it wouldn’t bother me if you were fishing at my  dock like I am at your dock.”

I fished past his dock literally hundreds of times, and never saw a child , or anyone else, fishing at his dock.

4 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

The thing with my incident was that I was bream fishing out in front of his dock not under it. I had my best friends teenage son with me. We had already caught several ( and released them) . Talk about defensive. I nearly told him” I have 3 grandaughters that fish at my dock, and it wouldn’t bother me if you were fishing at my  dock like I am at your dock.”

I fished past his dock literally hundreds of times, and never saw a child , or anyone else, fishing at his dock.

 

I'm sorry that happened to you, Mike. @IcatchDinks nailed it when he wrote:

 

18 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

People get very strange when their land adjoins water. 

 

Here, Mainers share ownership of all bodies of water over ten acres. You can own shoreline, but you can't own water over ten acres. Woody Guthrie nearly wrote a song about it:

 

"This water is your water,

this water is my water,

from Portsmouth, NH,

clear to Canada, 

from the 'lantic Ocean,

to the Hampshire border,

this water was made for you and me."