My fishing spot...

[bassin4life]

When I was fishing out on my fav reservoir I hit up this cove on the north end of the lake and its a pretty good spot....anywayz I had been fishing there for about 45min and spoted a big bass about 5lbs and along came another fisherman...I was like I know hes not about to fish near me when there is this whole lake to fish....sure enough he did and caught the 5 I was workin on and it ticked me off, has anyone had a situation like this and what do you do if someone fishes near you when you were there first???

[Mike H.]

Nothing as bad as that, but I have had a guy come in on a boat and he was about 10 feet away from the dock I was fishing from and was casting right under it. I was afraid he was going to hit me.

[bassin4life]

lol yeah it ticks me off I can't stand if someone fishes that close to me I mean the least they could do is wait til im done.

[Muddpuppy]

The lake I was on, is (there are 2 that join with a cannal) maybe about 5000 achres or so combined. It isn't a massive body of water but you can fish comfortably without being on top of one anouther. I didn't know it at the time but there was a group from a nearby city down here pre fishing for a tounement. I had noticed them when I first started out and how (3) of them would converge on a boat, stay a minute or two then roar off to find anouther boat. There are a couple of spots that I always hit when I go by and I had stopped to try one of them, here they came. I hadn't had a bite so I left. They stayed just about long enough to get a gps reading and make a cast or two, to make it look like they were doing something, then they also left. Raceing off to find anouther boat. I can only cast so long and I have take a break to stretch out my back. So that's what I did and just let the boat float. I had rested a rod up against the console and I will rear back in my seat periodicly, so it may have looked like I was setting a hook rather frequently. Once again back they came. So I would leave and go to anouther spot always with the same results. This happened about 4 times. Now they did not just come up slowly they had the boats on plane and would just shut them down. If you had been fishing the wake would have washed the spot out. Then they would leave in the same fashion. Finally one guy with the club (not one of the trailing boats) eased up along side of me and said he was fishing a tournement this weekend and notice I had stopped a in a few few different places and wanted to know how many I had caught and what I was useing. I said... &*@$ I haven't been fishing for a while now I'm haveing to much fun watching these idiots follow me around the lake. I wasn't bothered any more that day and ended up showing the guy I had talked to a map of the lake since they are hard to find.

[bassin4life]

lol that a crazy situation....

[catnip]

Muddpuppy, you may not have caught any lunkers that day but it sounds like you caught several boat loads of lunkheads! ;D  I've had folks just about bounce lures off my head during a tournament on Smith Mountain Lake in '92.  These guys weren't part of the tournament they were just ticked off that a tourney would take over "their" lake for the week end.  They eventually puttered off after another boat with a couple of our friends (BIG fellas) pulled up along side us to see how we were doing.  Too many people get caught up in the idea of catching fish and lose the joy of just fishing.

[Marty]

and what do you do if someone fishes near you when you were there first

I suppose it depends on the individual. There's a lot of absolute nuts out there and confrontation has its risks. For me, discretion is the better part of valor, and I'd have probably given the guy a dirty look and let it go at that. Or maybe asked him to give me some space before he started fishing. But once he caught the fish, it's too late for much of anything.

Sorry it happened; I read a lot about that kind of stuff these days.

[bassin4life]

Yeah but a good fisherman would have backed off...since it wasn't a tournement and he had the whole lake to fish...

[Bronze12]

yeah, I can't decide if some of these people are just that inconsiderate or if they just have fish on the mind and don't even think about it.  Whatever the reason...its not cool.  I haven't had too many experiences where people have came and fished on top of me like that.  One that got to me though was when me and my dad were fishing about 20 - 25 yards off shore casting some docks and up comes this big ol cruising boat.  We figured they were pulling up to one of the docks but they never slowed down and just buzzed right through there.  Didn't understand why they chose to fly through that little 20 yard gap when they had about another 4 football fields on the other side of us.  Oh well, I agree with marty, sometimes you just have to be the bigger man and know that there are going to be those kinds of people out there.  Doesn't hurt to ask them to back off a little though.  

[Marty]

Yeah but a good fisherman would have backed off...since it wasn't a tournement and he had the whole lake to fish...

Good fishermen don't always back off, since you hear about this crap taking place on high-level tours, as well as among the common people.

Maybe it's part of ugly side of human nature. Water skiers and jet skiers do the same thing all the time; buzzing boats when they have the whole lake to do their thing. I don't condone fishermen crowding others, but I can understand it better, as they may feel they need to fish that particular cover or structure. But the skiers don't need that; all they need is water.

[chad km5qf]

Had this happen yet again this weekend:

Running my yoyo's right off our land in a riverlake- amazed at the idiots that plop spinnerbaits down within inches of my goldfish. Saw one guy get his caught up in my yoyo too. All this within 100 yards of me sitting in my johnboat running my hooks.  

IF A BIG FAT WIGGLING GOLDFISH AINT GOTTA BITE YER SPINNERBAIT AINT GOING TO EITHER

Saw one fully tricked out bass boat take a big blue cat off a yoyo but no way i could catch them. Cussed em out from cross the lake but that was it.

Just as blatant i guess is the guy that came upon me while i was throwing a torpedo tied off to a yoyo tree, float fishing with shiners ten feet from me.  Ive got five yoyo's tied to limbs of this cypress tree a foot off the water, a thin rope tied to a branch to keep me stationary, a bass rod in my hand, and yet still this bozo comes right up to me and starts fishing. I guess all that still wasnt enough to give these idiots a clue so i surely dont see help with just another bass boat crowding you a little. sad but true.....

Guess ill have to keep a few black watersnakes in a sack while i fish. Harmless totally but to unsuspecting bozo might just freak em out enough when i toss one in his boat.... hmmmm

happy fishing

[Skeeter6598]

What a topic!!! This is one of my biggest complaints about fisherman. I've had this happen many times but nothing compared to how often it happens to my dad while he's guiding for stripers.

I've been out with dad and watched Tourist as he calls them, wait at the no wake bouys and as we leave out HERE THEY COME. Following him every where he goes. What really ticks us off is that these people will see us throw and anchor down on fish, then they will troll around us as sure as @#%$ they'll hook our anchor rope. Dad had a guy 2 years ago do this to him. The guy was in a brand new Triton bass boat. He got close and dad says, "Hey nice boat! Then he asked what kind of electronics he had. The guy says Lowarnce the best money can buy. Dad says good then learn to use them and go and find your own @#%$ fish. Well the guy left! This happens to dad every single day he is on the water.

The people that do these things are the people that give the rest of us tournament fishermen a bad name. Most are guys new to the sport and don't care about others. They don't respect other people or other people's water. I've watched many people get DQ'd in tournaments because of this kind of behavior.

[Fisher of Men]

About a year or two, a local kid (around 21 years old) won the McDonald's Big Bass tourny on Lake Fork.  It was his first tournament.  I understand that you could almost walk from boat to boat.  He cast a mid-depth crankbait onto the front deck of another boat by accident.  The lure got caught in the carpet.   Instead of being cool about it, the other fisherman was a jerk and cut his line.  The kid then tied on a plastic worm and cast out to the bottom nearby and caught the winning bass (around 10 pounds).  You know it had to tick off the fellow who cut his line.  If he hadn't cut the kid's line, he probably wouldn't have caught that bottom feeding bass.    Sweet revenge.

I just think that we should all practice proper etiquette and follow proper navigation rules.  I teach boater education in Texas and here's the correct procedure:  If two boats are meeting in a head on situation (as many of us do along shorelines) the boats should pass to the right of each other (according to the Texas Boater ed. handbook) On one side of the lake that would leave you closest and on another that would leave you out for a few feet.  Also, boats are supposed to stay at least 50 feet from another above headway speed.  I know that while using the trolling motor you are not above "headway" speed, but unless you are invited, you should stay at least 50 feet from other boats out of common courtesy.  Then again, if I've just motored into a cove and someone else is already working the bank, I'll give way to them and let them fish it.  Yes, I know that not everyone knows this, but we should all try to be considerate of one another so that we continue to have the privilege of using public waters.

Fisher

[Fisher of Men]

Let me add to the above:

This is why I like to fish out of the jon boat on private/semi-private watershed lakes.  No traffic and less fishing pressure.  As far as jet skiers and ski boats, yes they make me mad, too.  They have the whole lake to operate in and they'll pick the area right around your fishing spot.  Hopefully, law enforcement will crack down on those "50 feet" violators and this will get better.

[GobbleDog]

We've got way too many people moving into Florida every year. The lakes are becoming rediculously crowded compared to ten years ago.

The worst are jet skiers. These people have absolutely no business being on the water.  They annoy everyone on the lake with the sound of engines contanstly going from full throtle to idle every 2 seconds.  They quickly get bored of driving in empty parts of the lake and will drive towards other boaters in order to show you their cool new jet-ski. I keep a 1 oz spinner bait ready as a warning shot over the bow. These people are scum.

2nd worst are the "family boaters". They rarely ever get on the lake, but when they do they want to mindlessly drive around and stare at other boaters to see if they're doing it right.  Due to their lack of experience, these people don't know much about lake etiquete.  You will also see these morons at the boat ramp. While you're waiting an hour for them to load or unload their boats, you'll notice these people tend to have confused looks on their faces. That's because they're idiots.

Then you have regular ski boats. These people tend to have a little more experience from being on the lake so often, but the boat is often full of drunken teenagers who have little or no respect for anything. These people are never bothered by the presence of bass boats. Of course, if you're lucky enough to have them ski by your boat, you can gaurantee that the skier will fall right next to where you are fishing.  It never fails.

Finally, you have the inconsiderate fisherman. These guys are usually found diving their brand new $30K bass boats, even though 90% of them don't know a thing about bass fishing. These guys will often pull up along side your boat, making casts the whole way and ask "so, how's the fishing?". Many fishing clubs have been forced to create the 50' distance rules despite the fact that common courtesy should be sufficient. Unfortunately, it isn't.

I'd also like to mention those wonderful human beings who enjoy hanging out at boat ramps as if it's a family park. Despite their obvious wealth, these people do not own a boat, but they do own about 10 dirt faced kids who can always be found swimming throughout the boat ramp. These people tend to have have a strong grasp of the English language and you will instantly recognize them as the upper class of society when you see their extrodinary appearence and hygene.

[Skeeter6598]

LOL! I can really feel the love between Gobbledog and the tourist! LOL!

I know what you mean!

[chad km5qf]

you forgot a few more classes of inconsiderate boaters.

The cigarette boats ten times too big for our river leaving three foot wakes passing by you too fast getting a chuckle at  you bobbing up and down in yer lil boat

or

IMO the worst of the worst. Drunks partying on other peoples houseboats using the bayous as garbage cans. Bottles, cans, paper trash, fast food wrapers, you name it.  One yesterday threw a longneck bottle in the water right in front of me and was a trashbag tied to the railing on the houseboat two feet from where the jerk was standing. Those of us that own waterfront property just love cleaning up the messes of these people.

and another thing,,,,

please, im asking please,

dont just cut trotlines when yer crankbaits find them.  that line cost a whole lot more than the crankbait.  found one cut clean with a knife just this morning and i had it 15 feet down.

whew.....

ok, enough.

[bassin4life]

Yeah yall see what i mean.....

[Rattlinrogue]

I've been fishing out a point about 20 yards off shore and had a bass boat fishing down the bank come right between me and my target that I'm fishing .They never looked up ,said sorry ,hello , or ---- you.I was on some good fish at the time,and they just quit.

[bassin4life]

I mean if I saw sum 1 fishing in "one of my spot" I like to fish its cool cause they were there before me but if I was there first back off....you know what i'm sayin....

And yeah I may not catch crap when im there but at least wait to fish on that spot til I leave...respect is what its all about.

[Hot n Tot]

I am an avid bass fisherman, but I enjoy all types of fishing; trotlining, jug fishing, even grabbling.  I cannot stand when fisherman are inconsiderate.  Where I live you always here the local talk about the actions of out of towners, when the locals are usually the ones who can be inconsiderate and rude.  I was fishing for bass in a slough off of the main lake in a two man boat.  Some guys came into the slough from the main lake.  The were in a large aluminum boat with a 50 horse engine.  They preceded to run around me in my two man boat at full throttle.  The weren't ten yards from me when they passed by.  When they came back they told me I didn't need to fish there because they had a trotline out in that spot.  I told the guy that I was on public water and would fish anywhere I chose.  They ran their line which was about 50 yards from where I was at.  They preceded to run by me again at full throttle when they left.  I later found out that the guys were local from a neighboring town, and had harassed other people in the past.  I am always considerate and respectful of others expecially while hunting and fishing.  It is sad that guys like these give sportsman a bad name.

[bassin4life]

ain't that the truth....