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Boating Etiquette
Hey guys, I’m somewhat new to the world of fishing waters in my boat with other boats around so please set me straight. This weekend went out on Priest. Motor down to a spot I like to fish. On my way I passed a boat fishing in the same direction, but they were easily 1/4 mile from where I was going. So I go set up to fish. They fish slowly in my direction, and when they get close I figure they’ll loop around me and just keep going, but no, they troll right through what is easily my casting area. Then just squeeze between me and the bank and continue on. In my opinion, pretty rude, but did I somehow “cut them off”? Is there some unwritten rule I don’t know about?
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6 Replies
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Same thing happened to me on Sunday afternoon, and I’m no newbie. My partner and I started fishing a drop in Stewart’s Creek with no one else around. 1/2 way down the bank, two young guys come in and start fishing the grass, coming toward us, on the bank. I figure they will go around us, but nope…they go between us and the bank. I started to let that 3/4 oz jig fly into the boat. Common sense is a thing of the past now.
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Yeah, there is a lot of that going on. My buddy and I were fishing and these two guys saw we were there and they just cut in front of our line and fished where we were going. I did not say anything but maybe I should have. I am 44 and know better because my dad taught me the sad thing is they were about my age too.. That is just the way of the world today I guess. I will not do it but others will I guess.
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OK, I’m glad to hear I’m not in the wrong here. I always make an effort to go wide around people if I need to pass them and then even give them a little extra room if I’m going to be fishing the same bank in the same direction. Oh well, I guess I could have said something, but in the end it probably wouldn’t do any good. Some people are just idiots and think they are entitled to everyhting.
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I’m a crappie fisherman and usually troll with a width of up to 34 feet, on KY lake and Weiss lake when the bite is on there may be 10 to 20 boats in a large creek, we all fall in line or offset some to fish a little different line to pick up more fish. No one goes the opposite direction, or runs over the guy in front, we all play good together, that’s crappie fishermen. The only complaint I have with the skiers and jet skies is all the waves they make, but for the most part they give me my space and I can’t really recall while fishing either getting right on top of me or spraying me with water. Bass fishermen (not all) on the other hand are just plain rude, I’ve been sprayed twice, had them go by at full throttle right at 20 – 30 feet from me with a couple hundred feet of room to use. Had one troll through my lines behind the boat. He came in quick dropped the trolling motor and ran behind my boat into the lines ( I was trolling jigs about 8 feet down maybe thirty feet behind the boat, he never apologized, instead cussed like it was my fault as he was undoing his prop to get the line off, I guess I should have jumped up waved my arms to warn him to stay 30 feet off the back of my boat rather than the ten to twenty feet he ran. It seems the bad apples are the late twenties through thirty’s bunch, just my observation. That all said I have had good “how you doing” conversations while going around them or them going around me that were respectful of my space and theirs. Guess that’s why I prefer fishing the weekdays when I can.
Have a great day,
Ray -
The boating etiquette, or lack thereof, this year has been extremely disappointing. I’m a bass fisherman through and through but I see your point about them. At times, they definitely strike me as entitled or elitist but from my experience, jet skiers are the most clueless. On multiple occasions a pack of jet skis have ran in-between me and the bank I was fishing and in one of those instances, they proceeded to do an entire circle around me all while within casting distance from my boat…
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It’s been a crazy year for me too. I just about hate fishing on the weekends after 11am. As for fishing around other fishermen I usually try to stay 50 yards away from someone that is locked in a spot. I go around most people that are fishing down the same bank I am unless they make the first move. If someone cuts in front of me down a bank I usually let it go (grumble for a few minutes) and move on. There are too many crazy people out there and it takes my focus off fishing if I don’t. Pretty much its the Golden Rule for me…..treat people as you would want to he treated.
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