Rude Fishermen Rant

[Basswhippa]

In my younger days I hooked a guy on a jet ski with a Rat-l-trap. I am pretty lucky I didn't get an aggravated assault charge for it. I have a lot less tick and vinegar these days and just ignore them or leave.

I will bet he thought twice kicking a wake on another fisherman again. Ouch, that had to hurt.

The problem here is that there is no universal definition of "rude". I try to stay away from others and appreciate it when they do same. That said, if Ithere was a major conflict, I'm not sure that there would be any law that could be enforced. It's a bad situation. The best thing to do is to use the golden rule and explain fishing distance ethics to others.

[Goose21]

When I run into idiots on public waters, I pack up and move on. I've confronted folks in certain situations in the past, but in my experience it only creates more headache when I tell Johnny bestfishermanever he's in the wrong. I do understand folks confronting people though, making them aware of "fishing etiquette" on the water so hopefully they'll have a little more decensy in the future.

How about the post from Sam talking about the tournament angler who would have his dad race ahead to the best spots and carry a shotgun out on the deck of his boat for everyone to see.

[shimmy]

Had this one last month. I could have hit these morons with my paddle. They should be shot and put down.

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[gramps50]

This happened about 40 years ago, there were some of us fishing on the Gasconade about a half mile or so from where it empties in to the Missouri. An other guy and I were fishing from his jon boat and the other 2 guys were in the one guys jet boat with a 454 cu in v8. Now mind you were were back in a little cove so there was plenty of river for the speed boats to play in. This one bunch kept coming up river and would turn and see how close they could get to us. John the guy I was with was a cop and wanted to shoot a hole in their boat. I told him to wait as I could see that Bill the jet boat owner was getting real peeved.

They came around again and this time when they passed we heard the 454 fire up, this boat would run in excess of 60 mph, Bill pulls out and heads down river after them. In no time he catches them and passes them pulling over in front of them. He then reaches up and pulls the reverse gate at pretty much full throttle, which created this huge wave that swamped their boat. It didn't sink it but I don't think the ride was much fun. Needless to say we didn't have any more issues with them the rest of the day. Nor did anyone else come over to where we were fishing trying to cause trouble.

[scrutch]

I will be marketing a new invention this spring. A portable torpedo system that can be fitted to anything from a yak to a bass boat. Any interest?

[tugsandpulls]

i shore fish and have bucket fishermen try to move too close to me after i catch a nice fish so when that happens i suddenley forget how to cast and cast right in front of them or cross there line hahah

[SAC2]

i find a lot of the time the guy who cuts you off or moves in on you and jacks your spot or scopes what your using doesnt have the skill to catch fish anyways. I have had times when im trout fishing ill have guys literally walk in the middle of the stream in front of where i am fishing, and then get ticked when i catch a fish and it jumps right behind them when i am fighting it. ive had guys walk 30 feet up stream of me and step i the current and contiune to drift his presetation dead in the middle of the stream, straight down i front of me. same guys has the tenacity to tell me that if i "snag" his line, he will reel it in, cut off my lure and throw it in the woods. i promptly responded to him saying "you know it is against the law to interfere with people legally fishing and hunting"................. not another word. i much rather take a plate number or registratio number, call it in, and let the CO take care of those clowns.

[NBR]

Many years ago a friend was cane pole crappie fishing with his son and daughter-in-law. A guy pulled right next to them. Daughter in law asked the guy to pull about 3' closer. She followed that with, "When you do I'll be able to hit you over the head with my cane pole". No the exact woords but as close as my memory allows.

[Nitrofreak]

I will be marketing a new invention this spring. A portable torpedo system that can be fitted to anything from a yak to a bass boat. Any interest?

I'll take two !!!

[Curved]

The great teacher once said,

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

So I say it is the right thing to let another fisherman borrow some space, and if it is necessary, to find a new place to fish. Quote is from Matthew 5:38.

[Bankbeater]

I was fishing from the bank about 5 years ago and landed a LM that went between 2-1/2 and 3. By the time I had the fish unhooked, weighed, and returned to the water some guy in a boat had pulled right in front of me. He was probably 20 feet out from the bank and straight out in front of me. The guy ended up getting weeds wrapped around his trolling motor because he wasn't looking where he was going. I laughed and walked away.

[MArnold]

I believe that CURVED has the right answer!!!!

[retiredbosn]

The great teacher once said,

So I say it is the right thing to let another fisherman borrow some space, and if it is necessary, to find a new place to fish. Quote is from Matthew 5:38.

Thank you...AWESOME

[Bobby Uhrig]

Well This has happened to me befor- I slowly put my rod down -turn my big engine towards the intruder-Lift my jack plate and moter up -start my big motor -stomp it and throw the biggest rooster tail all over them and say sorry.Im new to this sport how do you work this thing

[CountBassula]

I went out fishing on a canal this Sunday. about and hour or two later a family shows up with a jet ski, daddy, and his kid take turns and blow fulls speed withing 30 feet of me MANY times. some people are just inconsiderate a**holes.

another day i was fishing the same canal, a guy shows up, sees me pull fish from one spot, so he starts casting his bait right in front of me and almost over my lines...

oh well.

[PABASS]

Typically people will not just take your spot/crowd around here, with that said few months back an older gentleman saw me bring in a few and walked over to me, we chatted for a bit and he started casting on the opposite side of me 10” away. I used this opportunity to let him fish that other lure which was a hula grub, I wanted to see if the bass would hit it over my lure, they didn’t I had the pattern down and he didn’t. I gained information from him just as he used me to try to gain a bass, it worked out in about 20 min he was gone and I caught another bass lol.. Really most people tend to ask a few question and go on..

If I do encounter someone I ask a few question and also ask if they mind me fishing nearby but that’s only happened once this year since they were in a known hot spot.

[shimmy]

The great teacher once said,

So I say it is the right thing to let another fisherman borrow some space, and if it is necessary, to find a new place to fish. Quote is from Matthew 5:38.

you probably haven't had anyone pull up right next to you on your big fish spot before after you had traveled hundreds if not over a thousand miles to fish your favorite lake and spot. It will change a man.

[Dylcook91]

I was the offender a few weeks ago...or so the other fisherman thought hahaha.

I was fishing for stripers as they come back down the coast for winter. But the spot is very unlikely, it is about 7 miles inland from the ocean and another 3 miles down a stream connected to the inlet. It is in the middle of the woods and the stream itself is only about 30ft wide. There is only one 20ft strech that you can fish from as there is a space in the trees. The water is PACKED with monster(20-25lbers) stripers and no one even knows it. I could put my hand in and just grab one. So there I am looking totally out of place with saltwater gear and big heavy poppers. I was the only one there when a guy walks up in full fly fisherman gear(vest, waders). I wave to him but get no love back so I figure he didn't see me. I continue to fish for about 15 minutes and then decide it was time to leave, so I walk over to him and say "how's it going"...before I could warn him of the stripers, and tell him he was gonna have a hard time landing trout before they became food, he looks at me with hate and walks away without saying a word because I ruined his fishing hahaha. Of course my luck being that I couldn't get a huge striper to smash the popper when he was standing there. Though it was happening every cast before he walked up...so if you ask me he ruined my fishing hahahaha

I have seen guys reeling in trout when a huge striper comes outta no where and eats it. I try explaining to them that the stripers are in there and all I get is.."no your wrong, its to far inland. "It must of been a huge smallmouth"-which don't even exist in these waters. The spot itself is where they stock the stream every year with thousands of trout. The stripers figured this out and just wait for easy pickings....its a frenzy.

[merc1997]

here on table rock we too have problems with people pulling right in on you while fishing a spot. but, the real curse is the big cruisers running by withing casting distance and swamping you. i finally lost my temper this summer when the same boat came by the third time. i saw him coming in time to grab my spooning rod out of the locker. when he came by, i cut loose. knocked out on of his fancy windows. of course he stopped and started cussing and was going to call the water patrol. to which i responded, that i would be glad for him to call the water patrol to explain why he had came by our boat within casting distance for the third time. guess i just did not see you, just like you did not see us the other two times you came by. he started up and left, busted window and all. probably was not the right thing to do, but sometimes you just get enough.

bo

[South FLA]

Well This has happened to me befor- I slowly put my rod down -turn my big engine towards the intruder-Lift my jack plate and moter up -start my big motor -stomp it and throw the biggest rooster tail all over them and say sorry.Im new to this sport how do you work this thing

Too funny! Or you can just say I was getting the weeds out of the prop!

[RAMBLER]

Way back when, sometime in the '50's, my little brother and I were fising with an uncle (who has since passed away), who was the most mild mannered man you would ever want to meet. We had told him about a guy that had an airboat (never saw one before that) and he would harass us while we were trying to fish. Well, the guy came out from his place, up and across the river, and started buzzing us getting as close as he could without hitting us. My uncle opened his tackle box and pulled a revolver out, pointed it at the airbooater and followed him as he buzzed by. The guy parked his boat and never did bother us again.

I know my uncle would never have shot at the guy, but the fool didn't know that.

[Hooligan]

Oddly enough, it's happened to me more in tournaments more than any other situation. One time I was fishing an FLW event and had done quite well the first three days. I was fishing an area that relatively isolated, and there were no other boats within a mile of me. Day four had me in third place at the start, and running for the lead, as I hadn't exhausted the fish supply in the area. I felt really comfortable with where I was, and what I could do with it. Upon pulling in to the spot, I was barely trolling motor down, and had a fairly large named pro, whom will remain nameless here, pull 30 yards in front of me, drop the motor and started going to town. Literally. He pulled 19 pounds that day, moved up from 7th place to win, and I dropped to 9th as the two other spots that I had that were very similar just didn't have the fish.

I brought it to the attention of the tournament director, and he questioned the validity of the argument, and only after verifying both our GPS tracks did he see JUST how close he was to me, also, he saw that this was his first trip into the water that was there, whereas I'd been fishing it consistently, you could tell from the tracks alone.

The director said that it was suspicious, but as there was no other witness, the distance couldn't be verified from GPS alone. He did say that, unofficially, what the pro did was total and complete crap. It ended up costing me $10,000. Funny thing is, I've talked to the pro many times, he's never said word one about it. He acts like it never happened, just that we were fishing the same water. It shows the kind of guy he really is...

[shootermcbob]

I fish waters that are heavily pressured during spring, summer, and fall here in Ohio by both fishermen/women and pleasure boaters. I have had several "encounters" where others have "poached" MY waters...or at least so I thought.

I had the opportunity to fish with a friend on a lake near Columbus. There were people standing literally next to one another fishing...we walked over, my friend says hows the fishing, gets several replies, and then my friend says....mind if we cut in over here...nothing but welcome invitations. Really changed my perspective. Many folks, standing together fishing, having a great time. I caught three within about 10 minutes to which one guy loudly states...you only been here 10 minutes...obviously beginners luck...sounds corny but was very funny at the time.

During the summer months on my home lake...I have starting fishing from about midnight to whenever in the morning...almost no pressure, very peaceful...and downright eerie at times. Kinda exciting

[A-Jay]

During the summer months on my home lake...I have starting fishing from about midnight to whenever in the morning...almost no pressure, very peaceful...and downright eerie at times. Kinda exciting

Yup - My favorite way to fish- - for almost any species.

Night operations are often very effective and definitely add a extra level of excitement to the sport.

Certainly improved my overall abilities as well.

A-Jay

[unionman]

you probably haven't had anyone pull up right next to you on your big fish spot before after you had traveled hundreds if not over a thousand miles to fish your favorite lake and spot. It will change a man.

Thousands?? .....cmon man....