How Close Is Too Close?

[Brian Needham]

If I cause a dent or you hear the splash of mine 3/4oz jig then you are too close.

 

I nod or speak to everyone, but I also give everyone a wide berth, even bank or dock fishermen.

 

that said, seadoos and wake boats get the 6xd....

[retiredbosn]

I remember a similar thread a couple years ago, except the one doing the encroaching wasn't very accurate. Bait lands on deck, member waits till he hears the clutch disengage and deftly rips said rod and reel from the offending encroacher. Said he kept the combo!

If the other boat has kids onboard, I have given baits away especially if the grown up looks particularly exhausted and the kids haven't caught anything.

[jhoffman]

Im the type of guy, if youre on the bank and I wanna fish where you are I wont. I will either come back or find it somewhere else. I really only get bent when someone blatantly cuts me off. Ive had guys come roaring into points as I am landing a bass then just get right in the line I was following. Sometimes not even that bothers me but if I can tell I am getting the bent pole pattern I am out... Ill come back later. Half the time they dont know why I am where I am and the reason behind it.

 

Couple years ago I was tankn em under a bridge, but that spot where I was smokin em was good because the main channel smashes right into a riprap point about 5pm where the shade from the bridge also hits the water. Its basically three features coming together at once. Guys on the bank asking me what I was using, guys in boats trying to fish the same point on the opposite side. It was worth a laugh.

[Chris186]

I was fishing a tourney one time, and someone beat me to the spot I wanted. It was a rock pile that came out of the water about 100 yds off of an island. So I decided to fish the island, and I started catching fish. Well this guy sees me, starts to drift towards me. Now, I haven't moved any more than 10 ft, when I look and he is about 40 yds away and starts yelling at me to give him some room. Really?! Hey buddy, I haven't moved. You came towards me. Ever since that day I had a few more run ins with the guy on the water.

So I quit that club the next year, and tried to go back and fish with them a few years later. Now most of the guys in that club are nice guys, but not this jerk. He made a huge stink about me wanting to fish again, so the club banned me.

[Sam]

Within casting distance is too close.

[livetofish28]

A carolina rig with a 1.5 oz weight makes a good warning beacon 

 

tight lines 

  Andrew

[flippin and pitchin]

This is too close

 

Look at that idiot on his cell phone in direct line with the other guy's back cast. That's just too close.

[mnbassman23]

I'm the type of guy who won't go within 100 yards of another boat and I never fish around dock/shore bound individuals. There is a whole lake no point in crowding people. That said if I can cast to your boat your to close. The worse is when someone comes roaring up full throttle 20-50 yards in front of my boat and anchors up. Usually it's walleye guys plopping their arse on the best spot.

[moguy1973]

Look at that idiot on his cell phone in direct line with the other guy's back cast. That's just too close.

 

Typical March 1st at Missouri trout parks...

[Fish Murderer 71]

I hate it when big boats come ripping past me within 50 yards, but the a=holes are everywhere and very few of those have enough respect for themselves let alone other people.  I make it a point to give enough space and slow enough to not disturb someone while they fish. Hole jumping is rude and I'll say something to anyone who encroaches my space. 

[RoLo]

There's really no fixed courtesy distance between boats, where each confrontation has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, in saltwater inlets with a strong tidal current, boats of all sizes routinely sift & surge within a few yards of one another, 

where a hot-head is likely to end up on the jetty rocks. 

 

In freshwater, a boat fishing in a boat-trail can be expected to be approached very closely by other boats, whose only other choice

is to blaze a trail through 6-foot tall bulrushes. For that matter, I've often been approached by a lonely angler who just wanted someone

to talk to. I have a short fuse for inconsideration, but I usually try to rationalize first, because two wrongs don't make a right.  

 

Roger

[basshole8190]

If at any point around the two boats our casting radiuses intersect. that's too close. happened to me last weekend. took my son out for a boat trip last weekend since the weather was so pretty. we pull up to a spot in a cove where I've caught bluegill before. i bait his pole and let him cast. after a few seconds the bobber goes under hard. he reels in a scrappy lil spot. well about the time i take it off the hook i hear a splash. look out and a yellow skeeter is casting into my hole. he sets the hook on a spot also. he sees my son on the deck with me then tries to justify his action by stating they haven't caught anything all day and they're in a tournament. luckily my son was with me so instead of cussing him and calling him everything but a thin white woman, i politely picked up my swimbait rod and threw my triple trout across his line. i snag it and reel it to my boat. i apologize for this and inform him that if he hadn't crowded my spot it could have been avoided. i then threw his spinnerbait back in the water for him to reel back in. he mumbles something to his co anglerand they crank up and leave. maybe if it was just me i wouldve just left but i felt like he was stealing fish from my son. usually Im very friendly even to pleasure boaters and invite conversation from other anglers most of the time and am always mindful of others space. i guess i can't expect everyone to uphold my same etiquette.

[boostr]

If I can smell your breath, your to close  Don't have a boat... just want to be involved.

[AQUA VELVA]

I dont seem to have much trouble with other fishermen, it's mostly people on PWC's that get between me and the shoreline Im working. If you yell at them, they always give you that stupid,''Whats your problem?'' look.

[fishinthedacks]

I don't like to even fish in peoples sight. I was fishing a spillway with two friends a real hot spot from the shore. One of us was jigging the shallow rocks, another a floater in the middle level and I was fishing deep. He came to the other side of the spillway and he tossed out over my crank bait with his immediate snag. He goes o man my mistake loosen up your line I'll untangle it. So no problem figured he learned his lesson and would toss more into the lake there was plenty of room. Nope. Next time he snagged my body fishing middle same issue a snag. Then he decided he'd change up and go to a shallow crank bank and cast over my buddies line (5 casts three snags on our lines) so my buddy goes no worries loosen your line I'll untangle us this time. Reeled over his bait snipped his lure off the line and said you can either cast out in the deep and I'll give your lure back after we are done or you can come over now and get it and leave. He chose to cast deeper and then he came to get his lure from us after he got a lecture.

I thought even though I would have given his lure back immediately that we gave him enough chances he's lucky to get his lure back at all. A lot of people are hot headed around here and I know a ton of guys who would have added that lure to their tackle box.

but as a general rule you should be at least 75-100ft away in a boat imo. If you see me pulling out a fish every cast and its a wide enough area feel free to come share the wealth but don't keep crossing my lines.

[Bluebasser86]

This is too close

 

Yay Bennett Springs! Hate that place.

 

 

If I can cast and hit your boat, you're too close, unless we're just crossing paths. 

[jdw174]

This is too close

 

 

Looks like either the opening day of trout or the steelhead run in a Lake Erie tributary.

[BuckMaxx]

Haha Bennett Springs opening say. I fell for that once. A jig and their boat usually gets the point across.

[FrogFreak]

I had a guy pull up within 20 feet of my boat and ask if he could fish there. Well, I was working this area at the mouth of a feeder creek that was only about 80 yards wide but I said sure since I thought he was going to give me some room and we could both work the deeper area where all the fish were hanging out. He proceeds to anchor right over the hole and throws out the ole bobber. And then he starts chatting up a storm as he pulls in fish after fish (mostly panfish and one big LMB). I just looked at my buddy and we took off after he was talked out. To me that's pretty rude but some people just don't know any better. Next time he asks I'll say no for sure. I mean we're in Minnesota and this lake had 2 boats on it at the time, his and mine. Kinda silly if ya ask me.

 

Worst part is that my partner had one day to fish and was up from Illinois. He was up on business and hadn't brought his boat so I invited him out on mine. 

[Teal]

If one comes too close, I normally ask myself. Is this spot productive and do they look like they know better..If not, ill crank up the Johnson 200 and let it run for about 10 seconds, then ill rooster tail away.

Most of the time...when people creep up on me, its newer fisherman, only sometimes it is a knowledgable fisjerman.

[Teal]

I had a guy pull up within 20 feet of my boat and ask if he could fish there. Well, I was working this area at the mouth of a feeder creek that was only about 80 yards wide but I said sure since I thought he was going to give me some room and we could both work the deeper area where all the fish were hanging out. He proceeds to anchor right over the hole and throws out the ole bobber. And then he starts chatting up a storm as he pulls in fish after fish (mostly panfish and one big LMB). I just looked at my buddy and we took off after he was talked out. To me that's pretty rude but some people just don't know any better. Next time he asks I'll say no for sure. I mean we're in Minnesota and this lake had 2 boats on it at the time, his and mine. Kinda silly if ya ask me.

Worst part is that my partner had one day to fish and was up from Illinois. He was up on business and hadn't brought his boat so I invited him out on mine.

If a guy is bold enough to ask me to fish a spot that I was fishing, I would let him. ....and I would leave. That kind of boldness is pretty scarce these days. I respect that the man asked you.

[FrogFreak]

If a guy is bold enough to ask me to fish a spot that I was fishing, I would let him. ....and I would leave. That kind of boldness is pretty scarce these days. I respect that the man asked you.

 

I should have been bold enough to tell him no.