Worst Fishing Etiquette You've Encountered?

[BankBassing]

I decided to head up to the dam at New Martinsville, WV today.  There are a few cement platforms that extend out into the water that you can fish off of.  Between two of them is a nice little current break, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I tried a few things and didn't have any luck, so just on a whim I thought I'd rig up a float and fly.  I toss it out just where the break is, and let it float while I work a crankbait along the shallow water and rocks.  Suddenly I see my spinning rod jump, so I grab it and look out at the bobber.... it's gone.  Right as I get ready to set the hook, I realize it's gone because Captain Comb-over on the adjacent pier has cast over my line, reeled in my bobber, and now is holding it trying to get untangled.  No biggie, but here's the best part:  Rather than untangle it and toss it in the water so I can reel it in, he spools my line, bobber, and fly around his hand as he walks around on the bank to bring it to me.  Of course, the slack line gets tangled in the rocks, so he just walks a little ways up and starts spooling it from the spot of the snag around the slack on both ends..  By the time he gets to me, he has a big knotted ball of Trilene with my lure and bobber somewhere in the middle.  It's a wreck.  I untangle what I can, and the rest is so bad I cut it off and stick it in my pocket to throw away when I get back home.  Did I mention I just respooled this reel with new line last night?  Not cool, man.  Not cool. 

What is your worst experience with another angler?

[visagelaid]

Not with an angler but...I was fishing a tournament on Wilson Lake about 2 weeks ago.  We were fishing the bank off a channel, so you expect boats to speed by.  However, this one clown passes by us full trim doing about 60mph by about 25ft.  I understand boat traffic since we were just off channel, but really guy?  You couldn't give us 50ft?  Come on man....

[Turkey sandwich]

I have similar stories with jet skis.  I hate jet skis. 

[Ratherbfishing]

27 minutes ago, BankBassing said:

I decided to head up to the dam at New Martinsville, WV today.  There are a few cement platforms that extend out into the water that you can fish off of.  Between two of them is a nice little current break, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I tried a few things and didn't have any luck, so just on a whim I thought I'd rig up a float and fly.  I toss it out just where the break is, and let it float while I work a crankbait along the shallow water and rocks.  Suddenly I see my spinning rod jump, so I grab it and look out at the bobber.... it's gone.  Right as I get ready to set the hook, I realize it's gone because Captain Comb-over on the adjacent pier has cast over my line, reeled in my bobber, and now is holding it trying to get untangled.  No biggie, but here's the best part:  Rather than untangle it and toss it in the water so I can reel it in, he spools my line, bobber, and fly around his hand as he walks around on the bank to bring it to me.  Of course, the slack line gets tangled in the rocks, so he just walks a little ways up and starts spooling it from the spot of the snag around the slack on both ends..  By the time he gets to me, he has a big knotted ball of Trilene with my lure and bobber somewhere in the middle.  It's a wreck.  I untangle what I can, and the rest is so bad I cut it off and stick it in my pocket to throw away when I get back home.  Did I mention I just respooled this reel with new line last night?  Not cool, man.  Not cool. 

What is your worst experience with another angler?

You exercised great restraint!  I haven't ever gotten physical with people but I believe he'd lean what I thought of his behavior on that deal.

I haven't had many major violations from fishermen (mostly from jet skiers and power boaters) but the one thing that stands out in my mind is people that cut me off and begin fishing a section of water I am clearly moving towards.  I'm not talking 500 yards.  I'm taking talking 25 yards.

[Gundog]

Jet skis drive me nuts. I've had them doing circles around my boat. These are people who don't own boats and don't think about courtesy for others. I call them weekend warriors with a death wish. I've had them run between me and the shoreline in maybe a few feet of water. Makes me wonder why more idiots aren't seriously hurt on them.

[fishballer06]

Last June, fishing a giant bay in Canada. This bay is probably a mile wide and two miles long. We had been fishing it for probably two hours and hadn't seen a boat the entire time. The bass were surfacing and eating dragonflies and we were killing them on topwater. Out of no where, this guy comes buzzing in, shuts it down, and parks his boat about 50 feet away from us and starts flinging giant musky plugs. 

We literally couldn't even cast because he was so close and he was throwing his lures out and we weren't going to tangle our lines up with him. We asked him where he was from and he told us, and then we asked if he ever learned about respect? He ignored us and kept fishing. So we proceeded to just throw our topwater lures directly at his boat for the next 30 minutes until it got dark out. 

He never said a word the entire time...

[lo n slo]

clueless boaters in general. skiers and "water sport" daddy's seem to be the most ignorant. 

 

lol

[Zeeter]

Tournament fishing as a rider when the boat owner front ends you. 

I always put the rider in a good position to fish so that he's not always fishing the bank where I just fished. Can't always help it but I'll go out of way to keep them on fresh water. Wish I could say the same of others. 

[geo g]

Its just very hard to fix STUPID!!!!!!!

[Darren.]

Oh man. So my buddy and I were kayak fishing a 
local dock...young buck and a grandpa dude came
in after us in a boat. Must've badly wanted to fish 
our area and must've been mad we were there first.

So they decided to fish near us, closer and closer 
to the point of coming between us. I caught a lovely
3 lb bass right where they were fishing previously...LOL

That was the only "talking" I did - catching the bass.
Nothing was said between us, but my buddy and I 
could not believe these guys and their attitude. We'd 
never encountered jerks like this before.

Anyhow, I moved to a new spot, a vacant spot on the 
other side of the docks. They followed me and started
casting at me, and around my kayak. I looked at them
several times, glaring, because they were casting right
off my kayak. I asked them if they knew of fishing courtesy
and boating etiquette, said I was there first. Kid mumbled
something and I ended up leaving in disgust.

Made plenty of noise going out. "Grandpa" made no
effort to fix the young dipstick's behavior, either.

[buzzed bait]

31 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

but the one thing that stands out in my mind is people that cut me off and begin fishing a section of water I am clearly moving towards.  I'm not talking 500 yards.  I'm taking talking 25 yards.

exactly this.  i fish from a kayak so it's not like i can just pick up and make a run to the next spot all that easily....  i'll give the people a "pass" that look like they just don't know better, but most of them know exactly what they're doing....

[Turtle135]

Worst I can remember is a bass boat deciding he needed to pass between my kayak and the shoreline on a shallow point. He did not stop to fish around the point so he was clearly heading someplace else (and the mile of wide open water behind me could not entice him to take that route).

OP: What was the attitude of the guy who was spooling your line? Was he intentionally screwing with you or was he not quite all there? You have to give "crazy or odd" a pass sometimes cause they don't mean it.

[Bass Turd]

I was fishing a power plant lake for freshwater Redfish where boats tie up to the wall over the intake. Long row of boats of all sizes with people all fishing the same direction. A family was a few boats down from us on their pontoon boat. The dad's beer can in a koozie blew into the water. A ten year old girl grabbed a net and fished it out of the water, took the can out of the koozie and promptly threw the can back into the water. I think my mouth hung open while we waited for it to float down our way. We fished it out and took it home to recycle. Children learn from their parents. 

[davecon]

I'm in Florida and SOME of the winter visitors are unbelievable.

Not sure if it's because they are just so excited to be here, if that's the way they behave at home, or what.

Happens at the ramp and on the water. Just hard to fathom that people behave that way.

Oddly enough most of the ones that are rude are from 2 particular states (that I won't mention here).

I could write a book about the things I've seen these folks do and Steven King could turn it into a horror movie or Mel Brooks could turn it into a satirical comedy.

[N Florida Mike]

I've got a lot of stories for this thread!

Strangely enough,most are in saltwater.

1 involves surf fishing.Once a few years ago,we got on the beach right as the sun came up.It was my son and me,and a friend.Had the whole beach to ourselves.We immediately caught a couple whiting.Suddenly I hear voices and 3 surfers come over the dunes.And immediately plunged in right where we were fishing.One in front of each of us.I swear it was like we didn't exist to them or they were trying to tick us off.The fish immediately quit biting.My surfer went into my line and it got hung somehow on his fin.He starts spooling all the line off the reel .I'm yelling and he either doesn't care or can't hear me.I didn't want to hook him,but didn't want to lose all my line either.I finally see the rig plop over his board and it miraculously doesn't hook him.He never acknowledged any attempts to get his attention or the near hooking.When he came up I told him to move up the beach.He did,but not his friends.We were about ready to throw down on them,but we just left.All we wanted was a peaceful day fishing not strife.But 20 years before things would have been very different!!!

 

[Torn Thumb]

36 minutes ago, davecon said:

I'm in Florida and SOME of the winter visitors are unbelievable.

Not sure if it's because they are just so excited to be here, if that's the way they behave at home, or what.

Happens at the ramp and on the water. Just hard to fathom that people behave that way.

Oddly enough most of the ones that are rude are from 2 particular states (that I won't mention here).

 

NYC, NY and Easternish MA? Leaf peeping snow birds.

[Preytorien]

I remember once going out with a guy to fish. We were in his boat, and I was his co-angler. He kept building up how he had some great spots to catch fish and had me drooling over the stories he told me of huge days on the water. I got there, loaded up, and we hit the water. We got to the first "hot spot" and I was floored. He ran the trolling motor so fast I couldn't hardly get any kind of cast off before I had to reel in like crazy to hit the next spot. I asked him politely what he was throwing, just so I could get a sense of how fast to fish and what to fish with, and he wouldn't tell me. I looked his way as he retrieved in and he had some kind of spinnerbait, but did all he could to hide it from me. I saw it was a simple white spinnerbait with colorado blades, and when I asked if that's what he was throwing, he said no - he was using a crankbait and that's why he was moving so fast. Seriously?

Ended up he caught about 15 fish, to my none. I never went back out with him. Every other guy I've co-angled with has been more than accommodating as to what they're throwing, and they pay attention to how fast they're driving the motor so that I can also effectively fish. This guy though, it's like he wanted to take me out and do everything in his power to make sure only HE caught fish.

[OCdockskipper]

I expect ignorance from others on the water who don't fish.  I have a kayaker on my lake who regularly paddles between me and my casting targets, he just doesn't care or does it to see if he can tick me off.  All I do is say "Feminine hygene product" in a normal voice after he passes, loud enough for him to hear but not loud enough to make it appear I am speaking to him.

My patience with fishermen who lack etiquette depends on their age and/or skill level.  I'll give kids and extreme newbies a pass and try to teach them not by yelling at them, but by setting a good example of giving other people room.  

The two worst situations from people who know better were both on Lake Mission Viejo while fishing with a buddy.  Folks there have no issue cutting you off multiple times as you moved down a bank.  When I say cutting you off, I mean pulling 10 yards in front of you to fish a particular spot as you approached it.  Then, after you change direction and go a different way, they do it again at another spot.  You have to wonder if it was karma that an algae bloom killed 90% of the bass in their lake.  Sorry for the fish but it couldn't have happened to a more deserving crowd. 

[Rick Howard]

Pops and I were fishing down a bank.  We came around a corner and another was fishing the bank opposite side of the river.  The fella cut across the river and proceeded to cut us off.  I laughed, no big deal.  I cut across the river and we started to fish that side.  The fella then cut across the river and cut us off again.  I was aggravated a little but just went back to the side we were originally were fishing.  The funny part is, he fired it up and stormed off upset about the ordeal.  I'm still scratching my head on that one.

 

[Ratherbfishing]

10 minutes ago, Rick Howard said:

Pops and I were fishing down a bank.  We came around a corner and another was fishing the bank opposite side of the river.  The fella cut across the river and proceeded to cut us off.  I laughed, no big deal.  I cut across the river and we started to fish that side.  The fella then cut across the river and cut us off again.  I was aggravated a little but just went back to the side we were originally were fishing.  The funny part is, he fired it up and stormed off upset about the ordeal.  I'm still scratching my head on that one.

 

You hurt his feelings.

[BankBassing]

1 hour ago, Turtle135 said:

Worst I can remember is a bass boat deciding he needed to pass between my kayak and the shoreline on a shallow point. He did not stop to fish around the point so he was clearly heading someplace else (and the mile of wide open water behind me could not entice him to take that route).

OP: What was the attitude of the guy who was spooling your line? Was he intentionally screwing with you or was he not quite all there? You have to give "crazy or odd" a pass sometimes cause they don't mean it.

Definitely just being thoughtless.  He wasn't intentionally messing with me.  Just a lot of poor judgment.

[GORDO]

Oh man my blood is boiling just thinking about what Im about to type!

I was camping with 3 friends on the Snake River here in Washington LAST SUMMER. We have 2 poles each set out for catfish. The spot is well known for big cats and nice smallies so we make trips there often. Anyways, Im sitting there enjoying the sun for the 2nd day when I see a boat coming towards us fishing the bank. Its cool, plenty of room to fish the smallies. Here is where the story turns. They see us, back off the bank where are are literally sitting, and PROCEED TO ANCHOR ON TOP OF OUR LINES!!! As you could imagine, we were not happy.

I yelled and said "hey, cant you see we are fishing here!? Go somewhere else!" I was met with a response of "and..." For some reason, that response rubbed me the wrong way. I yelled again "you have a boat and 500 miles of river, were camping here, get the hell out of here" The 2 men and 1 woman turned their head and proceeded to cast over out lines. This was my tipping point, as it was 2 in the afternoon the catfish bite had slowed down regardless and we figured "if were not catching anything, neither are they" I picked up baseball size rocks and proceeded to throw them where they were casting/where our lines are (not at their boat thats too far). After 20 rocks the guy turns and throws his hand up like IM in the wrong. I yelled again to GTFO this time he listened and pulled up his anchor and took off. I COULDNT MAKE THIS UP, 2 WEEKS AGO  THE SAME 3 PEOPLE DID THE SAME EXACT THING IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The same scenario above unfolded AGAIN but this time I was IRATE and demanded the guys come fight us while I was throwing rocks(not at their boat thats just too far) and cursing at them. This is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced while fishing. 

[GORDO]

and by "too far" I mean I could easily hit their boat but thats just uncalled for!

 

 

[Turkey sandwich]

I'm not going to say it's right to tie on a 1 1/2 oz bell sinker and throw it at people on jet skis burning through the area you're fishing, but I'm not going to say I've never done it.  The thing is, I respect pleasure boaters but I've had friends get hit by jet skis and days ruined by idiots not having any decency on the water.  It's really not that hard to not be a jerk. 

36 minutes ago, GORDO said:

Oh man my blood is boiling just thinking about what Im about to type!

I was camping with 3 friends on the Snake River here in Washington LAST SUMMER. We have 2 poles each set out for catfish. The spot is well known for big cats and nice smallies so we make trips there often. Anyways, Im sitting there enjoying the sun for the 2nd day when I see a boat coming towards us fishing the bank. Its cool, plenty of room to fish the smallies. Here is where the story turns. They see us, back off the bank where are are literally sitting, and PROCEED TO ANCHOR ON TOP OF OUR LINES!!! As you could imagine, we were not happy.

I yelled and said "hey, cant you see we are fishing here!? Go somewhere else!" I was met with a response of "and..." For some reason, that response rubbed me the wrong way. I yelled again "you have a boat and 500 miles of river, were camping here, get the hell out of here" The 2 men and 1 woman turned their head and proceeded to cast over out lines. This was my tipping point, as it was 2 in the afternoon the catfish bite had slowed down regardless and we figured "if were not catching anything, neither are they" I picked up baseball size rocks and proceeded to throw them where they were casting/where our lines are (not at their boat thats too far). After 20 rocks the guy turns and throws his hand up like IM in the wrong. I yelled again to GTFO this time he listened and pulled up his anchor and took off. I COULDNT MAKE THIS UP, 2 WEEKS AGO  THE SAME 3 PEOPLE DID THE SAME EXACT THING IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The same scenario above unfolded AGAIN but this time I was IRATE and demanded the guys come fight us while I was throwing rocks(not at their boat thats just too far) and cursing at them. This is by far the worst thing I have ever experienced while fishing. 

Man, I thought I was bad for yelling and casting at jet skis, lol. 

 

The thing that kills me is that most people are cool so long as you're pleasant, don't cast on literally on top of them, and just fish your way around them, especially on a river.   I'll typically stop and talk to catfish guys anchored up and they're always cool showing off their catch and sharing info.  People parking on top of your lines totally ruins that.  

[davecon]

Torn Thumb,

I was surprised that New Yorkers and the guys from Mass. were not the worst offenders. Don't see that many from Mass. and the New Yorkers       are not as bad as I thought.

It's those 2 other states that will remain nameless that are by far and away the worst.

Now when it comes to going to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game I have never seen such behavior from adults as I do from Red Sox fans !

Yankee fans root and cheer for their team and I get that. They are respectful and courteous of the home town fans. The Red Sox fans are a whole different story. Got to where I won't even go to the games when the Sox are here as I am afraid I will do something I will later regret. I guess I have mellowed with age.