Nosy ramp guys

[Bassun]

Wow -- I have never had anyone step foot on my boat.  Maybe its a local thing, but, never had that issue.  It could end up bad if I'm fishing solo and come back with some jackhat digging through my boat -- as if I'm solo, I'm carrying.  That being said, I generally reply to the how ya did honestly, and go from there.  if they are polite and talkative, we will probably talk more about it... if they are rude, then they generally get the blandest of answers.

I am one of the guys who generally asks everyone "how they did" at the docks, or if they come close in their boat how they are doing.  But, I cannot remember ever asking what they caught em on unless we're really talking fish.  Now that being said, I will eyeball every rod I see and pay attention to where boats are when I'm running.  Hey, it's all part of building a pattern :-)

Now as for people (invited) on my boat, things change.  If it's on the boat, it's fair game for them to use.  Usually they say, "oh I don't want to lose your lure" etc.  Which gets the same canned response, "I bought the lure expecting to lose it, don't worry about it..."  I've literally caught fish, and handed over the rod as is to help put them on fish.  I have as much fun seeing other people catch fish as I do catching fish.  Now, that's not to say if I have an experienced angler on board there wont be some friendly competition, lol.

[NYWayfarer]

Going through someone else's belongings takes a lot of nerve. I can't imagine doing it.

I remember my Dad chewing me out because I was sitting on someone's car. He gave me a lecture about respecting other people's property that I still remember today. I have had the same talk with my son as well.

 

[Bassun]

41 minutes ago, Finesse Wayfarer said:

Going through someone else's belongings takes a lot of nerve. I can't imagine doing it.

I remember my Dad chewing me out because I was sitting on someone's car. He gave me a lecture about respecting other people's property that I still remember today. I have had the same talk with my son as well.

 

It's as if you would assume kid's today would get the same lesson... probably a rant for a different thread though...

 

[hunterPRO1]

ill ask people if they caught anything and thats about as far as i normally go.

if someone asked id gladly show them the stuff i use, however if someone just went through my stuff im going to have something to say about it.

[Spankey]

Can't really say that anyone has riffled through my stuff ever. Been doing this a long time. Not sure how I would react to that.

Don't know what you guys mean by guys who demand information. Demand info?? They are gonna make you tell them something? I wouldn't tell them s___.  Never heard of anything like that.

I never leave much on my deck. If rods are strapped down, my soft plastic rods I don't have baits on them. And the majority of the time my crankbaits rods will have those bait wrappers on them. That's not to be secretive but to avoid tangles. They work well at that.

I like the one posters idea to have a few of those .96 cent crankbaits and have a few old rubber worms and senkos that are broken/bitten off sun faded and petrified laying on the deck.

I use the term that I only caught dinks and runts. Down by the bridge. There are only 2 or 3 guys tops at the ramp that I talk serious fish to at most anyways. These guys I've know for years and we've helped each other out over the years. 

 

[Gundog]

1 hour ago, Spankey said:

 

Don't know what you guys mean by guys who demand information. Demand info?? They are gonna make you tell them something? I wouldn't tell them s___.  Never heard of anything like that.

Waterboarding. The water is right there. That's half the supplies you need. 

[IgotWood]

Where I come from, this is a good way to get your hands broken. I am a very non-confrontational man, but if this had been me, you can rest assured that this guy would never put his hands on a another man's fishing gears EVER again! 

Seriously though, this is my first season LMB fishing. I have fished my whole life, and I have never see so many disrespectful fishermen before. I'm not saying bass fishermen as a group are disrespectful, but it seems way more common here than where I spent my whole life fishing. I have also met some very courteous bass fishers. 

It is not ok to touch someone's gear, boat, rods, etc. It's not ok to even walk up to their boat and look inside. If a man tells you he caught some fish, it is not ok to ask where! Figure it out! 

Fishing etiquette is something that drives me absolutely bonkers! Sometimes we need to take a breath when things like this happen and educate a person, RESPECTFULLY, on etiquette and respect. I'm guilty, I usually ignore them and move on, but that's because I know I will blow my top trying to talk to people nicely about it. 

[Advantage]

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 3:53 AM, "hamma" said:

As my departed bass fishing buddy would answer to the never ending nosey guy when asked what we caught them on,.."Cod!"

That's what you tell em! Lol 

[WPCfishing]

I'm always talked to at the launch coming and going. People are very friendly. No one has ever touched my gear. They just ask questions and I answer them and make some small talk. They're dreamers.. I fuel their dream. 

[MassYak85]

Come to think of it the only time someone ever touched my gear without directly asking first was while ice fishing. We were already talking for a while before that and I was standing right next to him so I didn't start anything, he just seemed curious. I trust people aren't going to try anything stupid when I'm holding what's basically a spear (freshly sharpened ice chisel) in my hand while talking with them. 

[gim]

13 hours ago, IgotWood said:

It's not ok to even walk up to their boat and look inside.

Well that's not really realistic because that's like saying someone can't walk up to your yard and look at that or look at your car sitting in the parking lot.

[MassYak85]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

Well that's not really realistic because that's like saying someone can't walk up to your yard and look at that or look at your car sitting in the parking lot.

Yea I think that's unrealistic, especially when there is limited and crowded dock space at a ramp. I personally enjoy when people come up and want to talk about my kayak and the gear I brought. Obviously if they are looking into your stuff suspiciously, as in might be scouting your stuff for theft then that;s different.

[WCWV]

Yep, 

If it's a family outing, I'll help all I can. If it's someone being overbearing, I've not caught a thing 

[The Patriot]

I've walked past boats and stopped to check them out.  More of an admiring/d**n I wish I had this look, than a "lets see what they're using" look, but I believe plenty of people will look and most people wouldnt care.  Look with your eyes though.  Unless you're invited on the boat, or are having a conversation and ask permission, you have no business touching the boat or anything sitting on the decks.  And just because one guy throws something and may have caught fish, doesnt mean the next guy will.  Fishing conditions change and the tactics need to change as well.  I say this because even if I saw a guy coming off the water with a toad in his livewell, and saw that he was throwing a black buzzbait, I know that even though it worked for him, I still need to get out there and assess the conditions at the given moment I'm out there.  But I guess thats because Im not a shmuck who tries to rifle through peoples gear in an intrusive manner.  But I digress

[.ghoti.]

On 10/17/2016 at 3:29 PM, Bassun said:

It's as if you would assume kid's today would get the same lesson... probably a rant for a different thread though...

 

And there you have the root of the problem.

[Further North]

I get a lot of questions about my boat - there aren't a lot of them out there - and I'm happy to talk about it, even let folks take a close look...if they ask.

Do it without asking, and that's gonna result in a fanny chewing, probably some exploration of ancestry and personal habits, maybe even some suggestions for committing some improbable acts upon themselves...depending on the response to the initial pointed comment.

I'll happily share info at the dock, or out on the lake...particularly if it looks like folks are new to fishing or are struggling.  It hasn't been too long that I can't recall being there myself...and I enjoy helping people.

I've let people look at a rod & reel, shown them a bait and how I rig it...no problem.  It's part of the fun for me.

Arrogant, pushy people are another story...and they'll either get ignored...or they'll get some info that's close enough to sound like it'll work, but just wrong enough to keep them out of fish...it all depends on how I'm feeling that day.  Not long ago, I told one pushy guy in a Ranger that I'd caught all my fish on big streamers with a fly rod (there were two on my boat) when everything I'd caught that day had come on soft plastics fished low and slow...even offered to show him how I worked the purple baitfish fly I had rigged on one rod...

[clark9312]

When I'm at the ramp I always hate to ask what people were throwing. Instead I'll usually say something like "I caught a few cranking" and just see what they say. If they want to tell me what/how they did I'm all ears. If not that's fine too

[JustJames]

Does OP confirm that someone really went into his gears and lures? 

 

[soflabasser]

On 10/17/2016 at 10:43 AM, buzzed bait said:

"nightcrawlers" that'll get 98% of them to move on!

Nice technique to get the nosy ones to leave you alone. 

[shimmy]

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 10:28 PM, MassYak85 said:

I never really understood why people don't like telling others how they are doing on the water, with exception of tournaments. Most conversations I have with other fishermen usually start out with, "any luck?" and then we swap how we did that day, and if they are friendly we might share techniques. I just can't fathom the reason for lying about something as trivial as how many fish you caught or if you caught any big ones, it's funny because the stereotype of fisherman is that they brag and exaggerate....except apparently when it comes to other fishermen. 

A lot depends on the body of water. Some lakes i have fished are so tough that i dont mind giving people the exact spots and lures i am using since, statistically, they will be less likely to get a good one there their first time since it is such a tough lake. Then there are the lakes where the spot and lure is crucial. You tell anyone and your fishing will take a hit. I mainly fish lakes under 400 acres and you tell people too much, you will need to find another lake. A lot of guys fish LARGE bodies of water. There is much less harm in telling people at the dock what you were using. The thing is this, if you fish small bodies of water and you enjoy catching big fish, keep your yapper shut. If you like big fish but dont need them, then sing like a bird by all means.

[MassYak85]

2 hours ago, shimmy said:

A lot depends on the body of water. Some lakes i have fished are so tough that i dont mind giving people the exact spots and lures i am using since, statistically, they will be less likely to get a good one there their first time since it is such a tough lake. Then there are the lakes where the spot and lure is crucial. You tell anyone and your fishing will take a hit. I mainly fish lakes under 400 acres and you tell people too much, you will need to find another lake. A lot of guys fish LARGE bodies of water. There is much less harm in telling people at the dock what you were using. The thing is this, if you fish small bodies of water and you enjoy catching big fish, keep your yapper shut. If you like big fish but dont need them, then sing like a bird by all means.

I don't mean specific techniques or lures, those I will really only share if I get a good conversation going. I was more referring to the basic responses of "yea we did well, a few decent ones too" or "not that great" or "mostly small ones" when asked "how did you do"? Stuff that isn't going to tip off even the best guys to the pattern that was effective. For all they know you caught your fish in 50ft of water on a tiny little jig, and when they hear you did well they might have it in their mind to go powerfish docks. 

[hawgenvy]

On 10/14/2016 at 11:13 PM, HardCider said:

never mind.  had some guy rifle through my boat looking at my baits while getting truck.  no big deal.  just not cool

 

Did he walk around your boat eyeing the stuff left on deck, or did he actually touch items on your boat or open compartments? 

[JustJames]

So you share your report here but not at the lake because you think not many members gonna fish the same lake? Or you also lie here?

im just saying.

[shimmy]

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 10:28 PM, MassYak85 said:

9 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I don't mean specific techniques or lures, those I will really only share if I get a good conversation going. I was more referring to the basic responses of "yea we did well, a few decent ones too" or "not that great" or "mostly small ones" when asked "how did you do"? Stuff that isn't going to tip off even the best guys to the pattern that was effective. For all they know you caught your fish in 50ft of water on a tiny little jig, and when they hear you did well they might have it in their mind to go powerfish docks. 

here is the problem. I fished Monday and caught a 28 pound bag on a smaller lake here in Minnesota. At the ramp, if someone asks me how i did and i buffer it a bit and say "great" or "yeh caught some real good ones," then they now might ask,"how big?" Or if they are like any other angler will hear you saying you had a great day and will now put that lake on their radar. When you find lakes that have higher numbers of big fish, it is not worth it, in my opinion, to tell someone enough info to peek their interest...

[fishblitzer]

Couldn't help but post this picture.