Stolen Fish: Poor Etiquette

[Quarry Man]

I was pond fishing yesterday with a friend. The pond was a bout 1 acre, with an inflow and outflow. I figured out that fish were stacked up by the inflow, which brought warm water into the pond. I forgot my weights at home, and wanted to fish a keitech, so i used an old jig head that had a small gap hook. I was having trouble hooking up, but not at getting bites. My friend noticed my bites and came right next to me and caught the same fish I was trying to catch. It didn't really matter, because it was a small fish, but it still made me kind of mad. The real problem was last year when the same thing happened, only it was with a 7 pound bass, not a 7 ounce one. I never try to cast near others when they get bit, they earned the bite, and deserve the fish. I consider this poor etiquette, stealing people's fish, but do you?

[J Francho]

Dude was just using the bent rod pattern.  It's the same as when you're in a boat and catch a few.  Suddenly you're surrounded by other boats, and now your spot is a community hole.  Pond fishing can be a little ruthless.  I don't snake other guys' spots, but I see it all the time.  I generally look for other ponds, and move on if that's happening. 

[ThePolkFolk]

Unfortunate part of fishing that is likely to happen to most of us over time. Best to move on and not think too hard on it.

[Jar11591]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Dude was just using the bent rod pattern.  It's the same as when you're in a boat and catch a few.  Suddenly you're surrounded by other boats, and now your spot is a community hole.  

 

Ha! This happens to me before I even have a fish boated! It's like as soon as my boat hits the water, every  single other boat on the lake immediately turns the motor on and heads right towards me. 

 

 

[J Francho]

Fishing tribs for steelhead is even worse.  People would see my buddy and I just pull into a parking lot and the cell phones would start ringing.  Some of that I blame on my own ego.  Back then we just HAD to post our catches.  People started recognizing us and figure if we were there, that stream must be lit.

[Jar11591]

11 minutes ago, Quarry Man said:

I consider this poor etiquette, but do you?

 

To the OP, yes I do consider this to be poor etiquette. Whether it's a boater doing it to another boater, two people on the same boat, or people on the bank. So many fishermen are so totally clueless when it comes to etiquette. I've been downright followed in my boat before by other  boaters looking for fish. In these instances, and I'm not kidding, I will literally drive my boat in circles and see how long it takes for my followers to realize. 

[A-Jay]

 Nice ~ 

I call that the 'PM' pattern ~ stands for Poach Master.

I'm not a fan.

But you did say you were fishing with your friend, so working together to find the bass might be a good plan.

Then you can both have fun catching bass.

A-Jay

[OkobojiEagle]

The key point to your question is that you called him your "friend", presumably you and he came to the pond together... and intend to leave together.  I'd consider that friendship more important than the bass.  Enjoy the experience and don't worry about the bass.  (Come back alone next time.)

 

oe

[CTBassin860]

Bad etiquette? If it was a stranger id say yes.He's your buddy though.Also since you weren't even getting a bite someone had to catch it. Next time talk between each other about why what you were throwing wasn't working and his lure worked.It will make you both better fishermen at the end of the day.

[fishballer06]

33 minutes ago, J Francho said:

that stream must be lit.

 

And here I thought only teenager's used that word... 

[CTBassin860]

7 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

 

And here I thought only teenager's used that word... 

You know he looked it up on Urban dictionary before using it.

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Dude was just using the bent rod pattern.  It's the same as when you're in a boat and catch a few.  Suddenly you're surrounded by other boats, and now your spot is a community hole. 

 

 

My sentiments exactly.

The "bent-rod pattern" is so rampant in saltwater, that most captains keep a pair of binoculars

perched on their console. When fishing off Sandy Hook, I often initialized flotillas,

that I ended up leaving because it got too crowded and hectic (I'm a lone wolf).

It doesn't feel good to know that you gave birth to 3 armadas,

and then catch heck from someone for being too close.

Well, it's all in the game, it's called competition, and if it gets too hot, you can always leave the kitchen

 

 

[Falkus]

That always happens to me at the lake I fish, I would hit the spot where there is no one there ...

One hour later, there is always like 4 people fishing at the same spot where I am and I go to different one. 

 

Its like a fly swarm .....its either they think that my dobyns/St Croix makes me a "elite" or I surely catch some bass

 

 

[Subaqua Adinterim]

Fishermen should give each other the courtesy of space, whether on a pond, river, stream or lake.  I generally  like to fish away from others.  That being said, if I'm catching fish and my buddies are not, I will give them a similar lure to what is working for me so that they may enjoy catching something.

Several years ago, I lent a college kid a watermelon colored rooster tail spinner similar to what I was having great luck with.  He showed up at a creek after I did and was watching me and was clearly frustrated after fishing for a while and striking out.  With the lure that I let him use, he caught some beautiful smallmouths.  It was good to see the smile on his face when I took a picture with his cell phone so he could send it along to his friends.  Most fisherman are good people.

[UPSmallie]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Fishing tribs for steelhead is even worse.  People would see my buddy and I just pull into a parking lot and the cell phones would start ringing.  Some of that I blame on my own ego.  Back then we just HAD to post our catches.  People started recognizing us and figure if we were there, that stream must be lit.

Lol!  Haven't had this bad of a problem, but whenever I go ice-fishing and set up my portable there will be a handful scattered around it in a few hours.  Usually whenever I'm shore fishing and nail a big one I either quickly release it or quickly leave to go home and fillet it.  Caught a nice steelhead once off a public bridge and started for my car which was 10 feet away, when two passerby's came out of nowhere and instantly starting asking me questions.  I usually just find it's best to lay low on the fishing if possible.

[Looking for the big one]

This is gonna be pretty common if you're fishing a pond or you're on the same boat. For instance this fall I was in the canoe at our typical fishing spot, and asked my brother, who's pretty inexperienced, if he wanted to catch some nicer fish or just go for numbers. He wanted to catch a nicer fish and I gave him a bulky spinnerbait while I fished a shaky head. Told him to cast into a deep pocket near us, and two casts later he caught about a five pounder. Another time while we were at Lake of the Ozark's bank fishing I told him to try a square bill and work it near the dock, and once again a couple casts in he was holding up a 4.5 pounder. 

 

It's something that at first I regretted, but in the end you know that he had fun catching a fish and you can take some partial credit on the catch. Being said, this was my brother and not a stranger. If it was a stranger it's a different story.

[JustJames]

If it is other ppl I don't know I would call poor etiquette, but if he is my fishing buddy I would glad to call him over to fish next to me or even cast over my line.

What a fishing buddy for, fish together have fun together or sometime complete each other but that all about fun.

[IndianaFinesse]

If I miss a fish, I want my partner to immediately cast back to where I got the bite, the faster someone gets a lure back in front of the bass the more likely it is to bite again. The same goes for if I catch a fish, I want him to cast to the spot where I caught the first bass, as there is often more bass willing to bite if you get back to them quickly. When I have a partner we fish as a team, our goal is to catch the most combined fish.  So if he was my partner, no I would not care, but if he was someone else, I would be kind of ticked.

 

[Jtrout]

Lol i was fishing this pond i found for almost a year and the biggest i got from it was probably 3and half almost 4 pounder every fish i catch from this pond is on top water i bring my twin bro along and he gets snagged me being the tad older bro i said il get it out use my rod rigged with a zara puppy spook. First cast Bang solid five pounder im like I don't understand! At first i was a little ticked but i got over it seeing him jump around like a little kid i was happy for him.

[Coldbasser]

I agree with IndianaFinesse 100 % expesially if I'm not fishing with the proper rig as you stated. My friend would of given me the proper rigging to use for whatever presentation. Heck he would of given me a rod pre rigged to use , we have always wanted each other to do well. But the bent rod fish locating is IMHO for lousy fisherman. Countless times we just reel up and leave and we hunt down more fish & it makes us better as we just add more spots to our data base for derby days. ?

Thats my 5 cents worth

Cheers

[WDE]

Had two similar instances happen to me recently.

 

I was bank fishing a little cove where I noticed bass feeding on shiners. The cove was separated from an adjoining pond by a small land bridge. As I was tying on another lure with my back to the water I heard drag being taken. So I turned around and another guy decided to drop in not 10 feet away from me. The sound of his drag was due to him being hung up in a tree, so I got a bit of redemption in that instance.

 

The next day at a different pond, another guy dropped in nearby, and then walked over to me to show me fish he had caught out of the pond recently. As someone who prefers personal space, I told him I was heading off. He stood in he exact same spot I was previously in and caught something first cast. So I walked over to watch him land the fish, which turned out to be a (pregnant)catfish. He asked if I wanted it, I said no, then we just looked at the fish. So taking the silence as a hint, I dug my pliers out and removed the hook and tossed her back in for him. 

[bassguytom]

That's nothing. Wait until you have kids and take them fishing. You will always have the magic rod that catches all the fish that they want to use because it catches fish. Or you have to  purposely hold back and let them cast to a good spot in hopes of them hooking up. It's all about having fun with friends and family while fishing for me. I love busting on my brother and telling him he knows all the dinks by their first name. Relax have fun that's what it's all about. It's a big world with lots of places to fish. Here is a video I made when I was out having fun with one of my sons last year. I had to play it up because he was catching dinks all day and razzing me. Remember relax and have fun.

 

[Falkus]

3 hours ago, RichPenNY said:

Fishermen should give each other the courtesy of space, whether on a pond, river, stream or lake.  I generally  like to fish away from others.  That being said, if I'm catching fish and my buddies are not, I will give them a similar lure to what is working for me so that they may enjoy catching something.

Several years ago, I lent a college kid a watermelon colored rooster tail spinner similar to what I was having great luck with.  He showed up at a creek after I did and was watching me and was clearly frustrated after fishing for a while and striking out.  With the lure that I let him use, he caught some beautiful smallmouths.  It was good to see the smile on his face when I took a picture with his cell phone so he could send it along to his friends.  Most fisherman are good people.

 

Same thing happened to me at a Fishing Tournament which I wasn't getting any hits and it was already 1pm. Somehow, they arrived who happens to be my friends hitting the same location that I was at. 

 

"Hey Burke, How many did you catch today ? did you get a limit" ? I was nodding "Nothing man". They got closer and threw me some senkos that was roadkill color instead of green pumpkin that I was throwing.  Next thing I knew, Boom, Boom, Boom and Boom..

 

I already had 4 good size bass !  I surely owe them big favor  

[Quarry Man]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

 Nice ~ 

I call that the 'PM' pattern ~ stands for Poach Master.

I'm not a fan.

But you did say you were fishing with your friend, so working together to find the bass might be a good plan.

Then you can both have fun catching bass.

A-Jay

 

I am totally for working together and catching lots of bass. After all, they say two minds are greater than one. I never complain if he catches fish where  was not fishing or getting bites. That is how we cover more water. Its a totally different story when he comes right next to me and takes my fish.

2 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

If I miss a fish, I want my partner to immediately cast back to where I got the bite, the faster someone gets a lure back in front of the bass the more likely it is to bite again. The same goes for if I catch a fish, I want him to cast to the spot where I caught the first bass, as there is often more bass willing to bite if you get back to them quickly. When I have a partner we fish as a team, our goal is to catch the most combined fish.  So if he was my partner, no I would not care, but if he was someone else, I would be kind of ticked.

 

 

I totally agree to this in a tournament situation.

[Quarry Man]

1 hour ago, Bassguytom said:

It's all about having fun with friends and family while fishing for me. I love busting on my brother and telling him he knows all the dinks by their first name.

 

Haha, he was bragging that he caught a fish, but I ended the day with a 2.5 and 1.5, he had a .25 and a .5

 

I realize this time it wasn't a big deal, but the one time with that 7 pounder, it made me mad. I was even more frustrated because i lost an 8.5 the day before because he neglected to listen to my instruction of grabbing the net from the golf cart, the next day he caught a 7 only because i was there and i had brought the net.