Boat Owner Etiquette thread questions

[Hale]

senile and keith both of your guys are absolutley right and nobody should ever assume that another boat will get out of the way. By all means if there is a fish onboard, TM dead or whatever the situation maybe then sit where you are. I was meaning this in regards to someone just fishing the middle, drifting out in the middle not paying attention, etc. When I see another boat in the distance its 'yellow flag' time. I see that boat mover over closer to the shoreline its green flag again! Of course this being an area of water greater than 30 yards wide and no hazards are created by my wake (Im not such a d**k to put somoene in the rocks).

As far as laws your right keith, and by no means am I saying its a bad or wrong law. But the law also say you cant overcome (pass)another vehicle by exceeding the speed limit...we all do it everyday and it hurts nobody. (please no discussions about speeders and how they kill people...it was a general point). The law also points out a boater is responsible for his/her own wake. There is definitely a line between inconvenience and irresponsibility.

[Keithscatch]

It's all good Hale. I think we agree on this actually.

[Guest Steve_P.]

Keith, I'm assuming that you are refering to the Zig Zag canal on Garcia.

The polite thing to do is to make an attempt to move your boat as far over as you can to allow passage of the other boat.

For people unfamilar with this canal, it is probably 50 yards wide, but only 1/2 of it's width is navigable. Generally speaking, you are fishing the non-navigable side anyways. Simply put yourself up on the non-navigable side of the canal vto allow the other boat full use of the navigable side, and then wave him on by.

It's just as rude to sit in the middle of the navigable side and force the other boat to come down off plane in my opinion. It's almost as bad as setting up shiners along the North canal that runs along the top of the North blocks.

Down in the Everglades, the policy is to ALWAYS wave the guy on past you on plane. It would take 3 hours to get to Three Pines if you had to stop for every boat.

One other rule of thumb, if your rooster tail isn't going to get them wet, you're far enough away from them.

There, this problem has just been solved.

[fish-fighting-illini]

Hale your signature is a classic, very clever. I had to copy it to e-mail to some people it is that good!

[Hale]

I wish I could claim it as my own but my grandfather had it on an old wooden sign on his porch when I was a kid. Just one of those things that stuck in my head and still makes me laugh!

[fish-fighting-illini]

Re Boat etiquette.

 I fished this year from my first boat ever, never owned one and rarely was ever in one. The first day we went out I knew I stunk at backing up so my buddy and I just waited for the coast to be clear before we attempted a launch. Learned some very good tips in that short 15 or 20 mins.

 For no more than I know about it I've watched several people pull out of ramps and mess with this and mess with that despite the fact that their is a huge landing area above the ramp to allow you to be out of the way. I always pul up if anyone is around and always get everything ready ( fishifinder, poles, tie downs etc ) before I pull down to the ramp.

 The canal thing aside wakes are kind of tough your wake can be a hassle from a long distance away and thus be a problem without knowing it or before you do. This doesn't include di*** heads flying by too close that is another story. I've been sititing fishing and all of a sudden start rocking because of a boat that was out in the main channel. I was in a fingerling and never even saw them go by and I'm sure they weren't driving like idiots. So far people have been pretty cool about wakes. We fish mainly in 40hp and under lakes so its not as much of an issue.

Its like everything else in life, "class" ( IE do un to others ) is something some people have more of than others.

[Catt]

I fished the marshes of Southwest Louisiana where traveling is mainly done in boat trails, fishing is done in canals, pot holes, and small lakes. When a boat approaches on plan any one fishing the area points their bow into the wake with their trolling motor. The reason for this is most boat trails or open water areas are at best 16 to 20 deep so dropping off plan could mean not getting back on plan.

In the main canals you drop off plan and idle by any boat stopped or on their trolling motor. This is law and is strictly enforced by Game Wardens

[jb_from_texas]

Interesting replies.

I have another one which I'm not sure how to feel about.

I pulled up to a good spot of mine (red dot on map) and was fishing for a few minutes when a ski boat pulled up and said, nicely, they were going to make a few passes at the ski buoy course(black line left of red dot).  I said no problem (after all I don't own the lake).  Well it turned out to be about 10-12 passes and the worst part was when they were running from the opposite end and towards me they wouldn't shut it down till they got about 20-25 yards away, then coast another 10 or so.and here come the wake. The course ended far enough back that it didnt require such a close call.

The frustrating part is there are at least 3 additional ski courses on the lake, one of which was fairly close and the water was glass there as well. (yellow line on map)

And the worst part was I couldn't fish the bank that runs parallel to the ski course.  Their stopping point would be right on me.  So I had to withstand the constant runs or move to a completely different location.  Of course the bite is typically really good where I was and the shore line as well.

[fish-fighting-illini]

This is a confusing one.

As far a a few passes they either had a different version of a few or just got carried away.

They did slow down each time when they got close albeit not as far away as they should have. This kind relates to what I said above about people not realizing just how far their wake makes an impact.

After about the 5th run I would have been holding up my arms and waiving that there was a problem.

If they didn't do anything about it then on the 7th run I would have been reeling in a skier on a 3/4oz Rattle Trap!

In short they had a enough class to at least ask first but they just weren't too swift on their execution.

With another option reasonbly close by they should have just gone elsewhere to start with.

[Hale]

Somewhere on another forum someone is complaining about fisherman. They believe,,,hey they have the whole lake to fish and we just want to use this one area. We had to keep slowing down to not be rude but it made our day very difficult. I waited all week to get out there and it was ruined by a fisherman...

Im not busting your balls, I m just pointing out that its a no win situation and there is no right way of going about making everyone happy when it comes to recreation on the lake...

Lets not start in with the a**hole jet skiers that do seek out to be nuisance. A few weeks back I had a kid throwing 'spray' and wake onto us while we were fishing from shore..but I wont get into it!

[fish-fighting-illini]

Pretty funny about predicting the other forum Hale.

In this case they had several other choices to ski a course that weas not being used.

I stand by the 3/4 oz Rattle-trap solution after an arm waving and a conversation or being ignored and on a 7th run!

[dizzy5868]

Heres an easy solution to the hole mess. Launch your boat at 10pm and fish until sunup. No long lines at the ramp, No wakes from other boats, No water skiing or jet skis and no one to bother you. Just kidding. Unfortunaly we all have to deal with these problems, hunters, anglers and skiers. Everyone has there own point of view and thinks their right. If each group would look through the eyes of the other just once, I think time on the water would be a little more enjoyable. I too spend alot of time on the water and deal with all these problems, I fish a river in Pa most of the time and is only as wide as maybe 150yrds. During duck season I usually look for the hunters before fishing an area. We can fish 365 days a year, they duck hunt for a few days a year. I'm not a hunter but can relate to the problem. I too am guilty of launching a 1 ounce wieght at some idiot that just buzzed by and nearly knocked off my boat, What comes around goes around. Paybacks a b%^&*. But anyway, just step back and get the big picture every now and then and get a realty check. A bad day on the water is still better than any day at work.

Rob

[-Drums-]

A few weeks back I had a kid throwing 'spray' and wake onto us while we were fishing from shore..but I wont get into it!

C'mon, please do!  It's good reading...  

[cart7t]

Lets not start in with the a**hole jet skiers that do seek out to be nuisance. A few weeks back I had a kid throwing 'spray' and wake onto us while we were fishing from shore..but I wont get into it!

Give me a jet drive boat with a decent HP motor and I could put a house fire out with it.   ;D

[RoLo]

Now I'm beginning to understand why so many boaters violate basic etiquette, they either don't know, or don't care!

This is a thread about boating etiquette and boating rules and yet, not one boater mentioned the "First Rule Of The Road".

When two power boats are converging at approximately right angles, the power boat on the "right" has the "right of way".

About half the boats that I encounter on the water seem oblivious to this rule, which would solve about the half the problems.

Apparently, they're also in a quandary as to why the starboard side of their bow light is GREEN and the port side is RED.

As for passing boats that are not underway, I always fall off plane and give them a wide berth.

That's fine-and-dandy, but now let's take a look at reverse courtesy. How about the boater

who elects to anchor his craft smack in the channel, then shakes his fist at every boat that doesn't drop to an idle.

Cum'on guys, stop the insanity!

Roger

[hakksaw]

Wow, I thought I was the only one that had problems with jerk off boaters. I actually had a couple of guys run up on some of my lines while doing some bankfishing with a couple of my in-laws. After chewing this guy out his buddy jumped in the mix and started casting his lure at me and threatened to whip I disagree. I was in shock, the language I was using at 8:30 am on a holiday weekend was astonishing! This almost got to the point of a fistfight. All I would've had to do is walk out into the rocks. Can you believe it? Etiquette only applys when you are on the water to this fella apparently. Man, it got ugly that morning. Hate to admit it, but I will be trolling around for these jugheads come springtime. I have never understood why there isn't just a little more respect out there. I fish to relax and enjoy life a little more. Wish some of these brainless wonders could too.

[cabela10]

keith, if this canal area that your talking about is so small, why don't you talk to the local DNR to make it a no-wake zone.

[cabela10]

JB_FROM_TEXAS...Is it possible that they used that ski course near you because it was a different level of course than the other ones around the lake.  Know what I mean, maybe that course was the novice/beginngers course and the ski balls are closer together, and the other (yellow) course was the advanced course.