Reaction To On The Water Rudeness

[OCdockskipper]

10 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

"If you're at the start of a cove in a small lake where there are only 6 coves, where the hell do you expect other people to go, especially if there are already boats in the other coves?"

 

It's not whatever. Other people want to fish the public lake too. 

I realize the original post was long, but you misunderstood a few of the facts:

a) The lake is private, not public;

b) There are 12 coves (six per side) not six;

c) We were the only 2 boats fishing the lake at that time;
d) I never expected them to fish behind me, I just expected them to not jump directly in front of me into a cove I was headed into.

 

When others are fishing the lake, we leapfrog coves, i.e., you don't go into the cove someone is fishing and if they are headed down the bank towards a cove, you either go to the other side of the lake or you bypass that cove in favor of the next one.  They intentionally chose to cut in front of me 3 times, whereas I gave them leeway and never went in front of them when they were ahead of me (even when they were behind me & quit fishing to speed up & cut me off).

 

That said, you are completely entitled to your opinion no matter selfish it may be.  It is easy to share water, but these two had no interest in doing that - they had a "me first" mentality.  It may explain why they weren't that good at catching bass.

[WRB]

I worked on boat landing for several years, Memorial Day and 4th of July holidays tend to bring out the worst behavior with boaters. More people too close together and it gets ugly fast, rudeness turns into fights too often.

I will not go anywhere close to a lake during holidays, it's bad enough during weekends and I can avoid fishing then. Week days are a lot quieter, even then it's possible to run into a rude angler and bass anglers can be the worst on the water.

Tom

 

[Glaucus]

14 minutes ago, Rahlow said:

I would expect someone to show some common courtesy and start behind me or skip the cove and start at the point on the other side. That’s what I would do and what most of my friends would do. Show the person there first a little courtesy, if you can’t understand the “why”, I can’t explain it.

We have a different definition and way of being courteous. If I'm at the start of a cove and/or fishing slowly, and the lake is small, I don't expect people to wait around on me. I'm courteous enough to share the water, rather than expecting someone to wait right there until I move off from the start, or to wait around as I fish slowly and thoroughly. So I guess you expect others to be courteous, but I'm more worried about me being the courteous one because I can only control myself and my own morality. My morality says, "share."

[Rahlow]

Just now, Glaucus said:

We have a different definition and way of being courteous. If I'm at the start of a cove and/or fishing slowly, and the lake is small, I don't expect people to wait around on me. I'm courteous enough to share the water, rather than expecting someone to wait right there until I move off from the start, or to wait around as I fish slowly and thoroughly. So I guess you expect others to be courteous, but I'm more worried about me being the courteous one because I can only control myself and my own morality. My morality says, "share."

And my morality is based on I would never cut in front of someone, same thing waiting in line at the movie theater or other “ line” just walk up and break in line ok with you?

[Fishing Cowgirl]

Good reading. This is another reason we teach our high school anglers lake etiquette, ramp etiquette, sportsmanship, always ask permission to go around and respect it if they say they are fishing that line and would say no.  Even if they say sure, go around, we have them refrain from making any casts until they are well past by a good distance.  Slow down when passing others and boating safety for all. 

[th365thli]

I think jumping in front of a person a short distance is disrespectful. I always make sure to see which way someone is going, and go the opposite way or behind him/her on the bank. So I can see where you're coming from. I avoided fishing Sat/Sun/Mon. Our reservoirs are crowded enough as it is. 

What I don't agree with, and maybe I misunderstood you, is jumping coves. I don't think claiming an entire cove for one person is fair or reasonable. I had a boat come into a cove I was fishing. As soon as I made the turn to the mouth, he went to the other bank. No harm no foul. 

Last Friday I had a kayaker paddle right between the bank and my boat. I had to reel in my line to let him pass. I asked him why didn't he go around me. He said it's because I moved my boat. I literally just re-positioned my boat with the TM. It's flabbergasting how insensitive some people can be. He shouldn't have been paddling so close to me to begin with. 

[All about da bass]

I tried fishing this weekend, I had a boat that followed me all day and he would go about thirty or thirty five yards ahead of me and would put his trolling motor and would start fishing and cut me off the whole cove. He did this about four times. Finally, I decided to just head to the house and relax, when I see him get on plane behind me and goes to the boat ramp as I do. He literally loaded the boat at the same time as I. It was kinda freaky.

[Rahlow]

39 minutes ago, All about da bass said:

I tried fishing this weekend, I had a boat that followed me all day and he would go about thirty or thirty five yards ahead of me and would put his trolling motor and would start fishing and cut me off the whole cove. He did this about four times. Finally, I decided to just head to the house and relax, when I see him get on plane behind me and goes to the boat ramp as I do. He literally loaded the boat at the same time as I. It was kinda freaky.

Private Eye, watching you bud,,,,, lol

8 hours ago, th365thli said:

I think jumping in front of a person a short distance is disrespectful. I always make sure to see which way someone is going, and go the opposite way or behind him/her on the bank. So I can see where you're coming from. I avoided fishing Sat/Sun/Mon. Our reservoirs are crowded enough as it is. 

What I don't agree with, and maybe I misunderstood you, is jumping coves. I don't think claiming an entire cove for one person is fair or reasonable. I had a boat come into a cove I was fishing. As soon as I made the turn to the mouth, he went to the other bank. No harm no foul. 

Last Friday I had a kayaker paddle right between the bank and my boat. I had to reel in my line to let him pass. I asked him why didn't he go around me. He said it's because I moved my boat. I literally just re-positioned my boat with the TM. It's flabbergasting how insensitive some people can be. He shouldn't have been paddling so close to me to begin with. 

Lake in this story is a small lake, size would dictate the cove situation, if you can cast across it, leave it or follow, just my opinion on that,,, situational awareness lol

[Choporoz]

  My wife handles these situations much better than I do.  I truly appreciate having her along most of the time, but especially when I'm cut off.  She will immediately engage them in loud, annoyingly friendly conversation; "Nice boat you got there!"  "Where you guys from?"  .... "What kind of rod is that?"  or "Cast to that tree there, it holds the big ones"  ...lol

I fish from a kayak most often and the dynamics and interplay with boats can be challenging at times; if for no other reason than because I can take a half hour to pick apart 20 yards of shoreline sometimes...sort of screws up the dance.  But, I always try to defer and go wide whenever possible....life is too short, even on small water.    Good points above about even jerks have a harder time being boorish if you address them directly and friendly.

[All about da bass]

33 minutes ago, Rahlow said:

Private Eye, watching you bud,,,,, lol

Lake in this story is a small lake, size would dictate the cove situation, if you can cast across it, leave it or follow, just my opinion on that,,, situational awareness lol

See I don't want him watching me catch fish. I was on a good school towards the end of the day.

[RPreeb]

17 hours ago, Glaucus said:

Sounds like you're mad that they weren't fishing behind you. Someone's gotta do it. Akin to being upset over not getting the first a biggest piece of cake. Why do you automatically get it?

With only 2 boats even on a small 100 acre lake, there is no reason to be within 30 yards of each other.  The OP was there first, and when they kept jumping in front of him he tried to get more separation several times, to the point of motoring to the far end of the lake from them.  His antagonists still kept making moves to get right in front of him, moves that seemed to be aimed at an almost calculated rudeness.  

 

I fish a 100 acre lake that doesn't even have the multitude of coves, and it would still be easy for 2 small boats to avoid close contact without either one being shut off from decent water.  These guys deliberately moved several times to get right in front of the OP.  I agree with Dockskipper that these other guys were rude - not just clueless, but rude.

[Lendiesel22]

On 5/28/2018 at 2:29 PM, Logan S said:

Sorry, but I'm not really seeing 'extreme' rudeness in what you described.  More of a inconvenience than anything else and it didn't seem to effect your catching either.  If anything, it just enhanced the story you got to tell.  Also, the lake's only 100 acres...Sooner or later you're going to be leap frogging in water that small.  Not saying the guy was a saint or anything, but if that's all you've got to get worked up over - you're living and fishing good .  

 

You'd go nuts on the Potomac...30 yards is someone being 'considerate' most of the time .  

No kidding here......there are some truly inconsiderate dudes all over this river and sorry VA but to this point all VA boats. I am sure its MD as well but at this point in a half dozen altercations all have been VA boats. I was warned about it but when casts are landing 15 20 ft from the boat I cant keep my mouth shut. 

[Rahlow]

1 hour ago, Lendiesel22 said:

No kidding here......there are some truly inconsiderate dudes all over this river and sorry VA but to this point all VA boats. I am sure its MD as well but at this point in a half dozen altercations all have been VA boats. I was warned about it but when casts are landing 15 20 ft from the boat I cant keep my mouth shut. 

Man it’s been that way since the War of Northern Aggression,,,,  lol

[OCdockskipper]

20 hours ago, th365thli said:

...What I don't agree with, and maybe I misunderstood you, is jumping coves. I don't think claiming an entire cove for one person is fair or reasonable...

Although we call them coves, that is probably a misnomer.  They are more like small pockets or cuts, almost like dead end canals.  There is only one that is more than 25 yards wide, in the rest a well fired cast with a lipless crankbait can reach from the docks on one shoreline to the other.  They range from 40 yards long to about 85 yards long and unless you are skipping docks or flippin', you are often in the middle of the pocket casting towards either shoreline.

 

The few of us who fish here regularly have found it to be a workable solution to not crowd someone when they are in one of these "coves".  Rarely are there more than 2 boats on the lake fishing at the same time, so it is nice to give people room to cover an area at their own pace.

[Bluebasser86]

I try to avoid people like that but if they keep doing it and leave me no choice, I'll make sure to fish extra hard and catch every fish I can. As much as I'd like to, I wouldn't ever say anything to them about it, really no good can come of it. 

[Oregon Native]

Seems as we get older the obvious stuff is not so obvious to "others"!!!  Many times I've just looked up and said 

"Lord....they're yours....please"  and move on.

[OCdockskipper]

I started this thread at the beginning of summer and have one more story to end summer with.

 

This past Saturday I was out on the lake about an hour before first light.  Later, just before the sun began to light up the sky, heavy fog moved in, nearly eliminating visibility on the lake.  I was near the upper end of the lake when I heard a familiar hacking and clearing of a throat.  Although I couldn't see anything or anyone, I was sure the noises emanating down lake were from an angler I playfully call "Emphysema Man".

 

A little background on Emphysema Man.  He & his partner fish our lake about once a month, also out of a small Pond Prowler. You always know when they are on the water, EM has a nasty cough and often sounds like he is getting ready to hack up a lung.  While I have never carried on a long conversation with them, I have waved or acknowledged them in the past.  I am pretty sure they don't live on the lake, for they launch their boat illegally from a greenbelt area hidden from view of the clubhouse and always make sure to be off the water before the association security is out & about.  Before it was legal in California, they used to smoke pot in their boat (our lake is small enough that the smell would float from one end to the other).  I never confronted them about the illegal things they were doing, they seemed to not be causing any damage and I thought that EM might be truly ill and that the fishing & pot may be a peaceful distraction from his pain.

 

So about an hour later, the fog lifts as I am exiting a cove headed toward the front end of the lake.  I see EM & his partner on the same side of the lake as me, about 100 yards behind me.  I catch a fish and as I am releasing it, I notice they have pulled away from the shore and appear to be headed to the opposite side of the lake.  I took that as a compliment, I thought they wanted no part of fishing behind me ?.  As I get about 40 yards from the last point on the side of the lake I'm on, I realize that they haven't gone to the other side of the lake, rather they were just motoring up the center of the lake.  I waved, they waved back.  Then, to my surprise, they made a quick right turn and pulled up on the point that I was approaching, both firing out casts immediately.

 

I was truly astonished.  Now about 30 yards away away from the point I said out loud "Really?".  The partner looked back and asked "What?".  I made sure to keep my voice calm & measured and replied "You really are going to pull in front of me like that?".  Playing dumb, the partner said "What do you mean?", to which I replied "You saw I was heading down this bank to that point and you chose to pull in front of me."  Amazingly, the partner responded "It's a big lake, just go fish the other side."  I jumped at the opening, saying "That's my point exactly, it is a big enough lake for us two boats, why did you feel the need to pull in directly in front of me?".  The partner grumbled something, then said "Fine, we'll fish the other side" and they pulled up their lines and jumped over to the other side of the lake.

 

Now I know there is a certain percentage of people who will believe that I should have not said anything and just moved to another location.  To those folks, please note that I never told these guys to move, I never claimed water was mine nor did I ever say I wouldn't go somewhere else myself.  Rather, I was just asking for him to justify his actions.  I am assuming shame eventually kicked in, resulting in the begrudging move without any apology or explanation.

 

I believe the main reason I chose to call him out (in a non-threatening manner) on his behavior was I am fed up with this kind of behavior in society.  These guys have operated in a way that the rules don't apply to them (& I was complicit in the past for being silent about it).  Last month, my truck was totaled by a woman who felt that rules don't apply to her.  She was in this country illegally, was looking at her cell phone while getting off a toll road and blew through a red light, basically ripping the front end off my truck (a second later & I would have been hit broadside).  Everyday on the road, there are folks driving in an unsafe manner for no reason than they believe the rules don't apply to them.  I guess I have just had enough.

 

If I was as smart as NHBull, I would have engaged them in a conversation before making my point like the example he gave.  Unfortunately I still tend to react instinctively instead of intellectually.  I am curious how the next encounter with Emphysema Man & his partner will go.  I for one will smile and wave, how they react will be up to them. 

[geo g]

There is nothing to be said.  When you caught those fish after being cut off, it ate them up all day.  Nothing better could have happened then that!  I would have gone Ike a few times while catching just to rub it in.

[Slade House]

Defensive casting, fire a warning shot . i Was once fishing a rock wall and this guy in a rental boat comes up and drives between me and the wall. Mind you lm 40 feet from the wall . I was gonna let it go until I saw him smirk as he did it. So I cast my Texas rigged tungsten weight at his boat , land it in his boat between him and his passenger up front.rattled it around and yanked it back out.  Scared the guy so much he drove the boat into the wall . Hilarious . Problem is when that goes wrong you end up hitting a guy with a 2 oz punching weight in the head like I did this year  

[TOXIC]

Sooner or later you will realize it's just not worth the frustration.  I don't waste my energy on others and actions I can't control.  As a guide, I have had boats follow me all over the 13,000 acre lake I guided on.  It gets pretty obvious after you move three times and make pretty good runs and the same boat(s) are still around you.  I always chuckle when it happens because the saying of an old fishing friend always pops into my mind...."You ain't gonna catch another man's fish".  And it has played out many, many, many times.  There is a downed tree on the lake which can be seen from the house of another guide who lives on the lake.  As I dropped off clients one day, he was doing the same and we always talked (we were friends) and he said, "I saw you on that tree again this morning". I chuckled because I always start there with clients because it will give up 2 or 3 good fish every day.  I told him...well now you know my secret spot (smiling).  He said,,, I got news for ya, that tree gets pounded every single tournament and most every day but you are the only one I have ever seen catch a fish off it.  My answer.....You ain't gonna catch another man's fish...... 

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

Sooner or later you will realize it's just not worth the frustration.  I don't waste my energy on others and actions I can't control...

I hear you and you have the better mindset about it.  My frustration isn't with the actions so much as the person believing that they can do such actions and not be accountable for it.  Like you, I can fish behind folks and catch bass that they miss.  It is the arrogance of their actions, summarily dismissing another individual and the etiquette involved in public interactions that motivates me to comment or take action.

[DINK WHISPERER]

In my younger years I would most likely catch a charge for stupid stuff like this. Now I've kind of grown immune to it, it happens so often. While on the lake this past weekend fishing a weed line on a drop off offshore, this guy idles up about 30 ft away from us drops some waypoints, turns around and leaves. I would be ashamed to do something like this personally.

[Logan S]

If you ever fish public waters and not a private lake your head will explode.  Stuff like this is routine.  Not saying it's right or that I agree with it, but reality is reality...Not everyone's moral compass is calibrated the same when it comes to fishing (or life).  Move on, keep fishing, and enjoy your day on the lake. 

 

I'd also advise against flinging weights or hooks at another persons boat...If you do, don't be surprised when you get your photo and hull numbers reported and stuck with a repair bill, or worse a medical bill and civil/crimial action...You know, in case your accuracy isn't quite as good as you thought and the 2oz weight or rattle-trap hits a person and not a boat.  Don't really understand how someone can claim a moral high ground when they escalate a minor fishing spot issue into threats (or actions) of property damage and/or physical injury ?.

[BoatSquirrel]

Having been out of the sport for a few decades, I have been back on the lake for a few years now and have been stunned by the selfish and rude behavior I have witnessed.  As much as I have wanted to act out, just like in football, its always the guy who re-acts who ends up getting the flag thrown on him.  Logan S and others who have advised discretion are exactly correct. 

[the reel ess]

You should thank them for showing you how not to fish. Now you can avoid their tactics. 

 

My dad and I had a guy tell us once when I was a kid to leave a spot alone because he had a tournament the next day. Naturally, we caught as many fish we could there and came back later and did it again.