Kayaks

[Yumeya]

Went fishing early morning on the 4th and was fishing a point, was nailing some smallmouth bass off a point about 20 feet away from the shore line and this 
couple on these kayaks (not fishing) rows right through the middle of my boat and the shoreline, I was confused at first and wondering why they didn't just go around me.

Anyways I got into it with them and said a few things I probably shouldn't have, but someone needs to right?

Now I have no problem with kayakers and have met quite a few fisherman that have common courtesy, the problem I have is the younger 20's individuals that just go 
out to paddle around the lake.

[Logan S]

Daily occurrence on some lakes around here.  Most of them are oblivious to the fact that they are in the way or being rude so I typically just let them pass.  I can't imagine ever thinking it'd be a good idea to get between a fisherman and his target - you know with the hooks and all...But it seems that common sense isn't as common as you'd think.

 

Kayaks on the boat ramp is what really gets me boiling though.  It's impressive how a single person in a kayak and car can manage to block a 3-lane boat ramp for 30 minutes.  If a group of them comes in, forget it, might as well go back out on the lake for an hour.  If you ever mention anything to them, even a friendly manner, you're just the jerk fisherman to them.  

 

Oh well...Such is life at the boat ramp during the summer months.

[TOXIC]

Most of them have no idea they are interfering with your fishing.  I cut them a break.  Next month I will be making a 2 day tow up to Wisconsin and will spend a week on a chain of lakes where the pontooners, jet skis and wakeboard boats outnumber the fishermen 50 to 1.  Luckily I can motor into some no-wake lakes that get me away from most of the madness but even then I get people motoring right over my fishing spot (or even my line) to get a better look at the Glitter Sled and ask me if I am catching any.  Some will even drop anchor to watch me fish.  I just laugh it off.  BUT......When on St Clair and we are fishing a couple of our honey holes that are closer to shore, there are yak tournaments that we occasionally run into and for the most part they know how to be respectful but there are a few that will paddle or peddle like mad ducks right to you when they see you catch a fish, then start fishing within a cast of where you are.  Those folks are a little more annoying because they should know better.  

 

Bottom line, the water is public and there's just some things you have to deal with.  They have as much right to be there as the boaters do.  

[BassB8Caster]

Yep. Those darn kayaks should start being a better kayak. Mine is just as dumb. I put it on the ground and it just stays there. Do you blame the gun as well? Ignorance is everywhere. It doesn't make it any more special because you are in your boat. Go to the super market, home depot, anywhere the is more than one person and you are likely to run into someone like that. It's the individual that does that. As long as you feel better about making a thread about kayaks. I'll go back to fishing out of my darn kayak. 

[Glaucus]

Most of them have no idea that they're messing with your fishing. Annoying as it can be, people do kayak for the fun of it and they are entitled to do so. The water isn't just for us fishermen. I never say anything because it's shared water and if they don't fish, they probably don't know.

[Fishingmickey]

     Those darn kayaks, I'm proud to be one of them. It goes both ways, I've had Ricky Rocket and his nitro powered bass boat drop in 20-30 yards front of me when I'm running the bank with a spinner bait. Never have had him drop in behind, everyone knows a good yak fisherman leaves no stone un-turned. I do feel your pain and some of our lakes especially the popular ones can be pretty crowded on the weekends. There is nothing like the feeling after paddling for 20-30 minutes to get to a spot and a hundred yards before you get there Ricky shows up and drops in.

     Courtesy goes a long way and beating on each other just makes things worse. I try my best to be kind and considerate on the water and will continue to do so even when others of both species don't.

Regards,

FM

 

[Kspaintballer101]

I was hoping this topic would be someone discussing good kayaks to fish out of haha. Oops.

[kenmitch]

22 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

     Those darn kayaks, I'm proud to be one of them. It goes both ways, I've had Ricky Rocket and his nitro powered bass boat drop in 20-30 yards front of me when I'm running the bank with a spinner bait. Never have had him drop in behind, everyone knows a good yak fisherman leaves no stone un-turned. I do feel your pain and some of our lakes especially the popular ones can be pretty crowded on the weekends. There is nothing like the feeling after paddling for 20-30 minutes to get to a spot and a hundred yards before you get there Ricky shows up and drops in.

     Courtesy goes a long way and beating on each other just makes things worse. I try my best to be kind and considerate on the water and will continue to do so even when others of both species don't.

Regards,

FM

 

I kayak fish also and have experienced the same thing as you on more than one occasion.

 

I peddle very slowly with rods out of water when I pass others fishing. 

 

Last time out when I was leaving I tied of at the ramp to go get my truck. When I returned their was some ****** bag in a aluminum Ranger boat tied off to the same cleat with his boat and it was bouncing around against my kayak. Total ***** move as there were 3 more cleats available.

 

 

 

[flyfisher]

My guess is they were new and wanted to stay close to shore out of fear and lack of knowledge.  Hopefully next time they will think about what they are doing and not be so oblivious to what is going on around them.  As far as the younger people who want to go paddle around the lake, why can't they do that?  I mea they probably think why would someone want to go fishing.  Sounds like a get off my lawn type of deal to me.  Not everyone is blessed to have been raised with respect for others and the outdoors so I always try and cool off when i talk to people and make it a learning experience and 95% of the time the people are super receptive and had no idea what they were doing.  

being a kayak fisherman i think other kayak fisherman can be the worst.  Seems like they always want to come over and talk about fishing while i am actually fishing.  I don't mind for the most part but for me, i try and get far enough away when i see any watercraft that there is no way i am disrupting their fishing or leisure time on the water because that is what we are all out there for, we just have different ways of doing it.

[moguy1973]

They have just as much right to the water as you.  I'm sure they didn't disturb any fish underneath them and they didn't mean any harm by doing what they did.  No reason to go off on them.  Now if they were fishing and they did that, that's a different story.

[Brad in Texas]

Maybe someone mentioned it above and I missed it. But, clearly, these are not kayak anglers . . . but recreational kayakers.

 

For sure, they can be a funny mess with plenty of YouTube videos showing some of these incidents. Often, it is someone in a kayak casting up toward the shoreline, say 20 feet out, and then here comes a few recreational paddlers just cutting right between the angler and the shore. It seems it is often a few girls or ladies, could be teen-aged boys, too.

 

My thoughts: they have absolutely no idea that they are intruding into, disrupting your fishing efforts.

 

I have never seen a kayak angler cut between a boater and a shoreline like that; I doubt anyone has. My guess is the same as others, that sometimes they fear getting too far away from the bank.

 

Where people do or should know better, I'd say it is about 50/50 between boats and canoes/kayaks, being in the wrong. But, rare, in all regards. Very rare. Same at the ramp. I don't use one, pull my yak over to the side by hand. But, whew! I have seen boaters, especially the recreational variety, do everything imaginable including eating up the clock at the ramp. I'd give the nod to kayak anglers here by a smidge. Recreational kayakers rarely use trailers it seems to me, show up top carrying their rides.

 

Live and let live.

 

Brad

[LadiMopar]

56 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

Courtesy goes a long way and beating on each other just makes things worse. I try my best to be kind and considerate on the water and will continue to do so even when others of both species don't.

 

I absolutely agree with your sentiment, and do my level best to always take the high road, but as a kayak angler it can certainly be more difficult. Smaller, slower, and generally less visible, even with safety gear. (bright orange flag/lights)

 

I have had to abandon my favorite waterway in recent days because I value my life and because the big bass boats (and other larger watercraft) fail to exercise a modicum of care; There is no excuse in my opinion to run full throttle around blind corners, jeopardizing the welfare of anyone who happens to be out there, not to mention leaving a wake the likes of the Titanic behind you.

 

This river is well known for its kayak usage, and yes, I have seen and been the recipient of some really annoying behavior from other kayakers; as a general group we are not without flaws of judgement/behaviour, every group has its issues, but my point here is if you are a larger, more powerful vessel you should exercise a greater duty of care. It's no different than driving on the public roadways in my opinion and having narrowly escaped serious injury in recent weeks I have been forced to make a choice and give up fishing this particular river, at least for the immediate future.

 

In an effort to make things safer for everyone I've chosen to express my concerns about several issues that seem to plague this place, from the annoying (ramp monsters, parking, sun bathers on the ramp) to the more serious life threatening issues to those who have the authority (Water shed association/Dept of Fisheries etc.) to address them. I'm hoping that some visual reminders such as signs in strategic places will benefit everyone's time and enjoyment of this beautiful place.

 

Just my humble nickels worth....

Respectfully -

LM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Deleted account]

I've yet to see someone in a pointy wading pool with or without fishing rods with a clue. Paddle (or pedal) away...

[flyfisher]

3 minutes ago, reason said:

I've yet to see someone in a pointy wading pool with or without fishing rods with a clue. Paddle (or pedal) away...

huh?  A pointy wading pool?  

[Fishingmickey]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

huh?  A pointy wading pool?  

I wasn't even going there Fly...

[LonnieP]

It all boils down to lack of common sense. Sadly it’s everywhere these days.

[Angry John]

Funny I see this you should hear how the fly anglers talk about the unrefined nature of bass anglers.  Always haters and dummies on both sides of the fence.  Do realize I have never seen a yak collision that resulted in injuries.  Now jet ski's that's where my frustration lays

[Airman4754]

I have a lawn. I want kids to keep off of it.

[flyfisher]

1 hour ago, Angry John said:

Funny I see this you should hear how the fly anglers talk about the unrefined nature of bass anglers.  Always haters and dummies on both sides of the fence.  Do realize I have never seen a yak collision that resulted in injuries.  Now jet ski's that's where my frustration lays

That is how fly anglers talk about everyone, not just bass fisherman.  I can't tell you how many fly fisherman would scoff at anything but throwing dry flies....until i'd show them pictures of the huge browns i'd caught using big 6" long streamers when the spring creek was running high and looked like chocolate milk   

3 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

I wasn't even going there Fly...

I am just trying to figure out what he meant...

[Bluebasser86]

I have both, I've have kayakers (always paddlers, never fishermen), paddle right between me and the bank. I've been cut off, nearly swamped, and leap frogged by guys in boats while I'm in my kayak. It's just a lack of common courtesy that isn't there and so many people living in their own little bubble where nobody else matters or barely exist. Saying anything to them does little but increase the odds of things going sideways, I just keep fishing or move along and hope karma bites them in the backside somewhere down the road. 

[JustJames]

I also fish from both kayak and boat and also got kayakers paddling in my casting target mostly from shore. I just wait until those kayakers paddle past my spot and keep on my fishing, no harm no foul. I don't think it would take too long for them to past and I don't think it is right to ask them to paddle around you. Sometime we need to take a brake from fishing and say some nice thing to others.