Darn party boaters....

[Griff Estes]

How bout you kayakers stay out of the channel. I lost a lower unit because 5 of tall decided the channel was the perfect place to talk and you need lights on your  yak as you call them if your gonna go sit on a spot at 4 in the morning..I respect everyone on the water but if you wanna get on the water then expect what I do as well. Dont cry just fish

[NHBull]

.......just a side note.

I like seeing all types of fishing.....from bank to kayak.

That said, experienced kayakers on my lake have started putting bike flags on their sterns and are fully lit at night. I wish all did. I also wished they followed the rules when fishing in the chanels. Casting in front of moving boats is never a good idea, especially when that boat could swamp you in a second. If everyone followed the Golden Rule, we wouldn't have this problem. If you can't follow the GR, follow the law.

........I really get nervous for guys in yaks

[jbmaine]

As long as public water is open to the public, then there will be days that make you mutter not so nice things at times. I look at it as waves, wakes, noise, etc. as a fact of life. Even with common courtesy from everyone there are inconveniences you have to put up with. What annoys me is when a few ( insert swear words here ) feel their right to use the water supersedes everyone else's. If you are fishing a cove and there are , say, jet skiers running circles on the main lake you will get noise, waves, that's just the way it is. But if those same jet skiers race into the cove and decide to use you as a pylon for their race, well, that's just wrong. At that point I'll just move ,and take down their numbers to call the marine patrol. Really, what else are you going to do. 

 Same with everyone else.

As in all of life's situations, most people will try to do the right thing, but the few that don't, there's only so much that you can do. Yes, it ticks you off, but if you let their actions ruin your day, then you've let them win, in more ways than one.

[ApacheGuns515]

7 hours ago, Tim Kelly said:

Kayaks are great and allow people access to the water who wouldn't otherwise be able to. They are small boats though, and just as you would be cautious of taking a 14ft boat out on a big water, you need to be realistic about the conditions you're likely to face in a kayak. While it's obviously wrong for people to blast past you 10ft from your yak, it's hard to see how you'd be in a situation where that could happen. Unless you were fishing down a little channel which is regularly navigated through, in which case you put yourself in a position where you were likely to meet challenging and potentially dangerous conditions. 

 

While other water users can be pretty dumb, you have to take sensible precautions to keep yourself safe as you're the vulnerable one, rather like cyclists in cities. Car drivers should be more considerate, but you're better off expecting them not to be and staying safe than moaning about how they nearly killed you when you allowed yourself to be in a vulnerable position.

See that was my main reason for going on the rant. I don't purposefully paddle in high traffic areas or anything. I stick to the shore lines for the most part. When I'm on the river near my house I just paddle along the shore to get where I want to go because for one the current is usually weaker closer to shore and two to make sure I'm out of the way of other folks in boats. 

 

On lakes it's the same, unless I'm crossing the lake to the other side I stick to the shore lines because that's where I'm usually fishing anyway. 

 

These folks for some reason are just buzzing around close to the shore and close to me which is why I was starting to believe this was being done on purpose. 

 

There is little else I can do to stay out of the way. The disrespect is on the boater, not on me. I stick to the shallows, and out of the way as best I can. It takes a speed boat mere seconds to simply turn and give me a wide berth. I can't exactly paddle fast enough to get out of THEIR way. 

 

Folks in boats need to understand that bit of common sense and overall shared respect on the water. If you see a person in a paddle craft then YOU need to avoid THEM because they can't exactly move fast enough to get out of your way. The fastest I can even paddle in my kayak is like 5 or 6kts tops. What exactly am I supposed to do when a boat is coming close to me except hunker down and wait?

[ApacheGuns515]

7 hours ago, Griff Estes said:

How bout you kayakers stay out of the channel. I lost a lower unit because 5 of tall decided the channel was the perfect place to talk and you need lights on your  yak as you call them if your gonna go sit on a spot at 4 in the morning..I respect everyone on the water but if you wanna get on the water then expect what I do as well. Dont cry just fish

Yeah there are plenty of kayakers out there who believe that their kayaks count as boats and try to use them as such in areas with real boats. I've seen it myself plenty of times. There are huge catfish in the big commercial channel up here and a lot of kayakers love going out there and pulling in blue cats from their yaks. Problem is that this is a real channel with commercial barges and whatnot coming through hourly. That to me is a bit too dangerous and extreme, I don't do anything like that. 

 

I use my kayak as a kayak and understand what it is and is not. I only use car top or hand launch sites, never real boat ramps because I don't want to be in the way of real boats nor do I particularly like sharing the launch area with huge boats for obvious reasons. 

 

I'm not a guy sitting near the boat launch complaining about being swamped by boats. I'm a guy sitting on the side of a river inlet 1/2 mile or so from the hand boat launch ramp wondering where the hell this huge speed boat came from because they aren't supposed to be there anyway. Take your jet boat or your jet skis to a real boat ramp and go play out there with the other boats, what are they doing launching speedboats from a site designed to launch jon boats pulled from a truck bed?

[LadiMopar]

15 hours ago, ApacheGuns515 said:

I've tried to do that a few times, problem is that I'm usually too busy fighting to not capsize and/or steer the kayak into the wake to read a number. 

 

And this is why I have video rolling when the water skiers are out...they are the biggest "problem" I usually encounter.

 

If you're fighting the wake, as we all do in kayaks, you have a much better chance at catching those registration numbers with the video. Just be sure to have some Dramamine to watch the replay! ?

 

[JustJames]

I see a trend here, everyone thinks they have the "RIGHT". Kayakers think I'm in small boat but I have a right to use the lake same as big boat, thus all boaters have to give them right, stay away or lower speed in another word "take of your hat and bow to me"

Big boat especially water ski boat also think they have right to use the lake (if lake allow), so they think why the hell I have to lower my speed and drop my water-skier just for that idiot kayakers.

 

Have anyone ever think about to be considerate instead of owning their right? Just a thought.

 

I like @NHBullidea to not go out when there are a lot of traffic.

I do it too, I don't fish on holidays or Sunday afternoon when I know all those water ski would come out.

If I'm gonna fish I would stay in cove or channel with 5MPH zone. 

[Chance_Taker4]

16 hours ago, Glaucus said:

The water isn't just for anglers. People boat recreationally. Recreational boaters who dont fish almost certainly dont realize they're interfering with your fishing. We aren't a superior species of people who get to claim territory. 

First I want to say I understand what the OP is stating and to stay on topic. The rec boaters in question need to be more considerate.

 

Second, I agree with this quoted post fully. I constantly see posts and videos from anglers complaining about being "bothered" or "harassed" by rec boaters when all the rec people are doing is enjoying the water. Another issue that grinds me is the confrontations regarding docks. I saw a video last night of a boater flipping a dock where there were kids swimming just a few feet away. The dad came out asking the boat to move away from the dock and his kids and it turned ugly because of the angler's "I'm superior" mentality it got ugly and everyone defended the angler. Another personal situation I was a coangler and my boater was skipping docks. We get to one were there are people on it and it was low to the water. My boater was having issues skipping under it and was making big splashes, putting on the dock, hit the pontoons just making a tons of noise and the owners asked us to move because of his recklessness with his stuff. He to made this enormous confrontation with them.

 

I apologize for getting off topic. Now to bring it back I think rec and fishing boaters both need to be more considerate of their surroundings. As I don't know the entire situation I can tell you that on the lake I fish quite a bit if a boater were to give everyone 150-200' there would be no movement. too much traffic and not  a wide enough waterway.

[Harold Scoggins]

I guess I'm fortunate to have access to several lakes that don't allow motor boats.

[Angry John]

This is a common sense and safety discussion.  A yak is like a bicycle.  They are smaller but still have all the same rights and considerations.    There are rude people on the road and on the water.  In the end I dont want to be dead so I plan to limit my exposure to risk.  If I get in a bad situation I try to smartly exit that situation.  Been in a small pond with a wake boat and just had to leave because he owned a house there and truthfully was his water.  I did flag him down and ask he give me a chance to leave.  He took 20 and I was gone.

[LonnieP]

I fish a 3100 acre lake with a 10 foot pond prowler. It's not just the recreational boaters that are rude, its also a big majority of bass anglers. I've had countless bass boats blast by me within casting distance on a 100 yard wide stretch of water. Now a few will be polite and slow down but the majority dont. That's why i only fish the back creek from spring until fall. 

[Steve1357]

Growing up in Arkansas, all small game and fish lakes had a ten horsepower limit. Somewhere along the line they dropped it.

 

It is funny to see high powered bass boats running flat out in a WMA lake (flooded swamp really) suddenly not running flat out anymore. Sometimes I have to get in the vehicle so they can't hear me laughing....

[WRB]

Number #1 rule is think the other boater can't see you and doesn't have a clue about boating laws and rules. You must be on top of your game and not in others boats path.

In California we are just now requiring boaters cards, to operate a boat you must pass a test, but this is being phased in slowly by age with younger age groups Ist.

In a kayak you are very difficult to see sitting low to the water and if the sun is in the other boater eyes nearly impossible. Don't put yourself in harms way.

Tom

[ApacheGuns515]

So just to clarify my overall meaning I'll discuss the outing that I had today. 

 

I went out with a friend of mine and we launched at an actual boat ramp and paddled a good 2 miles or so through a channel to get to where we were going (fishing for channel cats). I rarely ever go to places like this anyway but he insisted we go so I agreed. 

 

It's Saturday, boats are everywhere, and they all obviously have to use the channel to get out into the lake. While paddling out we'd both constantly be looking behind us and whenever we'd see boats approaching we'd move towards the shore and out of their way. Everybody was courteous, we're in kayaks, we aren't going to hold up the traffic of real boats, we simply moved out of the way and continued on whenever the passed. They respect that and we respect that. Perfectly friendly atmosphere. 

 

We head out to the mouth of the lake and anchor down there, that's where the cats are. We're off to the side out of the way but this is the end of the go slow area for boats (there is no no wake area just a general don't go gunning through the channel). 

 

The wake was absolutely terrible with a lot of these huge boats coupled with the wind creating white caps. But I wasn't upset with it. I sat there and maneuvered into the waves whenever the boats would pass by and just continued on fishing.

 

Why? Because I'm in THEIR area at this point. I'm not in some calm back water area that only I can get to nor am I in a paddle only lake or a 10hp limit lake. I'm on a channel in the mouth of Lake Ontario, there is no size limit for boats out there so I'm not going to get upset that a huge 50ft yacht comes cruising by 20 ft from me and dumps water all over my kayak. I'm the one choosing to sit in my little 12ft kayak at the mouth of a Great Lake. 

 

That's sort of the point I was making. I'm not upset that I get swamped by boats if I'm in a high traffic area in a little kayak. I get upset when I get swamped by boats on a calm river or lake that has huge amounts of space to maneuver yet folks are so inconsiderate that they will cruise right by me 20 ft in front of me instead of simply turning the wheel and going around me when they have ample opportunity and time and space to do so. 

 

Getting swamped while sitting in a channel full of 30ft boats is fine. Getting swamped sitting near the shore trying to fish on a 1000 acre lake with somebody choosing to come screaming by me instead of just going around is not fine. 

[Squarebill79]

I fish on a regular basis on both my kayak and my bass boat. I only take my kayak out on no-wake lakes around here. If I want to fish the big lake I'll get out the boat but the kayak stays on the no-wake 4mph lakes. Its just not worth the extra saftey risk to me, I dont trust drunken idiots running 40 mph all over the place on the big lakes. 

[Russ E]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

Number #1 rule is think the other boater can't see you and doesn't have a clue about boating laws and rules. You must be on top of your game and not in others boats path.

In California we are just now requiring boaters cards, to operate a boat you must pass a test, but this is being phased in slowly by age with younger age groups Ist.

In a kayak you are very difficult to see sitting low to the water and if the sun is in the other boater eyes nearly impossible. Don't put yourself in harms way.

Tom

^^^. this

if you are in a kayak I suggest you wear bright clothing.

last fall I was cutting across a local  tree filled reservoir at about 45 mph. 

it was a mild chop and I was driving into the sun. 

as I came around a corner there was a duck hunter all decked in camo, laying in a low free board camo kayak, in the middle of the channel.

when I first spotted him, I was 20 yards away. I thought it was a log floating in the water.

Luckily I avoided him. I don't know who was more shaken up.

I turned around and apologized for nearly hitting him. 

he admitted that where he setup to hunt, was probably not the safest place.

 

 

[A-Jay]

20 hours ago, Tim Kelly said:

Kayaks are great and allow people access to the water who wouldn't otherwise be able to. They are small boats though, and just as you would be cautious of taking a 14ft boat out on a big water, you need to be realistic about the conditions you're likely to face in a kayak. While it's obviously wrong for people to blast past you 10ft from your yak, it's hard to see how you'd be in a situation where that could happen. Unless you were fishing down a little channel which is regularly navigated through, in which case you put yourself in a position where you were likely to meet challenging and potentially dangerous conditions. 

 

While other water users can be pretty dumb, you have to take sensible precautions to keep yourself safe as you're the vulnerable one, rather like cyclists in cities. Car drivers should be more considerate, but you're better off expecting them not to be and staying safe than moaning about how they nearly killed you when you allowed yourself to be in a vulnerable position.

Solid Advice Right Here ^^^^^^^^.

 

 I was a professional mariner for a long time.  I've seen bad things. 

I fish from a 18 ft power boat most often now but did fish from a canoe for a long time.

 A career of on the water Search & Rescue / Law Enforcement has indicated that for me - I need to have a mind set Regardless of the rules, the laws or whatever mind set we each have, that EVERY BOATER is trying to run me down - every one. 

I make it my responsibility to do everything I can to prevent that.  And I do.  To sit and watch and hope that another boater will see you, avoid you, be courteous to you ???- is IMO un-wise.  Like I said.  I've seen what happens when this occurs - not good.

(btw - it is my experience that an alarming number of boaters (especially on inland lakes, rivers & reservoirs) are mostly unfamiliar with boating safety, and navigational rules; especially in locals where 'the boating season' is 12 weeks long (summer basically). 

Stay Safe.

A-Jay 

[WRB]

As a young teen through college I worked at what we called boat landings, today called marinas. Working with the general public renting boats for day use and renting mourning space to residents and vacationers, you run across all types of people; the good, the bad and the ugly! I could write a book on boating stupidity based on those early years. Never, never , never think a boater knows what they are doing, it could be fatal!

Just because someone can afford big expensive yatchs or power boats this also applies to them, some  are good skippers and some are bone heads. My experience with weekend bass anglers isn't any different except most believe they own the lake and everyone else is in the way.

All this may sound negative, believe me it's earned!

Be your own advocate for safety, look out for yourself and boating companions all the time.

Be safe!

Tom

[FishDewd]

That's certainly rude and dumb for them to do to you, I've been on boats quite a few times and I've never intentionally thrown waves like that at a smaller boat. In my youth my parents had jet skis and we often drove them down smaller canals and whatnot... one day dad and I experienced the bad side of a larger boat and I'll never forget it when I was about 10 years old.

 

We were in Clear Lake, riding down a popular waterway doing about 50, not top speed but cruising good and having fun. A boat pulled up next to us going quite a bit faster and didn't give us room to move away from shore.... the wake wasn't the issue, the problem was that were close to the bank and the boat did not give us clearance. The boater ran us up too close to land and we were unable to steer out of it. There was this overhanging branch that stuck about 20' out from the shore. Tbh I was day dreaming about something else, I was just a kid... dad was not able to steer us out of it in time. Next thing I know I got whopped in the head and I'm flying through the air doing many flips. When I came to dad was holding me up in the water, my water shoes were gone, and the jet ski was on the land in the sticks. Apparently I hit the log head first. The jetski hull was cracked, my head was bleeding, and I was seeing stars of all sorts of colors. Somehow, by some miracle, the jetski got us back to dock without sinking. Some guy on the ramp said to me while dad was getting the truck and I sat on the ski, "did ya'll have fun?" I don't think he saw the damage to the ski at that point. I responded, crying "we got crashed!" and pointed to the huge crack on the opposite side of the ski. The guy walked around to dock side and looked and he seemed ticked after I told him what happened.

 

We got the jetski repaired but it wasn't the same after that. Mom was always super nervous anytime we went out and it pretty much ruined out jetski'ing days. Wasn;t long after that we sold the jetskis, the kawisaki we were riding, as well as the seadoo mom had which had reverse. I really miss that kawi to this day... it was so fast and fun for it's day. But I also realize how close we came to being killed by an inconsiderate boater who ran us up too close to land. I take nothing for granted anymore, and that's a bad memory I forever have to live with.

 

Safety on the water people. Please.

[buzzbaiter83]

I fish from a kayak, bassboat & pontoon. I’ve wakeboarded & tubed all over the lake. I stay off of high traffic lakes during summer with my kayak just because I know how ignorant folks are. I’m sure some are just inconsiderate but most probably have no clue. Unless they’ve been in a kayak with waves coming at them then they have no idea what they’re doing to you. At least it usually calms back down after Labor Day and a lot will be done for the season.

 

I keep my kayak in small “no wake” lakes or rivers in the summer. If I do go to a big lake in Summer I go early at daylight and leave before the party crowd starts getting out to play. Stay safe out there 

[slonezp]

God

Grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

The wisdom to know the difference

 

You will never ever be able to change the behaviors of other folks. You can, however, take steps to make improvements in your situation.

 

My home water is the busiest freshwater inland waterway per acre, in the United States. I have a 20' boat with a 225hp on the back. During the summer, I fish from 5am until 11am, just about the time the pleasure boaters erupt from their cocoons. 

 

My advice to you is, alter your habits and/or change bodies of water.

[kenmitch]

11 hours ago, FishDewd said:

That's certainly rude and dumb for them to do to you, I've been on boats quite a few times and I've never intentionally thrown waves like that at a smaller boat. In my youth my parents had jet skis and we often drove them down smaller canals and whatnot... one day dad and I experienced the bad side of a larger boat and I'll never forget it when I was about 10 years old.

 

We were in Clear Lake, riding down a popular waterway doing about 50, not top speed but cruising good and having fun. A boat pulled up next to us going quite a bit faster and didn't give us room to move away from shore.... the wake wasn't the issue, the problem was that were close to the bank and the boat did not give us clearance. The boater ran us up too close to land and we were unable to steer out of it. There was this overhanging branch that stuck about 20' out from the shore. Tbh I was day dreaming about something else, I was just a kid... dad was not able to steer us out of it in time. Next thing I know I got whopped in the head and I'm flying through the air doing many flips. When I came to dad was holding me up in the water, my water shoes were gone, and the jet ski was on the land in the sticks. Apparently I hit the log head first. The jetski hull was cracked, my head was bleeding, and I was seeing stars of all sorts of colors. Somehow, by some miracle, the jetski got us back to dock without sinking. Some guy on the ramp said to me while dad was getting the truck and I sat on the ski, "did ya'll have fun?" I don't think he saw the damage to the ski at that point. I responded, crying "we got crashed!" and pointed to the huge crack on the opposite side of the ski. The guy walked around to dock side and looked and he seemed ticked after I told him what happened.

 

We got the jetski repaired but it wasn't the same after that. Mom was always super nervous anytime we went out and it pretty much ruined out jetski'ing days. Wasn;t long after that we sold the jetskis, the kawisaki we were riding, as well as the seadoo mom had which had reverse. I really miss that kawi to this day... it was so fast and fun for it's day. But I also realize how close we came to being killed by an inconsiderate boater who ran us up too close to land. I take nothing for granted anymore, and that's a bad memory I forever have to live with.

 

Safety on the water people. Please.

That's an unfortunate event that could have been avoided entirely. Your lucky you or your dad weren't killed or seriously injured for life. Why your dad chose racing the boat while pinned to shore with both your lives at stake is the real question. The sensible person would have just let off the throttle and chosen safety 1st rather than playing chicken with the shore and the boat. The boater was inconsiderate I'll give you that, but your dad was also at fault. As for you mom she was just doing her job putting your safety 1st. Your lucky she even let you guys go out at all after that.

 

I'm not trash talking your dad so don't get upset over the statement. Most likely he just got caught up in the moment and machismo kicked in instead of common sense.

[FishDewd]

5 hours ago, kenmitch said:

That's an unfortunate event that could have been avoided entirely. Your lucky you or your dad weren't killed or seriously injured for life. Why your dad chose racing the boat while pinned to shore with both your lives at stake is the real question. The sensible person would have just let off the throttle and chosen safety 1st rather than playing chicken with the shore and the boat. The boater was inconsiderate I'll give you that, but your dad was also at fault. As for you mom she was just doing her job putting your safety 1st. Your lucky she even let you guys go out at all after that.

 

I'm not trash talking your dad so don't get upset over the statement. Most likely he just got caught up in the moment and machismo kicked in instead of common sense.

Where did I say we were racing? We were cruising along and boater came up from behind us and pinned us. 100% his fault. Wasn't avoidable really. Iirc we went around a bend making sure we werent going to get run over and didnt see the limb until it was right there. Obviously we were throttling off to get room but was distracted by the idiot boater who almost ran us over and didn't see the limb before it was too late.

 

I wrote that late at night so sorry if I wasn't clear enough. This also happened nearly 20 years ago so some specifics are a tab fuzzy. Or maybe its cause i hit my face on a limb and flew like a drunken acrobate through the air. Either/or.

[OCdockskipper]

On 8/3/2018 at 3:07 PM, Glaucus said:

... Recreational boaters who dont fish almost certainly dont realize they're interfering with your fishing... 

Ignorance is not a defense for lack of etiquette.  If ones' focus is solely on themselves, then one will never realize they are interfering or disturbing others.  In a word, it is selfishness.

 

Let's put the shoe on the other foot.  If people are swimming by a dock and some fisherman drives up, anchors, starts chumming with some stinky stuff to attract catfish and casts right in among the swimmers, he is an ignorant jerk.  He has every right to do what he is doing, he can fish where he wants to, but the swimmers were there first and he is out of line by forcing his activity upon them.

 

Fishermen do not own the water, but proper etiquette is to allow any person pursuing outdoor recreation the space to do so if they were there prior to you.  Those who fish from boats often tend to follow etiquette more than the jet skier or pleasure boater who goes out 3 times in the summer for the simple reason that they are more invested in the activity.  It is not unlike the difference on how a car or home owner will treat their property compared to a renter of the same thing.

 

 

[OCdockskipper]

On 8/3/2018 at 6:25 PM, diversity210 said:

Anglers of all sorts tend to have a certain superiority complex...

I disagree.  Being courteous to other boaters & water users is not a superiority complex, it is manners.  Expecting others to know etiquette and show manners themselves is the underpinning of a civil society.

 

Also, there are anglers who are just as discourteous to other anglers as well as pleasure boaters.  Those folks have no complex, they are just selfish.

On 8/3/2018 at 11:07 PM, Griff Estes said:

How bout you kayakers stay out of the channel...

You are correct about this, albeit this was not the situation with the OP.  Part of etiquette for all boaters, including fishermen, is to not clog up areas that are used for high speed navigation.

 

There is a kayaker (non fisherman) on my lake who will paddle his kayak between me & docks that I am fishing even when I am skipping docks.  In those situations, there is nearly no room for him to squeeze past, yet he does so, even having bumped my boat in the past.  He is a cranky old man & in his mind, he is going to paddle right next to the line of docks in every cove and if that affects anyone else (fishermen, docksitters, etc), that is their problem, not his.