Things that really frustrate me about some fishermen.

[roadwarrior]

Well, it is easy for me...I carry a trash bag and pick up every day.   

Complain or just address the problem.

 

 

[kayaking_kev]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:49 PM, roadwarrior said:

Well, it is easy for me...I carry a trash bag and pick up every day.   

Complain or jut address  the problem.

 

 

Maybe that's what I'll start taking a trash bag with me also, it just amazes me as a pretty new angler, I see some pretty old trash sometimes that hasn't even been in production in a long time. You would think that the City would clean these places once in awhile seeing how they are public places.

[ike8120]

I contacted my state F&W about a particular state fishing spot with the amount of trash, I was told you bring it in you take it out, they don't have people to pick up trash. This place was a mess.  Also fishing without a license and taking anything that swims no matter what size upsets me. I do take the trout and smoke them.

[kayaking_kev]

5 hours ago, MGF said:

Why do people leave their shopping cart where it will roll into your car? They aren't smart enough to do it to intentionally to damage your car. First of all they don't care. More importantly, they can't think that far ahead. We may really be in the "zombie apocalypse" and they are the zombies. LOL. 

You ever watched Cart Narcs on Youtube? Pretty funny!

[N Florida Mike]

The urban ponds in my area are the worst- and I rarely see anyone else at the ones I go to. Little styrofoam worm containers are the most numerous, followed by drink cans, bread bags, etc. I think it’s largely the non- serious , occasional anglers that do it. They are also the ones that keep everything in spite of limits. In my area , a lot of them are foreigners that haven’t been here long.

I don’t mind people keeping some fish- just obey the laws. 
I keep Bass occasionally in the home lake to thin the herd and get a better average sized fish. My little slot is 12-15 inch fish only, unless a bigger one dies on me, which is rare anymore. Filleted bass is good!!

 

My biggest aggravation while trying to fish off piers or docks in saltwater is the rude, or oblivious boaters that get too close going by and wrap up all your lines. I get almost fighting mad when it happens ( which is at one of my favorite spots in st Augustine) , but I’m usually very mellow about most everything else these days...

[jbsoonerfan]

If I've learned anything, it's that there are people out there who don't have a clue what they are doing, have no idea what BR is and probably don't know KVD from PVC, but they are consistently catching all the big bass. Weird.

[schplurg]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:49 PM, roadwarrior said:

Well, it is easy for me...I carry a trash bag and pick up every day.   

Complain or jut address  the problem.

 

 

We can do both.

 

I thought of putting up a few signs at a local place but figure they'd get ripped off. I may try anyways.

 

I talk about picking up trash a lot in my Youtube videos, hoping at least one person will take heed. I'm not famous but what the heck. Sometimes I'll highlight a piece of trash in a vid hoping that the local idiot who left it will recognize it, and maybe his buddies 

 

I pick up trash when I'm not too ticked off about it to do it. Sometimes I just think "why bother" and leave it. Sometimes I feel I'm just enabling these jerkoffs, yet if I don't pick it up the county may shut down our spot, or so I fear. 

 

Two days after "opening day" at a specific creek I found fresh trash. Sad. I felt so defeated (plus I got no bites). 

 

If I see someone littering I may say something to them unless I feel it could turn out bad. I'm kinda "that guy" sometimes.

 

"Hey I got an extra garbage bag if you need one" can work better than "hey butt-wipe, pick up your trash you stupid such n such" though it kinda depends on my mood and how big they guy is  

 

But really, I wonder if most people who litter can be helped at all. Hopefully some can. I just can't fathom littering at all ever anywhere.

[Hower08]

What part of Ohio are you in. 

[N Florida Mike]

5 hours ago, schplurg said:

I just can't fathom littering at all ever anywhere.

Same here! Maybe it’s the way we were raised.  If I threw down a wrapper or something I was always told that “ the policeman would come get me “ if I left it there. When I got older , it was always “ He’ll write you a big litterbug ticket” or you  may have to go to court etc. It worked!!

[kayaking_kev]

1 hour ago, Hower08 said:

What part of Ohio are you in. 

Allen County

[Oregon Native]

Draw down is amazing around here in winter....pickup trucks of krap on lake edges.  When I could drive would take grandkids and plastic bags and go down lake and take home a bag full...they loved it...

 

[TriStateBassin106]

1. Cat-fishermen, especially the weekend ones, the amount of trash they leave behind is unacceptable. I almost tripped and fell on one of my outings right into a left behind pack of hotdogs and weights in a plastic bag. 

 

2. Anglers bringing stupid stuff to the lake, I've seen guys bring saltwater rods 9 feet tall, crab traps and casting nets, it's stupidity at it's finest. 

 

3. Getting cut off by boat anglers. I fish one lake that allows Kayaking and small jon boats to fish the lake alongside guys like me who only have a small portion of bank to work with. I've had this happen multiple times where me and one of my buddies I go fishing with are working the bank at this specific spot, then some guy in a kayak who has the whole lake to fish decides "Hey, I'm gonna be a jerk and fish the only part of the lake the bank anglers can fish." Like why? You're literally fishing the only part of the lake that's pressured??? They have the whole lake!!

[Crow Horse]

Littering leads my list of behaviors that disgust me. Another is hearing other fisherman/boaters drop F bombs at every other word in their drunken stupor. Any behavior that even suggest them having a disrespect for the environment I find repulsive.

 

I'm very lucky that the small pond we almost exclusively fish is usually "fisherman" free and we have the place to ourselves. Adjacent to it is a small camping area and again, the drunken screaming voices of some campers showcases their irresponsible behavior.

 

When the opportunity presents itself, I will try to "educate" them in the hope that they eventually have a moment of self realization and change their behavior. This doesn't happen often.

 

We even got "shot at" although that is somewhat misleading. Youths irresponsibly shooting at turtles in the water and having both my wife and I in the line of fire. I though my days of having lead flying around me were over. Apparently not. Long story short, I took care of the issue without needing any law enforcement involvement.

 

Some basic rules to follow:

*Don't litter. Pick up your stuff when you leave. If you packed it in, pack it out.

*Have a respect for the environment. Treat it as you would when you enter a place of worship.

*Have respect for fellow fisherman or campers.

*Speak softly. People in the next county don't need to hear your every waking thought.

*Always leave the environment better than when you arrived. Pick up the trash that other ignorant people have left behind.

*Leave no trace of your passage.

 

If you employ these basic rules, consider it a code of conduct, you can still have a very enjoyable time. The reality of it is that if you keep your mouth shut and your ears and eyes open, you'll be a witness to the greatest show on Earth.

 

[scaleface]

I picked up trash bags full at my  subdivision pond, made it a daily routine. Confronted a couple of fellows who didnt belong there about the trash they have been leaving . Days later I had a brick thrown through my window . Dont know who did it but connecting the dots the picture looks like those two fellows .

[tander]

Trash got to be a big problem at my reservoir, especially below the spill way. They threaten to close fishing down at the spill way if it continued to be an issue. They closed it for a few days to clean up the trash and then reopened it. Now you have a to have a trash container with a trash label on it. If caught without it, big fine. Now you have to a trash bucket/bad in the boat also labeled trash. It did not completely solved the problem but it is much better. Much cheaper to buy a plastic bucket from Lowes than to pay a fine.

[NYWayfarer]

The amount of litter along the river shoreLine I fish is staggering. With the volume of indoor escapees increasing so has the trash they leave behind.

 

Today was a plastic shopping bag full of worm cups, bait and hook packages, empty cans (alcohol, energy drinks, soda and Gatorade) miniature liquor bottles, sunscreen containers and last but not least fishing line.

 

Fishermen that litter are the fishermen that frustrate me the most.

[Mobasser]

When I first joined BR, one of my early post was called" Becoming A Trashman". I mainly described how my grandson and I carried a couple of trash bags and picked up what we could. We still do it. It's a constant thing, and some folks will never understand. Fishing is a privledge. By helping clean up, you can at least know that you tried to do your part to help out. Myself and an older friend I fish with confronted two guys who pulled up and threw two bags of trash on the ground in front of the dumpster. My friend Mike walked over and said, " pick it up". They looked upset, but did throw it in the dumpster. Mike is a big guy, and even though he's 71 now, he can still hold his own. But, the bad thing is with confronting people, you never know what can escalate these days. Probably best to get a plate number, and call the police or Conservation agent. Far too many stupid, trigger happy punks out there these days....

[Teal]

Points of frustration.  Some of these are justified, some are pet peeves.

 

1. "Karen" playing on her phone while her 5 kids run around on the dock and ramp while I'm trying to back a boat in without backing over one of the 5 kids.  

 

2. People coming to the ramp unprepared.  It takes me 2 minutes to pull up, pull off to the right, run to back of my boat, make sure Plug is in, take transom saver off, unstrap boat.  Then I have get back in my truck and wait for "Tyler and his 3 friends in the rig in front me cuz they are standing around their rig not knowing what to do or that they are wasting my time.  And they dont have the common sense to pull off in the parking lot, or all the way over to I can go around them.    No I'm not impatient, I have little tolerance for inconaideration especially for those of us that stay up later to make sure we are prepared.  

 

3. I take my kids bank fishing quite a bit, my girlfriends daughters cant swim so u dont take them on the boat.  Anyways, I know that the river is public, as well as the spots on the lake.  I realize that we will see all different people from all ages and backgrounds, but I cannot stand for my kids to have to witness some of the peoples language and disrespect while kids around.... and I hate that my kids see people litter and leave their trash there.  We take breaks at my truck and trash goes in the back of the truck.  

 

4. I saved the best 2 for last the last 2

  CUTTING ME OFF ON THE INSIDE.  I can't stand for another fisherman to cut me off on the inside.  Why not just go around me...hey, i can live with u going to the outside and going.to the other end of the shoreline I'm fishing, or other side of the point and working your way to me.  I've had people do it the right way, I've been sitting on a spot and have people put their trolling motor down, come over and just tell me their intentions... cutting me off and fishing water I'm sitting on isnt cool.  I know I dont own the lake but have a little courtesy.  I'm more than understanding.  I have been on spot had guys come over and actually put them on fish.  

5. Jetskis.  Period.  

[gim]

The public accesses really irk me too when there's a line of people waiting.  It used to really burn me up.  Now I'm pretty good at ignoring it and have more patience (I think it comes with age).  I've also simply learned to avoid peak times at the access.  Inclement weather keeps a lot of people off the lake and often makes for better fishing.

 

The absolute WORST crowd when it comes to angling are the ice fishermen.  People park on the lake for days at a time and leave all kinds of crap right ON the ice.  Trash, human feces, fish guts, empty propane tanks, pieces of discarded wood, beer cans, etc.  Where do you think all that stuff ends up when the ice melts in the spring?  Yep, in the lake.  I'm not saying that every ice angler is like this - but by far and wide they are the worst crowd simply because they are out there for longer periods of time.  The sad thing is that most of them are really not out there to catch fish.  Fishing is secondary after drinking, socializing, playing cards, watching satellite TV, etc.

 

People keeping bass does bother me too, especially decent sized ones.  Its pretty rare here, but it does happen.  Obviously a decent sized fish varies on what part of the country you are in but up here in the north a 3 pound bass is a pretty big bass - one that likely took 5-7 years to reach that size.  I'd much rather have them keep a bunch of small pike that actually need to be harvested.

[Big Rick]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:49 PM, roadwarrior said:

Well, it is easy for me...I carry a trash bag and pick up every day.   

Complain or just address the problem.

 

 

Interesting that a Global Moderator would circumvent the exact system he is charged with monitoring and protecting by specially placed spaces to get those curse words in....?

 

I guess sometimes you just gotta get it out...

[Teal]

Wont be long now....?

[the reel ess]

If the place is managed by DNR and there's a limit and the guy isn't exceeding the limit, there's nothing you can do about him keeping a 3 pounder. Honestly, if DNR is checking the population and average size keeping bass is good for a small fishery. I won't keep a 3 pounder. But some will eat that fish.

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, Big Rick said:

Interesting that a Global Moderator would circumvent the exact system he is charged with monitoring and protecting by specially placed spaces to get those curse words in....?

 

I guess sometimes you just gotta get it out...

Point taken, all associated posts edited.

 

[GreenPig]

On 5/17/2020 at 2:03 PM, Squarebill79 said:

I was fishing at a spillway once and got tired of walking in filth, so I got some trash bags and filled 7 bags full of garbage. I went back a week later and it was just as bad as when I cleaned it. Thats when I realized its a complete lost cause to even care anymore.

 

 

Don't give up on doing the right thing. I pick up other folks trash every fishing trip. I was raised to treat anything you are using just like you own it. Unfortunately not every outdoorsmen is a conservationist. 

[galyonj]

47 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Don't give up on doing the right thing. I pick up other folks trash every fishing trip. I was raised to treat anything you are using just like you own it. Unfortunately not every outdoorsmen is a conservationist. 

I keep a few plastic Kroger bags in my gear and will usually take a break and try to fill one up when I'm out at the water. Keeping my hands busy by cleaning the place up a little bit kinda beats pouting over getting skunked again.