Marker buoy "rules"

[done]

   I have no idea what the boating rules are for these. More importantly what is customary. When someone puts these out, is there a code of honor about avoiding them?

   I got a guy a bit agitated last week on this. He put out not 1 or 2 but like 15-20 all within 10 ft of each other across an entire navigation channel.  My first thought was he was with the state and maybe there was some navigational hazard or something he was marking for safety. Turns out he was fishing. To avoid these things altogether I would have had to run my boat into some rather hazardous areas. I pretty much ran one over while trying to avoid them and ticked him off.

    Seems to me, dropping these things in a navigation channel like this you should have no expectation that I am going to endanger my passengers or my boat. It also seems to me, since he was staying the the exact same area (within 3/4 mile) fishing, there is no reason to be dropping them like this.

   I see them from time to time on the Lake and it got me wondering, what is the general polite way to deal with these?

[bowfish12]

If it was that many he was probably jugging for catfish. I would have done the same thing if that was the only navigable water to drive through.

[BassDeaton01]

Eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth. If he wasnt considerate enough to place his buoys where everyone else could still navigate then I wouldve done the same thing.

[done]

The navigation was one thing. He also literally marked a  3/4 mile stretch of the lake off. I mean, it is a big lake but, IMO, it is for all of us to share. If someone is actively fishing a hole, I give them at least 100 yards berth. I do not appreciate folks in my face when I a fishing so I give the same consideration.

That being said, if I am on one hole I have no right whatsoever to lay claim to every other decent hole in the lake. If someone wants to fish those, they have every bit as much right as I do, IMO.

It just seemed like he was marking off this whole section as HIS.

he is the first person I have ever seen do that on the lake. I usually see one or 2 of these orange things floating here or there, but the way he did it, just ticked me off and got me to wondering what the "rules" were as far as courtesy goes with these.

Would you fish a hole where someone had left a buoy? Obviously, taking them would be shady, but fishing it? I see these from time to time on a few of the WELL known and best producing holes on the lake.

Just one of those areas (sort of like ramp rules), I just have complete ignorance of when it comes to the courtesy around their use.

[J Francho]

Sounds like a whack-o.

[Daniel My Brother]

Sorry, no reservations allowed.

If I see a buoy at a spot I want to fish, but don't see a boat anywhere in sight, I would leave the buoy but go ahead and fish the spot.  

If somebody is marking a 3/4 mile stretch and blocking a navigation channel they are in the wrong and asking for trouble.  I would not try to hit their buoy, but I would also not put myself or my boat in danger to avoid one.

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner. This irritates me. Normally I'll let the guy have that stretch of water, but it seems a bit rude.

[J Francho]

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner.

I'm guilty of this.  But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario.  I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint.  Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint.  I might have 4 or five buoys out there.  Its never been an issue.  When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS.  My buoys all have my name and cell# on them.

[Daniel My Brother]

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner.

I'm guilty of this. But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario. I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint. Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint. I might have 4 or five buoys out there. Its never been an issue. When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS. My buoys all have my name and cell# on them.

I would imagine the unwritten rules on Ontario are a little different than the 4 mile long lake I fish on. I have no doubt you are courteous on the water.

[done]

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner.

I'm guilty of this. But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario. I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint. Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint. I might have 4 or five buoys out there. Its never been an issue. When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS. My buoys all have my name and cell# on them.

I would imagine the unwritten rules on Ontario are a little different than the 4 mile long lake I fish on. I have no doubt you are courteous on the water.

On Ontario you could leave a couple dozen boats drifting as markers and never interfere with folks.

[cart7t]

Check your state and local regulations.  It's illegal in many places to put obstructions in marked navigation channels.  

[fishfordollars]

Typical idiot. You have the right to navigate a marked channel. Don't worry about it for an instant.

[J Francho]

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner.

I'm guilty of this. But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario. I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint. Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint. I might have 4 or five buoys out there. Its never been an issue. When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS. My buoys all have my name and cell# on them.

I would imagine the unwritten rules on Ontario are a little different than the 4 mile long lake I fish on. I have no doubt you are courteous on the water.

Definitely a different deal, as I said before, the dude M Starr describes sounds like a wack-o. I'm generally pretty courteous, until one of the binocular fisherman spots my bent rod, and suddenly there are ten boats parked in my drift. You'd be surprised how quickly your smallie spot gets known, LOL. I don't mind them fishing, Its cool if we're all catching, but it just cracks me up that I'm in a kayak, and they're following me around. The trollers tick me off though. Once they show up, I leave.

[bassnleo]

What is more common is the marker buoy 200+ yards from it's likely owner.

I'm guilty of this. But I'm a mile or so, off shore, on Lake Ontario. I drop the buoy, then drop a waypoint. Then I drift to where the I'm a 100 yards or so away, and drop another buoy and waypoint. I might have 4 or five buoys out there. Its never been an issue. When you are out in a vast expanse of nothing, the markers give you real, visual conformation of what you are seeing on your GPS. My buoys all have my name and cell# on them.

I was using a buoy 2 weeks ago on main Lake Erie. I had walleye trollers skirting my buoys all day. One boat even hooked the line with a planer board (all while I was yelling at them to warn them about the buoy). I posted a question on a local website about why the walleye boats are trolling so shallow (20-25 feet) and all I got was grief from the charter captains about how a buoy isn't necessary and I have no right to claim a piece of water with a buoy......idiots

Anyway...I agree with you

[J Francho]

The trollers are there because they couldn't get any walleye, or can't find them, so in order to get their clients a few bites, they troll for SMALLIES.  They tell the client that the walleyes must be inactive, but they could probably get a bunch of smallies shallow, and the clients jump.  Planer boards, and cranks are deadly on smallies.  I know.  I used to do it myself.