Confused fishing etiquette

[MN Fisher]

I think you handled it the best you could - maybe a 'light' warning about etiquette wouldn't have been out of place - but he seemed nice.

 

35 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I wouldn't have been handing him senkos myself though, but that's just me personally.

Senkos - no...too deep a hole in my shallow pockets - a few Stik-Os maybe...

[Bankc]

I fish from a kayak in crowded lakes, so this kind of thing happens to me all of the time.  From a kayaker's perspective, moving is hard, slow, and deliberate.  So you usually choose a straight line.  It may have seemed to him that he was moving towards that spot long before you made your way around to it.  So it's possible that both of you were thinking the same thing.  But you did the right thing.  

 

The way I see it is, whoever is fishing faster should go ahead, and give plenty of space as you move around.  Just like golf.  I don't mind fishing behind someone else either.  It happens almost every time I go out.  I usually catch more fish than the boat that moves in front of me, as I can see what they're doing and get a sense of what works and what doesn't.  In a crowded public lake, all of the obvious spots will be hit up many times a day by many boats.  So pretty much everyone is fishing a used spot.  A good angler knows how to adjust to that, where a bad angler blames their circumstances.  

[Zcoker]

Maybe the guy is on another forum, telling everyone about the nice guy he met on the lake who shared knowledge about senkos and showed him the ropes!

[schplurg]

On 5/23/2022 at 3:29 AM, GRiver said:

He probably just didn’t know proper fishing rules. 
I think you did all right.

Hopefully he’ll help the next and so forth.

Maybe he is reading this forum and goes   “oh crap,…. That was me” 

Maybe one day they will have a section, “proper fishing etiquette” you have to read before you get your fishing license. 

 

That's a good idea. Or at least hand out a pamphlet for you to take.

 

Then again, who is handing out drivers' licenses these days? For Pete's sake can't you guys teach drivers how to merge, at minimum? Maybe use a turn signal?

[RDB]

11 hours ago, Zcoker said:

Maybe the guy is on another forum, telling everyone about the nice guy he met on the lake who shared knowledge about senkos and showed him the ropes!

I think you can be nice, share knowledge about senkos, and still point out proper etiquette.  I think most people either don’t apply everyday etiquette to their fishing behavior or they just don’t care.  Most of us would’t jump across to the front at checkout when the other line calls for next.  Same with parking spaces or any number of situations we face daily.  However, get on the water and all bets are off.  This isn’t about a rule book or “it’s a public lake”.  It’s about a lack of common courtesy often exhibited on our waters, yet understood and displayed by MOST in every day situations.

[michaelb]

If he was in a kayak paddling across the lake and fishing is normal and may be necessary based on wind or other reasons. I would not cut someone in a bass boat off as a general matter, but if i need to go somewhere or paddle a line say tight to shore, i will do that. Under navigation rules, doesn’t the kayak have the right of way?

[TriStateBassin106]

Similar thing happened to me but at the bank on a public pond. I was fishing a tiny section of bank next to a fishing dock, I had to retie something and this dude came up to me and we talked about the fishing for a minute but he immediately started making casts in the spot I was in...I didn't even move out of it I was like 2ft away from the guy, probably one of the most disrespectful things you can do to another angler is take over his spot while he's still there. 

 

I didn't say anything because I'm not the confrontational type but I was also in a good mood and just started fishing. If this was a few hours in and the fishing was slow I would've probably said something. 

[the reel ess]

On 5/22/2022 at 8:30 PM, OG SmashSauce said:

This weekend I went out in my Bass raider. I was first on the lake and I took off to the right. I made it to the end of the red line about an hour and a half later.  While I was reeling in a bass I look over and saw that a kyak had left the launch, shot straight over and started fishing about 50 yards-ish in front of me.  I thought it was pretty d**n close considering out big the lake was!!!

 

Soooo, I release my bass and started to go around him. He looks at me and we get to talking *about fishing* and he told me he didnt knwo what a Senko was. So I ended up actually giving the guy a few senkos, showed him how to rig it and continued around him even though I was annoyed as all hell! lol

 

In this situation....should I of not gone around him and just continued to follow fishing behind him right after he just fished a spot or?   I was just really caught off guard.

 

*side note* Lake drawing is not to scale!! hahahahahaha

This is the reason I don't "buddy fish" with other kayakers very often. Some people consider fishing to be a social event. If I wanted to be sociable, I'd join a club. 

13 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Similar thing happened to me but at the bank on a public pond. I was fishing a tiny section of bank next to a fishing dock, I had to retie something and this dude came up to me and we talked about the fishing for a minute but he immediately started making casts in the spot I was in...I didn't even move out of it I was like 2ft away from the guy, probably one of the most disrespectful things you can do to another angler is take over his spot while he's still there. 

 

I didn't say anything because I'm not the confrontational type but I was also in a good mood and just started fishing. If this was a few hours in and the fishing was slow I would've probably said something. 

We had a house on a lake from 1968 to 2020. Once my dad and I arrived at the house and there was a car parked at the road. There were 2 people crappie fishing from our dock. It's not illegal to get on someone else's dock there in SC because Duke Energy owns everything below the high water mark. But it was illegal for them to get to it from the road. I asked my dad what we were gonna do and he said "Go fishing." We walked down and started setting up. The couple quietly packed up and walked out. 

[OG SmashSauce]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:40 AM, gimruis said:

I really can't add to this thread other than what has already been stated.  I'm just theorizing but he likely didn't know any better.

 

Let's assume that he did though.  Did you just go there and remain stationary?  I don't like people "cutting me off" within about 200 yards in front of me when I'm deliberately working down a shoreline, because then I'll I'm doing is fishing used waters.  So when I see someone doing it, I go WAY out in front of them to make a point that I'm not cutting them off.  If a boat or kayak goes in front of me, and intends to just stay there, I just simply go around them.

 

BTW I think you handled it well too.  I wouldn't have been handing him senkos myself though, but that's just me personally.

Ya, I was slow trolling around the lake. He did mention that he saw me reel in a few on his way to that spot and when he got there he was stationary.  

 

lol...yaaaaa.... well, I was in a good mood. Like I mentioned in another post I was having the single best day bass fishing I ever had so I felt like sharing

23 hours ago, schplurg said:

 

That's a good idea. Or at least hand out a pamphlet for you to take.

 

Then again, who is handing out drivers' licenses these days? For Pete's sake can't you guys teach drivers how to merge, at minimum? Maybe use a turn signal?

As a trucker I wish I could thumbs up this about 1,000,000 TIMES!!!

 

I am noticing a few people talking about fishing behind/following other boats... Granted I have no idea, I was under the impression that if you fish a spot you would spook the bass or if one is caught in an area that would pretty much be it for the area?   Obviously, I am wrong...lol

[schplurg]

11 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Similar thing happened to me but at the bank on a public pond. I was fishing a tiny section of bank next to a fishing dock, I had to retie something and this dude came up to me and we talked about the fishing for a minute but he immediately started making casts in the spot I was in...I didn't even move out of it I was like 2ft away from the guy, probably one of the most disrespectful things you can do to another angler is take over his spot while he's still there. 

 

I didn't say anything because I'm not the confrontational type but I was also in a good mood and just started fishing. If this was a few hours in and the fishing was slow I would've probably said something. 

 

I had a guy walk up right in front of me and start casting while I was retying. Like he almost got me with his back cast and was between me and the water. I didn't say anything because his kids were there, and that is the only reason. I had just helped one of them weigh his very first bass too. If we were alone he would have heard it, big time. I'm not always confrontational but I can be.

 

That was so weird I still can't believe it happened.

[Deleted account]

The thud a lipless makes on roto molded polyethylene is music to my ears...

[Triptych]

On 5/23/2022 at 12:34 AM, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Most of the time that happens to me its sheer ignorance on the other guys part.  I dont get irritated with the people that just dont know any better but the people that are aware they are being rude get to me every now and then.  The guy who jumps you or cuts you off and refuses to acknowledge you or make eye contact when your within 50ft are a lost cause.  They know what they're doing and just dont care.  What's worse is when they have a kid with them.

The ignorant guy happened to me recently. I was walleye fishing from shore in a channel and casting to the opposite seawall. Well, along comes this guy and his kid in a boat. He was going real slow to see where I was casting. He decides to spot lock 5 feet from the seawall that I was casting at and tells his kid to casts where I was casting. I could tell the kid knew right from wrong, felt uncomfortable, and was reluctant to cast but started casting into my spot because his dad/uncle/gramps kept telling him to. The guy never looked at me or even my way. I didn't catch anything that day and neither did he! The funny thing is that he would have had more luck at the mouth of the channel where the shore fishermen can't reach if he would have just thought a little instead of being a jackal.

[schplurg]

On 5/30/2022 at 6:37 AM, Deleted account said:

The thud a lipless makes on roto molded polyethylene is music to my ears...

 

I advise anyone with this attitude to visit the "Do You Carry While Fishing?" thread.

 

I once talked a guy out of beating the crap out of another guy for doing just that from shore. I was in the small boat and the driver drove straight to shore and jumped out before the dude could grab his gear and get away.

 

If anyone pulled that crap in my boat they'd be swimming.

[Ski]

On 5/22/2022 at 9:40 PM, Wildbillb said:

If he didn't know what a senko was chances are he wasn't going to catch the same fish tou were going to

Don't worry about fishing behind someone.

 

[soflabasser]

On 5/22/2022 at 9:36 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

The world needs more kindness and less anger.  You did good.

Well said @Tennessee Boy.

[ACGOG]

Real late to this, but I primarily do shore fishing and when I'm not it's kayak fishing...

 

I never, ever get close to boats. Ever. No matter what size.

 

No idea what that guy was thinking. Might have seen your nice setup and thought you knew what you were doing or something? Not sure if it was an etiquette thing or an ignorance thing.

 

On 6/7/2022 at 10:48 PM, Triptych said:

The ignorant guy happened to me recently. I was walleye fishing from shore in a channel and casting to the opposite seawall. Well, along comes this guy and his kid in a boat. He was going real slow to see where I was casting. He decides to spot lock 5 feet from the seawall that I was casting at and tells his kid to casts where I was casting. I could tell the kid knew right from wrong, felt uncomfortable, and was reluctant to cast but started casting into my spot because his dad/uncle/gramps kept telling him to. The guy never looked at me or even my way. I didn't catch anything that day and neither did he! The funny thing is that he would have had more luck at the mouth of the channel where the shore fishermen can't reach if he would have just thought a little instead of being a jackal.

 

I have to tell you, nothing bugs me more than when I'm shore fishing and some turd in a huge fancy boat trolls right up to where I'm casting and starts throwing lures into my spot. I generally just stand there and stare at them and for the most part it makes them uncomfortable enough to leave (having polarized glasses helps lol).

 

Love it when they ask if I've had any luck too. No matter if I've caught something or not the answer is always "no."

[gim]

On 6/7/2022 at 10:48 PM, Triptych said:

Well, along comes this guy and his kid in a boat. He was going real slow to see where I was casting. He decides to spot lock 5 feet from the seawall that I was casting at and tells his kid to casts where I was casting. I could tell the kid knew right from wrong, felt uncomfortable, and was reluctant to cast but started casting into my spot because his dad/uncle/gramps kept telling him to.

 

In the spring, when I am fishing a popular lake for crappies, often times the only areas that people are able to fish from shore are in channels (because the lake is primarily covered in private land with homes).  The problem I sometimes encounter is that people pitch their bobbers or lines right into the channel and are reluctant to move them when a boat needs to motor through.  The channel is designed for boat travel as a priority.  These shore anglers often give me the stink eye when I motor past and several times their lines have come very close (too close) to my boat or outboard.

 

In your case, I would never park there and fish.  What you described is a jack ass move.

[J Francho]

I think communicating your intentions is the best route.  It was nice of you to pass some of your knowledge on.