Cutting in or invading space.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I didnt want to hijack Ranger364v thread and it got me thinking.

When fishing from a boat what do you guys consider someone cutting you off, 50 ft, 100yds etc.  I'm use to fishing little lakes say less then 100 acres so I get passed or pass quite a bit.  I alway ask before going around but just wondering you thoughts.

[Shakes]

Yelling distance.

[Ranger364]

The lake is P U B L I C!

A little over casting distance should be fine.

[marlboroman]

I look at it like this, if I am heading in the same direction as the person wanting to fish close to me, then they need to atleast give me some room... 100 yrds or so. why not fall in behind me...

If I come down a lake and you are fishing and going the way i want to go then I will get 100 or so yards in front, but mostly I just bring up the rear and watch what you are doing and try something different..

I have had people get right in front of me, I don't say a word, i just cast at there boat and keep fishing, then tend to get the hint and move on. This happen to me 2 weeks ago at a turny, I was fishing some piers and a boat come flying in there and got 5 feet in front of me. I just keep casting in his direction and he moved out of the way. The nerve of some people... it is just ... well we all know what it is

[Guest the_muddy_man]

50 yards is plenty i hate when Im 30 to 40 yards from shore and some mook comes between my position and the shore!

[Jig Man]

Anything on my side of the lake in the direction I am heading is mine. ;D  If you want to fish it, get behind me and catch what I leave. ;)

[Gotta Love It]

I always fall behind someone when fishing the same stretch of shoreline (if they were there first)... I would expect the same from someone else! If not, the 4 ounce egg sinkers on the end of a flippin stick come out and it's bombs away !!! This trick also works well with those pesky jet ski's!!! ;D

[roadwarrior]

Well, Lake Fork was an eye-opener for me. No one EVER cuts in on the lakes and rivers I fish, sometimes there aren't any other boats on the water! At full pool, Bull Shoals has 1,050 miles of shoreline encompassing 45,000 acres of lake surface. Except for some concentration of boats near the principal marinas, I rarely see anyone on the lake. On the Tennessee River, 99% of the recreational boat traffic is within a mile of Pickwick Dam, the rest of the water is mine. Lake Fork was fun, but I couldn't (wouldn't) handle that crowd on a regular basis.

[fourbizz]

100 Yards.

Any closer and I will land a swimbait on your deck.

[ABA CAST CHAMP 2006]

I don't really pay too much attention to people cutting me off because I know that I am better at fishing than they are and I know what the fish are biting on. They don't know anything.  At least that's what I tell myself.  Anyway, a quick story...I was fishing an ABA district championship at Barren River Lake last May/June (not really sure which), but the fish were biting like crazy on two of the points that I had caught good fish on during the first day of the tournament.  I had caught 2 fish off one of the points already and was going for the 3rd when a jonboat with about 5 scary looking drunken "toothers" pulled straight up to the point and all jumped out of the boat!  Since they looked dangerous, I just asked what they were doing and they said very frankly that they were "noodling."  Upon hearing this matter-of-fact statement from these unsavory sailors and seeing that they had no intention of making a speedy re-entry to their boat, I decided it would be in my own best interest to go to the other fishy point and to not make a crime scene.  Sometimes it's best to just let people have their way, but if it's another bass angler, then give 'em hell.

[Gotta Love It]

100 Yards.

Any closer and I will land a swimbait on your deck.

Hope those are cheap swimbaits   !!!

[llPa1nll]

To be honest its my experience that I have less of a problem with other fishermen. My problem lies with the idiots driving the Pleasure Boats, Pontoon Boats, and Jet skis. I cant fathom how rude people can be and the disregard for courtesy and safety, that seems to permeate through most of them while they are out on the lake behind the wheel.

I have two instances one when I was a kid middle of the day fishing out of my parents canoe. I was paddling across the lake. A Pontoon Boat, the driver wrapped up in the conversation he was having with his friends. Obviously didnt take into the act the speed he was going or how close he was but came along side of my canoe and I had to push off with my oar to stop from having an accident. Granted he was going thru a no wake zone and obeying the speed but. Watch where you are going!

The second instance happened 2 years ago. A pleasure boater filled with people crawling along at 5-8 mph. I was fishing a line of docks and rafts approx 40ft off shore. The boater disregarding the boater safety laws and common courtesy came in between me and the shore. I made it know to them that I wasnt happy, shouting something like "Thanks guys for the courtesy and safe distance." This was in a cove of  my pond I noticed where he was going as he turned his boat to the wrong side of the marker buoys and landed his lower unit and prop square into the rocks. I stood there put my rod down on the deck and started clapping, yelling "Next time you might wanna peak at the boater safety manual."

I rarely have a problem with fishermen just moronic pleasure boaters....

[frogtog]

I'am with Strike King on that. Yelling distance is close enough. Any closer would

be unsportsman like. 8-)

[bassnleo]

Unfortunately, most of the lakes in this area are congested and fairly small, being crowded is a common problem. I usually don't have an issue with someone close to me, it's when I working a strech of water and a guy comes in and cuts me off in the direction I'm fishing, say 50 yds or closer.

And if I may add, I've had more problems with pleasure boaters like sail boats. On 2 or more occasions I was fishing off shore structure and had a sail boat run over my marker buoy. On one occasion my line got hung on the sail boats thingy that comes down off it's bottom, really not happy with that guy.

[Jayson]

Well I don't have a boat, but I know what you all mean about those jet skiers, pleasure boaters and new one here is wind surfing ... they all think the whole lakes theres and don't care much for others it seems:-?

Oh yeah who could forget those muscle boat freaks : > :(

[Troutfisher]

100 Yards.

Any closer and I will land a swimbait on your deck.

So THAT's where all my free baits are coming from!  ;D

[dink]

Just don't fish the lake I am on! ;D ;D  Seriously, I don't know what is acceptable or not.  Regardless, the type of fishing we all do here puts us in the position to run into these type of scenarios... sort of an 'assumed risk'.  I have actually had a guy (catfishing) drop two anchors into a sunken tree that I was still dragging a C. Rig through.  It blew my mind but I didn't blow my top.  I just went somewhere else.  I consider rude or ignorant people at the lake to be just another variable to deal with... much like the weather.  

Just remember, (the next time somebody really ticks you off with their antics) you are out fishing and some poor sap somewhere is at WORK.

[jomatty]

i dont have any set criteria but when i was working a stretch of laydowns and someone zipped right in and cut 15 ft in front of me and proceeded to  fish right in front of me it took all my strength not to say something.  should have used the egg sinker attack method

[BASS fisherman]

It does get to be annoying.  

Ish Monroe says that no one can catch someone elses fish.  Meaning if I'm fishing, and you cut me off, I don't get mad, they aren't going to catch my fish.  

Last night this very issue came up while I was fishing around a small pond.  These two guys hopped around me and went down about 30 feet and started fishing.  I tied on a big ol buzz bait and hit a brush pile that they were standing on.  I even watched a few fish shoot off as they clomped down to the brush pile.  I dont even think they saw the fish that they scared off.  

[Redlinerobert]

most lakes are crowded nowadays.  I'm with RW though - I fish lakes that typically have little or no other boats on them.  Mainly private ones though -

[CJ]

When fishing shoreline or offshore,curtiousy space varies.

I don't drop in on anybody or cut off the shoreline they are fishing.I take into consideration the direction they are headed and what feature they're focusing on.When the fishing goes offshore,I won't go within 100 yards but I also take into consideration of their direction and and what features they are targeting.

[flyphisher #]

Less than 50 yards and you will get an earful. I wont start a confrontation but I will express my displeasure verbally.  I have had homeowners cuss me out for fishing their docks,the same homeonwers that sit on there dock and report everyone that enters the cove for no wake violations whether they made wake or not, they then get in their ski-boat, cabin cruisers and the wake zones dont apply to them. People speed by me  closely because they want to fish the point I am on. The best one though was this jerk on a jet ski was basically doing circles around me for fun and I started yelling at him after ignoring him didnt work, he follows me around hollering mfer at me. Then I went and started fishing a bridge/riprap and he starts running close up and down beside the bank i am fishing and my boat... Since as my luck would have it, DNR is never around...So i calmly tied on the biggest spinnerbait I had and started chunking it in his direction when he got close....After a near miss he left in a hurry.

[extreme1018]

ive had this happen. a guy came and cut about 20 or 30 feet in front of me. before he even got his rods out i had already fired up the moter and parked right beside him about 10 ft away in the direction i was already goin. he gave me a funny look and asked me what the hell i was doin. i simply stated that i was here first and that many people should consider some courtesy every now and then. i then proceeded to fish as normal. he got the idea and left

[senile1]

If I'm getting skunked and a boat cuts in a quarter of a mile away, then it's too close.  

Seriously, I prefer for other boaters to give me some room if I'm fishing some structure or a bank, and I try to do the same.  It is difficult to place an exact measurement on it.  If someone is moving fast down a bank, I'll give him enough room where he won't encounter me for at least 5 - 10 minutes.  

[Jerkbate]

I would say no less than 100 yards. It usually doesn't bother me if someone cuts me off. I have the same attitude that a couple of other people have mentioned. I'm a better angler, & I'm going to catch fish that they can't. Whether it is true or not, it helps me keep my cool and continue to enjoy my time fishing.

I fish Grenada Lake, and this time of year it is literally covered with crappie fishermen. It is nothing to have 70 or 80 trucks at every boat ramp. However, most every one is considerate, and I rarely have any trouble with people cutting me off. It is during the summer that I really get ticked off.

What reallly irritates me are the pleasure boaters, especially the teenagers who have mom & dad's boat or jet ski but no idea how to properly operate it. Last year, I had a jet skier keep running by me really close. He thought it was funny until I caught him setting still, ran by him about off plane at half throttle, rolled him in the water, and pushed his jet ski into the rocks. He left me alone after that.

On another occasion last summer, I had a ski boat run by me a few times pulling a skier even though I was sitting in less than 2 feet of water. The skier was so close on a couple of passes I could have almost touched him with my rod. They soon found out how deep the water was when they ran their boat aground. The skier had an awful crash. They asked me to pull them off, but I just ignored them as I laughed and waved on my way by them.

Looking back neither reaction was the Christian thing to do, but I let my emotions get the better of me.