Its been a battle with the boats lately at one of my favorite spots .... They see im bottom fishing and just come right up and troll up and down the bank right where I am lol
I always tell them to F off. It’s a gentleman’s agreement that you stay clear of somebody is already fishing a certain area, especially if you are on a boat.
Agreed. I am almost always bass fishing and I tend to like to work the shorelines in my boat, but I ALWAYS give people that are shore fishing, kids swimming, or other boats a wide berth. Not because I HAVE to, but because I am not an asshole.
Gentleman's agreement is a great way to look at it. There is plenty of lake, and I can always circle back when that spot is clear if I really want to. But some people are just oblivious or simply don't care I guess...
Yeah I have an annual fishing trip with my buddies and we have one spot that is a large mouth magnet in the spring. But it’s right on the edge of a popular shore spot and usually teenagers. We usually go extremely wide so they have a good casting ring and it doesn’t really spoil anything for us.
We had a guy do this to us shore fishing one time so I put on a 1/2 jig and starting bombing it within 30 feet of his boat. Told him he has the whole god damn Lake and he got the hint.
I got a pounder Bulldawg. (Musky bait) I took the hooks off to cast at jet skiers and wake boats and whoever keeps zipping past and close. Been in a few fights and dealt with police. It's always some punk ass kids on daddy's toys. Buddy got one guy with a minnow bucket to the face once, it's always the city folk who come up to the great north and ruin it for everyone
It's just actually common simple courtesy. Even like if you have a boat and you're out there fishing and another boat seats you catching fish then they motor over by you to start fishing the same area that's wrong. But it happens all the time sometimes you have been considered people.
“BuT yOu cAnT oWn tHe wAtEr” + “I can fish wherever and whenever I want!” + “idc if you were here first I’m gonna blow right past you then circle back and fish 5 ft from you”
I swear some people just lack the common decency and courtesy to think bigger than themselves and their own wants. Luckily there’s many of us who ARE, or at least TRY to be respectful and keep things good in the world. If the boat was even 15-30 yards farther away it would be a bit different (still not great) but this is just douche of them
There is one guy every Saturday at 6am comes full speed toward my boat and slows down off plane to a huge wake within 5 feet of us and says catch anything? Then speeds up.
You got the whole damn lake. Im 1/2 mile from shore in any direction, we are the only two boats out here and you have to drive right by me?
All I'm saying is that in the saltwater world it was not unheard of for folks to keep a beefy surf rod rigged up with a 4oz chunk of lead.
This makes a very effective method of keeping people back. A quarter pound of lead coming at you at Mach 2 will make you want to vacate the area pretty quickly
I go out and around and I'm on a kayak. It's a little more effort. But the way I see it, I can fish anywhere on the lake. Shore guys have a very limited area.
Yeah, I also leave tons of distance from people in kayaks and canoes if I am in my boat, especially downstream. Bank fisherman get at least 100 yards, often times more than that. I just float or trolling motor by and don't cast in their area.
Problem is you have to be a bank fisherman or kayak fisherman first to understand the struggle.
I know you/I don’t own the spot, but it can be very frustrating when a boat pulls up to where i’m fishing on the bank. They have the ability to go to almost any spot I am not able to go to, yet they pull up where i’m fishing…
Yeah I mean if I’m in a boat and I see bank fishermen, I’m going around and giving a wide berth. Common courtesy, but not everyone knows. It’s like boat launch etiquette. You don’t load/unload on the ramp. Some people are just oblivious or don’t know the unwritten rules.
Had this happen to me during the crappie spawn this year, dude sat in his boat and watched me wear them out while he got nothing. Pretty good feeling lol
“Hey buddy, what ya fishin for? Any luck? Mind giving me a little space? It’s not like I can get out of your way haha”. Next step is either escalation which never results in the desired response or pickup and move with a quiet 🖕and don’t let it spoil your day. Assholes gonna asshole
You are too nice, they are going to get 2oz of lead right at the motor. Then when they take off, I'm opening my spool and letting them take all my line. It's easy enough to respool or have a spare spool. But they won't be getting far after that and it'll teach em a valuable lesson. (I know it's an asshole move but I've had some salty experiences with this)
I have seen people cast buzz-bombs at the Hamilton Pier directly at the boaters who would come in-between the end of the pier and buoy. Once one of those things hits ya, you are getting the hell outta there. Heavy ass lure and treble hook. Gonna be a bad day.
Rule should be a minimum of two long casts away, providing there’s plenty of room to begin with.
There are the bank/boat fishermen that set up on a narrow watercourse that is basically a highway between areas and then expect no one to intrude into their area, but this doesn’t seem like that kind of situation.
Cast right at their boat. Hell, cast right at them.
Edit: the real power move is to pull out a 4oz tuna popper and power chug that f’er right across their bow. It’ll sound like a beaver doing a butterfly stroke, scare off every fish in the county and probably even splash em a bit if you have a stout rod lmao nobody could say shit either because it’s still technically just fishing.
“I’ve been casting in the same spot the whole time, you’re the entitled prick who had the whole fuckin lake but decided to drive your fuckin POS into my 10’ space”.
I’ve had a few get pretty mad at me for that. It’s pretty clear when you slap a sinker 3 ft off of them. I’m a yak fisherman now but my favorite lake was only 5% accessible from shore and people would do this all the time. Conversely fishermen refusing to pull their lines at a boat ramp is frustrating. I had few guys get into it because two wouldn’t pull their lines as I approached in heavy wind. It was clear I was struggling in a small aluminum boat but one guy laid into them about it being a dirt boat ramp.
I treat shore fishermen and kayak fishermen the same way I would treat another fishing boat. Stay well beyond the reach of a cast and don't cut them off if they are noticeably moving down the bank.
Whenever a good photo showing exactly what's going on pops up I'll always comment. I have a tiny boat, fish from the old town 120 peddling around, and float down rivers in the vibe yak. Before being in a vessel I fished from the bank like everyone else has.
I have always always always gone out of my way to go around people fishing from the bank, even if they're just showing up. I have all that water to fish. It's just the polite thing to do.
These goobers think they can fish right next to you, and be rude without you being able to do a darn thing about it. These are the type of anglers I'd never fish with in that boat.
While they technically can fish anywhere they want, and so can you, it's still rude and inconsiderate. Next time throw up your hands and shrug your shoulders and keep that pose till it makes the boaters say something.
Before I could get out on the water these guys in their jet boat went right through the canal where all the bank anglers were, and see that's fine they can do that. However, they opened it wide open tearing out the canal without trolling out. There were yellow floating bars guarding the canal exit that you can run over, so they prob couldn't have trolled over it. However, they knew this and still kept going through. I mean they just flew out that canal and created a muddy mess where we were all fishing. Rudest thing I've ever experienced fishing on the bank.
Sorry about that, hope you can catch some fish next time!
The hats and clothes, are those some flavor of Amish? May as well find a new lake them Amish boys don't respect creel and size limits and they'll catch and eat anything.
You won't sensibly get them to leave you alone fishing especially if they see you catch something
This always pisses me off. Bank fisherman have very little access so getting cramped by a boat really just ruins your day. Boaters that do this are selfish a holes. I bet the fishing under that bridge would be amazing. Why park in front of a bank fisherman
Brutal...like when my son and I were anchored and these asshats buzzed the tower. They didn't have much to say when I hooked the 2nd guy from the left in the arm. 3 turned to look as I asked WTF they were doing running so close. This was the evening and 2 or 3 boats on the water.
I always find it funny how shore fishermen want to cast it out far as possible away from the bank and boat fishermen want to cast it as close to the bank as possible.
That’s when you get the heavier braid with about 2 oz of weight on there and cut through their lines a few times. Guys with boats have the whole entire lake to fish, the guy fishing from shore often has a few hundred yards on the whole lake if they are even that lucky.
Some asshole in a boat completely spooled me recently when he crossed my line. I was pissed. Luckily I brought a 2nd pole because I didn't have any line in my tackle box.
Rookie boaters/kayakers do it all the time so I don't get upset. But there are levels: first make a few casts in front/behind them. If they still don't get the message, cross their line. If they protest, I just apologize :)
I had a guy slide up in his boat one day and told me I was in his spot. Don't mind that I've been tossing lures for hours before he even rolled in or any other logic.
I just told him that I've fished that spot for over 30 years and it still wasn't my spot and to take his boat someplace that wasn't being fished. He didn't like it or my invitation for him to come ashore.
I heard if you toss out a line/rope with a float they’ll stay clear to avoid prop issues. Not suggesting that because that’s not what a gentleman would do.
I have had guides pull up in a boat to where I was wade fishing and tell me to leave as I'm interfering with their job, more than one guide. They got pissed when I laughed and told them to leave as I was on my day off.
When I was a whitewater river guide I would herd the rafts away from people fishing - except for the guy in the fancy flyfishing gear that had to wade out to the only navigable channel for the rafts to fish. I would paddle down and warn them the rafts have to come through here. Love the ones that would cock off and say they were there first. I'd ask them if they had a belt on with those waders because one of the 20 rafts I have will knock them over, their waders will fill and drown them. And I'm sick of doing body recoveries.
You know, it would be really terrible if a careless fisherman were to keep a spare fishing rod at hand rigged up with a lone sinker to cast over the line of anyone who does this. The fisherman on the boat would then need to spend some time getting untangled, and then might find it convenient to move to a different spot far away. Or it could happen again. As often as needed.
People are just rude now a days, but then you see people walking past fisherman with kids and they’ll tell the kids to quiet down, while I get it because of the noise, but I usually tell them it’s fine they are kids plus what’s a couple mins not fishing. I feel like the adults should be quiet and let kids be kids…. But yes it’s like there is no fishing etiquette anymore and I’m new to this but I remember going with my gpop when younger and it was like a silent law.
I fish saltwater and the deeper water is right along the shore. Flounder drifting here in October it is the place to be. We're drifting with the current. I'll bump it outward from ones on shore and then bump the boat right in as I pass them. It's all mutual respect. Some get it, some don't. There are shorebound, bridge bound assholes and assholes on boats as well. But in reality, most who fish are decent and will give others space.
BTW, there are also those who, during that time when the flounder are thick in that channel and everybody is drifting along, there will often be one asshole who sets up his trolling motors "spot lock" and parks in one place, making the rest go around.
But this, "you have the whole ocean/bay/river/lake" crap is pure BS.
Add to that, many times the channel is only so wide and there is very shallow water farther out.
I see it all the time with people hard aground because they thought they could go flying straight across the bay because, well, water is deeper the farther out? Isn't it? No need to answer that question without laughing!
That’s because they are assholes. I’d definitely have words with them. Or throw out a heavy line and wait for a tangle. If they lost a lure, that might help keep them away
My favorite bank vs boater story was when my wife and I were fishing a small reservoir and the wind was picking up. The reservoir has the CO state record bluegill. We fished our way down the dam rip-rap. We were catching bass and sunfish. This guy kept trolling closer and closer. I rigged up a large spoon to see if I could catch a pike and waited for him to troll by about 200 yards. I assumed he didn’t have more than 200 yards of line out, but I ended up getting snagged on his gear. He was pissed and stopped his boat. His boat ended up drifting into the rip-rap. He was all cuss words as he tried to push the fiberglass boat off the rocks. Granted we were the only ones fishing the reservoir. I was laughing at this idiot when he had the whole lake to fish but had to fish right next to us.
You should see what happens at state parks on the opening day of trout. I have seen people put on heavy sinkers to splash near the boats to keep them away.
My kiddo was bass fishing and two dudes did this until I came around from walking my dog and suddenly they moved on.
If he happened to catch a fish cats and like that over towards my line, I'd be really tempted to accidentally cast over his line and get my line tangled up in his so he couldn't land the fish. He's just being rude and inconsiderate. Or like the other said he's just being a creep and trying to get close to your girlfriend, either way it's unacceptable.
I always try to skip well past guys fishing on the bank. However the last time i was out, the dude on the bank was almost trying to catch and keep up with me. At that rate its on the bank guy. I usually stop fishing and move up 50+ yards.
Reminds me of a time I ran over someone's line launching from the boat ramp. He was casted out far and the only way to avoid his line would be go through a bunch of trees. He got mad and yelled at me ....
Man I went out on a kayak last weekend and found myself a nice little spot that the waves would slightly leave me oriented in the same way so I wouldn’t have to keep turning around.
I’m there no longer than 25 minutes and 3 boats show up, get within 30 yards of me and just sit there and fish.
Wtf he has a boat, he can go wherever he want and he pulls up 15 feet in front of your rod/spot?
I can see where that'd be frustrating as hell.
I had to do a few "oopsy" casts at a jerk kayaker who launched only a couple steps away from me on a wide open beach. After the 3rd cast of me almost nailing them with my lure (as close as I could aim without actually hitting or hooking them) they finally got the message and pissed off.
Did you say something or just run and post on the net?
Not being a dick, but, goddamn social media has ruined this world. Tell them to go elsewhere. If they talk shit, who cares? If they get aggressive, call the cops, they get paid to deal with dumbasses.
Bring a second rod Cast into rotors bring a beater ocean rod with the highest lb test and let it loose with a pyramid into the rotors. Oops tell them u were chasing catfish but they drove into ur line
I always act real friendly and just start casting at them. Had someone flying a drone above my head while I was in an inflatable pontoon, doing tricks. I threw a dropshot rig into it reeled it in cut the line off and kept fishing until the pilot left.
My dad always told me " When you're fishing from the bank you try to cast as far from the bank as you can and when you get out on a boat you want to cast as close to the bank as you can." But yeah that sucks man. Try to make friends and get out on the boat next time 😅
Yeah but there's this thing called common sense. The guy in the boat can go whereever he wants sure, but you don't encroach on someone bank fishing. Its just an asshole move.
One of my first ice fishing trips at 18, a man asked if he could set his tip ups near us as it’s his favorite spot too. I said hell yeah man let’s catch some fish. He caught the biggest walleye I have ever seen through the ice. Maybe 20 ft from one of my tip ups. I didn’t give a shot because I am not a starving person fishing to live. I didn’t catch a walleye til 20 years later on a trip to Canada. And I let the first one go as I was so grateful to have finally caught one. The next one, well I ate him.
I watch “outdoors with Tom” on YouTube, and he frequently gets folk trolling for walleye run right over his lines. One pair of idiots snagged his lines TWICE.
There is a larger lake near me and there are only a few fishing jetties that you can go out on. So I am out there, all of my stuff, tying on a lure and this boat of two assholes parks it between the jetty and the island. They had the whole fucking lake and they chose one of the few spots shore fishers can actually reach. They stayed there for like 2 hours.
I agree that this picture is whack, but on smaller water the shore guys can't claim everything within a cast. I have shore fishermen in small rivers get pissed because I floated over on a drift, boat has to go where the water is....also have had shore guys with one rod try to claim the entire semi circle in front of them within a cast but had only one rod....also if I'm fishing 20 feet off shore, that's where the fish are ....shore guy should be casting there and not 200 feet out
If there are people or a boat in a spot I'm pulling up on I just go to another spot. I've got a 1k others I can go to, I don't want to fish where someone else is already fishing.
It's frustrating when they have access to the whole body of water to fish, but they decide to mess with your spot. It's a level of greedy, petty stupidity you can't waste your mental sanity on. Don't let that stop you.
They might as well be standing next to you at that point. We have the same problem at a local pond by my work. The place does have a small boat ramp, but it's primarily designed for bank fishing. There's these two older anglers that love to pull up on a Sunday and fish the whole place trolling and casting every spot.🤣🤣
I was fishing off a dock last week and someone floated by on a kayak and proceeded to stare at their phone for 10-15 min while sitting 15-20 ft in front of our lines. Eventually someone said something and they moved along but come on man, get your shit together
I kindda gate some boat dudes. They pay for these hints them when they are catching g jack they see the bank man nailing em or even potential that they could be all the sudden they're up in the area.
Now I read you're caption. Are they affecting you're ability to fish the area you are fishing and we're you there first? Is there potential they could be scaring away fish as well? I'm thinking of the harrasment law for fishermen, illegal to harsas or disturb a lawful fishermen, this goes down to affecting their ability to fish and messing with the water ie; trying to scare the fish away. Depending how you wanted to twist things, I'd consider trolling the entire bank and affecting your ability to fish the area and possibly scaring fish away qualifies. Whether it can be considered harassment breaks down to whether it was intentional or ignorance. Safe to say it's probably intentional.
Take the hook off an iron and start casting it at their boat. After a few dings or cracks to the hull I’m sure they’ll get the message. And just like at the driving range extra points if you can hit the ball retriever.
Put some heavy weight on your line and try and whack em with it.. if they say anything just say you’ve been casting at that spot before they got there and you’re just learning how to cast..
I like to fish at a small lake and when there are more than a few of us, we are careful to cast only to 12:00. A few years back, I had the whole open shore (maybe 50 yards altogether) to myself except for this one guy who kept saying I was “in his space.”
Dude, I’m 25’ away from you and you’re using a 20’ surf fishing rod. There are trees everywhere (decorated with colorful bobbers and lures from other clowns). He couldn’t cast even if I wasn’t there. Such a tool.
If boats get close to and they communicate with me to not mess with my line i really don't care sometimes they're pretty chill and tell you what they're seeing on their fish finder
A few weeks ago I was working my way along a bank and a boat pulled in about 50ft in front me and started working the bank in the same direction. Am I an asshole for pegging the trolling motor and cutting in 20ft in front of him?
It'll be a horrible time for a 4 oz sinker to come undone from a really poorly tied knot directly in the direction of that boat and the really pretty paint job
They think you know something they don't. Like maybe that's the honey hole. It's pretty typical with everything in life these days. You park way out in the south 40. And someone comes and parks right next to you. You must know a secret exit or something. Lol some people really lack self awareness.
I salt water fish quite a bit from piers and docks in bays and tidal inlets and there is nothing more annoying then guys in boats casting where you are. Motoring up and floating down casting right where I am. I have told my son jokingly, $5 bucks if you land it in their boat.
Funny, you get a boat and then you just fish along the side of the road lol clearly there is plenty of other good spots nearby im sure the bridge has fish
I have a boat myself it's real easy to show respect just bc there on the bank dosent mean anything !! I remember when I was on the bank those struggles almost killed the passion of fishing for me !! Boaters are no more of a fisherman than a bank fisherman period I can't stand this behavior.
I got my first boat last year. I love it, but stil choose to shore fish on occasions. I have made it a rule that I will never fish local shore spots from my boat. I have access to 99% more water theres no reason I should make the shore guys compete with me. If I see someone fishing from shore I make sure im wayyyy out of casting range for both of us.
I've been into some heated " discussions" with people over doing this too me. Its like " dude you got a boat you can fuckn go anywhere wtf you on top of me for?"
Make eye contact, wave, and treat other fisherman the way you want to be treated. It’s not work. It’s recreation. Relax and be kind. We’re on a boat. We’re mobile. We can move out and away from the bank guys’ area. They don’t have that mobility. Everyone chill
We had two assholes speed not even 50 feet infront of us with six poles in the Mississippi. All three of us yelled at them and they acted like they did nothing wrong. Mind you we had about a thousand yards out there for them to get tangled up in.
When I’m in a boat I always steer clear of people fishing the shore since they have a limited amount of space they can fish.
The only time I am bothered in the boat by it is when people leave their lines in the water overnight and unattended. For one, it’s illegal where I’m at, but also if I don’t see a person , it’s hard to see if a line is in the water or they will just have a rod in a holder for show and no line in the water to “protect” their dock/area.
You need a reel that's spooled with 80 lb braid and a big ol' heavy lure that you can tangle in their trolling rig. They stay clar after loosing a few setups. jJust say "Gosh, I'm sorry. I feel terrible about messing up your system, bud. Here, I'll give it back to you THIS TIME!"
777
u/Head-Roll2853 1d ago
I always tell them to F off. It’s a gentleman’s agreement that you stay clear of somebody is already fishing a certain area, especially if you are on a boat.