Fishing etiquette???

[arniejl]

What is the proper form of etiquette when fishing? Maybe this has been talked about before, I don't know, but I have my thoughts and a story to go along that happened yesterday.

To me, things are changing with the people in this world. It kind of seems like humans are becoming more selfish like, "I'm going to do what I want to do and not worry about anyone else". Perhaps, it is part of the evolving entitled attitude that this country is starting to change to, or maybe, it is spoiled little rich, brat kids that were never taught properly.

Or maybe it is just me and my thoughts are way off base. Quite possible.

I was raised to always think about the other guy. Even helping the other guy, when needed. Being born and raised in Forks, I learned to fish on the rivers on the Olympic Peninsula. For the longest time, you would maybe only see a boat or two while floating down a certain run of river but that all changed. Probably around the early to mid-eighties, you would always have boats, and sometimes, lots of boats to fish with and around.

My Father, who was a Steelhead guide, at one time, did the rowing and the teaching. He taught me to not offend anyone. When we passed a boat that was fishing, whether it was a guide or a fun fisherman, whether they were pulling plugs or drift fishing, if I had made a cast within a hundred yards below that other boat, I would get my butt chewed. It was their water that, obviously, they were headed to, and we had no right to fish it unless we wait behind them until they were finished with it.

Fast forward 30 years. My father is now 70 and I am 46. Neither of us have fished for steelhead for at least a decade. We were jaded and the fishing will never be the same. But the values, my Dad's rules, still are at the forefront with me when I fish.

Three years ago I started to fish for bass and fell in love with it. It holds a lot of similarities that steelhead fishing offers. You have to read the water, use the right gear, present the gear properly, and then the most fun part about fishing, to me, you have to feel the bite.

But, in my three years I have come across a couple of rude people, at least in my mind they are rude.

My example and story of poetic justice.

Yesterday me and the wifey got up at 4:35. Threw a lunch together and hit a local lake. We launched around 5:30 and right from the ramp we started throwing lipless crankbaits while moving toward a row of my all time favorite docks. My wife picked up a decent smallie, and when she did, we decided to try out another row of docks.

We fished a few docks, and then, from the ramp, here comes on of those one man, inflatable pontoon boats. The guy comes rowing right by us and never says a word. Goes by about 60 yards to the very next dock in line, and starts fishing. I said "You have got to be kidding me! Two boats on the entire lake and this guy has to fish right there!"

Well, we were at a pretty big dock so we kept fishing it but I was determined to not let this go. By the time we finished fishing this dock, this putz had moved on to the next dock, as well. I had every intent to avenge.

The guy stopped short of the next dock and was casting to the edge of it as we were nearing him. My wife kept fishing all along even though I thought it was useless. As we neared this guy, my wife casts out, literally, 15 feet from his little boat. The 1/2 ounce lipless hits with a big splash that startled the guy as he looked back.

I, for a second, thought back to the etiquette that had been instilled into me at a very young age and was thinking that I should tell my wife to reel up and not fish so close to that guy, even though I was P'O'd at this very guy for what he had done to us, but I could not think faster than a smallmouth grabbing a bait on the fall. In an instance my wife says " I got one"!

I was like "Yeah, right on!".

Now, I always feel that smallmouths are not usually big jumpers, at least not like a greenie, and many never jump, but this fish, fittingly, started jumping which worked out perfectly to us paying this guy back. He, most definitely, knew that we hooked a fish right out from under him and it felt good and it was almost like this bass was on our side and knew what was going on because he put on a show.

So, to conclude my longest internet post of my life, I will end it with this:

Maybe my thoughts are off base, but why, when you know somebody is working towards a spot or in a certain direction, would you totally interfere and cut them off? Is it that important to maybe get to your favorite dock first that you have to look like a fool in doing so? Is bass fishing that cut throat and I just don't know it? Is this the norm? In the past, when I encounter another boat, I go way, way around, or pull up and move to a new spot, is this wrong of me? Should I be an ass just in hopes to catch a fish before that other guy does?

The vindictive fish:

[ResQ]

Your pretty on par in my opinion. People just dont get it. We were trolling 3 days ago at my fav lake and this guy came up behind us trolling and came right to the side of us (maybe 15 yards) and cut right in front of us while trolling. He did this twice during the day. I just hope that the people who do this are not members here.

[blufin loui]

Hello arniejl , great pic of a nice Bass and great looking water. It is also great to see those reports from the fishermen who are lucky enough to have a Wife who is a part of their fishing hobby. You bring up an interesting question, and I felt like throwing out some thoughts to ponder. "Bass fishing" is definately not one of my first loves when it comes to fishing, although I was introduced to it at an early age. As I haven't participated in any Bass tournaments, I had to do a search to see what the "rules" of the road was as far as fishing distance. The Roebuck Bass Club is one of the oldest Clubs around, based from Spartanburg South Carolina, lists a "Mandatory 25 yards of fishing distance between boats. (Rule will be enforced)" Then there are other tourney rules that use 50 yards as the distance to maintain. So from an outsider's point of view, the "one of those one man, inflatable pontoon boats." was within a reasonable distance. Also, your statement of "right from the ramp we started throwing lipless crankbaits while moving toward a row of my all time favorite docks", is probably true of most fishermen that hit the lake. Those docks are most likely productive, and others probably have noticed that as well, and consider them "their all time favorite docks" too. So here is a guy "rowing" toward his "fav fishing spot", and there is a boat fishing the same area (nice electric trolling motor on the bow--I'm guessing), but is not fishing the dock/area he is rowing to, so He rows in and starts fishin. Maybe this guy is new to bass fishing, and has up on the distance rules of tournaments, and feels good in his action. I bet he goes home and tells the story of the Folks in the "well equiped boat" that ran over his fishing spot (with him actually fishing in it). So who is to say:-k . In the comments of your post, you did ask for ideas, So "Just Saying". When it comes to etiquitte, it often depends which side of the situation we are on. In no way am I trying to say one is right over the other, Just playing the devil's advocate.
Besides, If I hit a lake I usually hit my Favs first, and then work other areas. Room for all. You and yours keep up the awesome fishing, and wish you the best out on the water.

[arniejl]

Hello arniejl , great pic of a nice Bass and great looking water. It is also great to see those reports from the fishermen who are lucky enough to have a Wife who is a part of their fishing hobby. You bring up an interesting question, and I felt like throwing out some thoughts to ponder. "Bass fishing" is definately not one of my first loves when it comes to fishing, although I was introduced to it at an early age. As I haven't participated in any Bass tournaments, I had to do a search to see what the "rules" of the road was as far as fishing distance. The Roebuck Bass Club is one of the oldest Clubs around, based from Spartanburg South Carolina, lists a "Mandatory 25 yards of fishing distance between boats. (Rule will be enforced)" Then there are other tourney rules that use 50 yards as the distance to maintain. So from an outsider's point of view, the "one of those one man, inflatable pontoon boats." was within a reasonable distance. Also, your statement of "right from the ramp we started throwing lipless crankbaits while moving toward a row of my all time favorite docks", is probably true of most fishermen that hit the lake. Those docks are most likely productive, and others probably have noticed that as well, and consider them "their all time favorite docks" too. So here is a guy "rowing" toward his "fav fishing spot", and there is a boat fishing the same area (nice electric trolling motor on the bow--I'm guessing), but is not fishing the dock/area he is rowing to, so He rows in and starts fishin. Maybe this guy is new to bass fishing, and has up on the distance rules of tournaments, and feels good in his action. I bet he goes home and tells the story of the Folks in the "well equiped boat" that ran over his fishing spot (with him actually fishing in it). So who is to say:-k . In the comments of your post, you did ask for ideas, So "Just Saying". When it comes to etiquitte, it often depends which side of the situation we are on. In no way am I trying to say one is right over the other, Just playing the devil's advocate.
Besides, If I hit a lake I usually hit my Favs first, and then work other areas. Room for all. You and yours keep up the awesome fishing, and wish you the best out on the water.

That's why I asked, to get another perspective. And, I am not even trying to say that this guy was wrong, but to me, it was rude. Should it be a free for all? I don't know. I guess if we went by those bass clubs rules you mentioned, then it was no big thing, at all, and from here on out, like in the past, I will not worry about it.

And FTR, we did not run over his fishing spot. We were 40 yards behind him, away from shore. My wife cast right behind him and caught that fish. The only thing that I did bad was once we got around him, I pulled up and fished the next dock in line, as I was intending to do all along, AND, the same thing that he had done to me. He pulled up and headed back to where he first passed us, at that point.

[rjn cajun]

I`ve been bass fishing for some time. Bluefin there are rules in tournies that say to stay a certain distance from other boats or you will be disqualified or a penalty will be issued. In my years bass fishing and any other fishing there is etiquette. Most and I say most of the fisherman I`ve come across and even in tournies stay a great distance from other boats. More so then the rules of the club/ tournament say to. I personally do not fish around any other boats and don`t even like to be in the vicinity of another boat. If I see a boat fishing a dock or row of docks,points ect I will go around and way around. I feel he has beat me to it and will go back later. Now if he is going the other way I will pull up 4 or 5 docks down and fish the opposite way. Arniejl I to was taught at an early age to treat and respect other fisherman and the places they are fishing. I think your right in the fact that it`s todays society or the people that weren`t taught fishing etiquette. Even the big boys in the elite series don`t fish that close and are not going to move in on someone else fishing a spot. This is my opinion and I`m sure there some guys that think different. This to me is no different then a ski boat going 40 mph 20 yrds from you when your line is out.

[Stacie Kelsey]

People are getting more rude. I see it EVERY day I'm out checking. People just don't care. Whether it's someone yelling at another who is having a hard time getting down the launch, to the guys in boats that despite having miles of water to fish in chooses to fish in front of one of the few and far between shore sites, to the guys on a handicap first fishing pier (meaning able body must make room or move if a handicap angler is there) that will NOT make room for a guy in a wheelchair to the groups that litter the shoreline with their garbage and don't pick it up.

I don't understand it.

So when I speak to kid groups or schools I focus a lot of time on fishing etiquette. It is SO important.

[blufin loui]

Hey rjn cajun, Totally agree with you guys in the surmise that todays society lacks in the most basic of etiquette practice, whether on the water or on the streets. I also don't feel the need to crowd anyone who is fishing an area. My take on it is the fish have seen most presentations there is to see, and they will still be there at a later time. No worries arniejl, I didn't mean to diss ya or nothing, I just misinterperted your statement of "As we neared this guy, my wife casts out, literally, 15 feet from his little boat", SO my apologies for reading it wrong.
I wish my experiences with "Tournament" fishermen was as positive as yours rjn cajun, but unfortunately not so. Don't get me wrong, not many tournament fishermen have done so, but cindy and I have had tourney guys (ribbon on the motor and all) fish right up to us, go around, then continue to fish the same stretch of toulees/shoreline we were fishing. This has happened on Banks and Roses on several occassions over the years. This doesn't really bother me, cause it doesn't really interfere with my ability to enjoy the outing or catch fish.
I know what you mean rjn cajun when you say, "This to me is no different then a ski boat going 40 mph 20 yrds from you when your line is out. " as this is just part of fishing some days here on Lake Chelan and Roses during the summer months.
FTR, In no way do I mean to bash Bass fishermen/women, because I'll be the first to say the fishing Clubs--Bass, Pike, Muskie, or otherwise--have been responsible for some mighty impressive progressive moves in the fishing world whether it be habitat improvement or rule changes to maintain a productive fishery, and they will continue to do so in the future. So kudos to those who still believe in and practice etiquette, and teach others by example.

[BassDood]

Good question arniejl. Having fished for 46 years, in various types of water and for various fish, I've seen a lot. Years ago fishing with my Dad on the jetties in So Cal, we had people come up right next to us and start fishing where we were catching fish. LOL, that really pissed off my Dad. It seems no different now, tho I was brought as a lot of you...respect others...and I do. Fishing from a tube, I've had several instances where a guy in a boat jumped in front of me knowing I was headed the same direction. It just makes me re-think my strategy and change things up. I've often caught fish behind these guys too. To me, it isn't right, but it's just some people. Lakes, rivers, etc, we'll continue to see it. I wish more people would have the attitude of treating others the way they want to be treated. BTW, great job on the fish. Congrats to your wife

[rockjiggr]

Most of us who have been fishing for 30+ years were taught etiquette by our fathers or fishing fathers whoever that may have been (my mother in my case). We have a responsibility to continue the tradition and teach etiquette to the younger fishermen we have opportunity to meet whether they are younger in years or years of fishing experience.

It would be nice if all it took in a situation like you described, arniejl, was to say, "Hey, you kind of cut me off here, buddy. I'm going to move down a ways so you can fish this area, but I would have appreciated if you had not done that. Its not really good etiquette, you know." Unfortunately, even respectful confrontations can turn ugly in a big hurry. Stacie can likely attest to that. Still, if the other guy is just ignorant of his faux pas, he will never change unless someone actually tells him why he should.

Maybe making a point to go back to the guy an hour or two later and explaining your dislike of his actions would be non-confrontational enough to help the situation, especially if you were on your way off the lake and would not be around for him to look at you any longer. A note on his windshield at the launch might help too but obviously you can’t always tell what vehicle the person arrived in either.

I too have been cut off by anxious anglers who seemed to be either just oblivious of their actions or just downright disrespectful and selfish. I have also been crowded out of a productive area that I have anchored up to and concentrated on for over an hour by folks who saw me catch a few fish and then just moved in expecting to be able to do the same. It is frustrating, especially when you take the effort to get up at the crack of dawn so you can try to have the lake, or at least a good portion of it to yourself. I think that we would all prefer to have the fishing waters to ourselves but we all have to deal with the realities of sharing the resources.

Again, I think that the best thing we can do is to teach as many ‘younger’ fishermen as we can and explain why we should be respectful of others not only while we are on the water, but in anything that we do.

[tnj8222]

I wasnt taught fishing etiquette from the people who taught me to fish, I learned it here from this site. So really some people have no clue.

[arniejl]

. No worries arniejl, I didn't mean to diss ya or nothing, I just misinterperted your statement of "As we neared this guy, my wife casts out, literally, 15 feet from his little boat", SO my apologies for reading it wrong.

No, no, no, not at all did I think that you dissed me. I read it as a guy who made a post trying to be unbiased and looking at it from a different angle, and I appreciated that.

Also, I feel for the guy who is fishing out of a pontoon boat that he has to row. I was not trying to be a big bully. I am a very humble person. I just wanted fairness. I was there first, in a 300 acre lake with only two boats and he needed to fish the very next dock from me, in the same direction from the ramp, where it was totally obvious in which direction I was traveling.

That is all this was about. And, in my three years of bass fishing, this sort of thing has only happened one other time to me and when it did I just moved to a new spot. I did not make a scene. I talked to my wife about my displeasure, which he may have heard, but it looked as though he was wearing earphones or plugs like from a Walkman or something. Even when I passed him I was a good 40 yards from him like I made an attempt to go completely around without bothering him. It was my wife who made the super cast to within a not so reasonable distance from him and yanked that bass out of there, lol. Threw her under the bus, haha, don't tell her:)

[blufin loui]

Thanks arniejl for understanding my intent. It is a good question and has brought out some good responses.
Hope you and yours enjoy many years rippin lips together.

[A9]

Any type of fishing presents their own set of rules and etiquette, be it bassin, steelheading or fishing for salmon..

I gave up bass fishing for the most part and now predominately fish in the saltwater. Nonetheless, that type of fishing has its own rules and there are plenty of idiots out there, whether it be clueless folks at the launch or guys cutting you off during your troll..

What I've found though is that yelling at someone and getting mad at them will rarely change the offenders behavior... Give suggestions and be polite, there will always be some folks who just lack common sense and won't listen, but say nicely like "I was planning on fishing that water ahead of me, I've been making my way down this row of docks and was always told to give way to folks who were on the water before me." Telling the guy that he's an idiot and in your way will just make him want to piss you off more....

Also, in todays world, expecting everyone to have perfect etiquette on the water is unreasonable. There's gonna be idiots on the water with you, plan for it and don't let them ruin your day.

[Mike Carey]

. No worries arniejl, I didn't mean to diss ya or nothing, I just misinterperted your statement of "As we neared this guy, my wife casts out, literally, 15 feet from his little boat", SO my apologies for reading it wrong.

Also, I feel for the guy who is fishing out of a pontoon boat that he has to row. I was not trying to be a big bully. I am a very humble person. I just wanted fairness. I was there first, in a 300 acre lake with only two boats and he needed to fish the very next dock from me, in the same direction from the ramp, where it was totally obvious in which direction I was traveling.

As I fish from both a 15 ft boat with trolling motor, and a one person pontoon, I'll add another factor that is worth considering. In the 15ft boat I like to travel clockwise so I can cast with my forehand, but in my pontoon boat I travel counter-clockwise because it works better to cast if I'm traveling in that direction.

Now that's just me, and it doesn't excuse someone jumping in front of you, except that as a pontoon boat it is possible he didn't want to go the other direction for the same reason I mentioned. Trust me, it's not as much fun casting opposite of what feels right.

You on the other hand do have the option of traveling and easily moving 50-100 yards up and getting away from the situation entirely. Win-win, you still have a 300 acre lake to fish with just one pontoon boat that will never catch up to you, and other than an initial irritation you can forget about it and enjoy your day and focus on the fishing in front of you. If he was there first, being a nice guy you most likely would have done exactly what I suggested - moved up a good 50-100 yards and started fishing in that location.

So yes, I understand your irritation and I would feel the exact same way. And if I did move up 50-100 yards I probably would have given the guy a dirty look or slow shake of my head (human nature, eh?).

I think it's sort of the same concept Jesus was getting at when he talked about turning the other cheek, only in this case it's moving up lake, LOL.

[ResQ]

Chances are, he didnt even know what he was doing. Alot of people just dont get it. Its like holding the door open for old or prego lady instead of just barging right in. Alot of people dont get it. I wouldnt fish within casting distance of someone else, let alone jump infront and head in the same direction. Like Mike said, maybe it had to do with his cast. BUT in that case, he still should have fished behind you instead of jumping ahead.

[Rosann G]

:bounce: Congrats to your wife on the bass and great to see another husband and wife out fishing together. Bill and I have alot of fun fishing together.
I have wished that they would include some info about launch etiquette in the boater education classes and test that they are requiring now although I don't know if it would help. As for fishing etiquette we can try to teach by example as we are fishing and if we have the opportunity to teach people how to fish we can include tips on etiquette too. In this day and age I'm not so sure I would want to confront anyone about bad etiquette on the lake for fear of a violent reaction.
Great topic and interesting perspectives.

[Marc Martyn]

Most of the time when this happens is the other person is only thinking of themselves. Period. It's "all about ME"

Last week I went out to Amber and while launching there were two retired guys, probably in their early 70's that were setting up to launch. Once everything was loaded into their pontoon boats and they were ready to launch, the driver of the SUV decided to empty his bladder by his left front tire on the asphalt of the launch and THEN drive his vehicle up the hill to park were the toilets were. Granted, when you are old and you have to go, sometimes you can't wait. But he could have gone over to the bush to the side of the launch also. As the sun warms and dries his puddle, of coarse it starts to stink to high heaven.

Today I was at Amber again and a guy and his wife where going to go out and do some evening fishing in their pontoon boats. It was getting to be late in the day and I decided to head in. He was parked on the launch taking up one side for almost an hour and a half. He pulled up, unloaded his boats and proceeded to "build two boats". This was the time when several people wanted to leave. He could have very easily parked at the top of the launch area and them carried the two boats down to the water. That is what most people do. I trolled around in front of the launch for about 20 minutes and then finally put my rod up and sat about 20 feet away from his launch area and stared at him. He finally got the picture that I wanted to land and leave. And then to top all this off, he is ready to go out on the water and proceeds to stand there in his waders and visit with a guy who just came in.

Finally he launched, I landed, walked up the hill to get my truck, loaded everything up and drove up the hill in about 10 minutes.

[Mike Carey]

Most of the time when this happens is the other person is only thinking of themselves. Period. It's "all about ME"

Last week I went out to Amber and while launching there were two retired guys, probably in their early 70's that were setting up to launch. Once everything was loaded into their pontoon boats and they were ready to launch, the driver of the SUV decided to empty his bladder by his left front tire on the asphalt of the launch and THEN drive his vehicle up the hill to park were the toilets were. Granted, when you are old and you have to go, sometimes you can't wait. But he could have gone over to the bush to the side of the launch also. As the sun warms and dries his puddle, of coarse it starts to stink to high heaven.

Today I was at Amber again and a guy and his wife where going to go out and do some evening fishing in their pontoon boats. It was getting to be late in the day and I decided to head in. He was parked on the launch taking up one side for almost an hour and a half. He pulled up, unloaded his boats and proceeded to "build two boats". This was the time when several people wanted to leave. He could have very easily parked at the top of the launch area and them carried the two boats down to the water. That is what most people do. I trolled around in front of the launch for about 20 minutes and then finally put my rod up and sat about 20 feet away from his launch area and stared at him. He finally got the picture that I wanted to land and leave. And then to top all this off, he is ready to go out on the water and proceeds to stand there in his waders and visit with a guy who just came in.

Finally he launched, I landed, walked up the hill to get my truck, loaded everything up and drove up the hill in about 10 minutes.

There is no doubt a decline in civility in my opinion, and I'm guessing each generation thinks the same thing. Peeing on the boat launch, wow, that's a new one on me.

I'll add a caveat to my previous post. I'm responding from the comfort of my computer with time to think about it, vs. having the issue right in my face. Makes it easier to think of various ways to react. Threads like this are great to sort out ways we all approach challenging situations.

[racfish]

I ve said this many times. Im not a fast moving person. After many stitches and back/leg problems I do not move real fast. Sorry gents,Deal with it. When Im at the launch the rudeness and uncivil actions towards me really gets to me. I buy my license,I pay for my parking of my trailer,and I pay the road taxes. People at the launches are rude people. Like some guy who thinks hes late for the bite and has no patience. Ifin y'all are launching after me ...Tough Luck.Learn patience.For me launching takes a lil extra time.Ifin youre honking at me or giving this mid aged crippled guy to hurry up,I slow it down.Im there to have a good time also. It takes me 15 minutes to launch ,park and get to my boat. Learn to deal with it. Were all after a good time and ifin were real lucky a nice limit to boot.

[G-Man]

With the situation you described I think you are going to get a mixed reaction from folks. Some will say it's fine as long as the guy didn't cut between you and the dock on his way to an un-occupied area to fish. Other folks get bent out of shape when someone sets up in the same zip code. In your case, you probably knew that the docks right next to the launch are prime targets for those folks in small human or electric powered boats. Was it rude of the guy to leap frog ahead of you without saying a word, maybe, but as was mentioned before, the guy is a bit restricted in getting around so I would cut him some slack. If the guy looked like he knew what he was doing, I'd probably have stuck around and played leap frog with him down the row of docks. If he thrashed about and spooked the fish, I'd have left the area and come back later. I equate fishing to playing blackjack with a group of people, it only takes one fool to ruin it for the rest of the table. However, if you have a group of knowledgeable players, a fun time can be had by all.