I kinda felt bad...WAS JUST out of range of the LAND BASED fishermen...

[sac-a-lait]

Today I had to fish near a spot that was out of the wind that this time of year attracts alot of bank fishermen for the same reasons...The wind and the fact the fish are there. When I got where I wanted to fish no one was on the bank casting out to that area so I slid in. Now if the bank fishermen have it all covered then I won't go in on them but if I get there first then I think anythings fair game. It took me a few to get them figured out with the wind and current and such and started BANGING THEM. They all wern't HAWGS but some were. I know I threw back 100 fish. Kept 30. But when I was busting them up I could hear some of the guys on the bank who had now moved down trying to cast to where I was but this invisible shield (WIND) kept the lines away. But everytime I would hook another they were like "man he's got another one...That SOB knows what he be doing". They started changing jig body colors and adjusting corks, etc. It was kinda funny. They were going deep and I was going shallower. Normally I will almost NEVER fish near a LAND BASED spot.

For some reason we seem to have 2 different types of fishermen around here and for some reason they really don't talk to each other. You got the guy on the boat and the guy on the land and the don't intermingle.

[CrappiePappy]

once you had a good mess of fish ... did you tell the "land locked" anglers what they were doing wrong (fishing too deep)? Did you offer any assistance to them, in the form of information about using weighted bobbers or getting their casts farther out, by casting sidearm ?

Land locked anglers may have many reasons for being in that situation ... but, they're still "anglers". And being as how they were fellow "Crappie" anglers, it's always a nice gesture for the more fortunate "boating anglers" to offer their expertise/advice. Whether or not they take it, or follow your lead, is up to them.
We "anglers" need to commit to bridging the gaps between those that bank fish or boat fish, fish for this species or that species, use high end equipment or low end equipment, artificial or live, etc. We don't need in-fighting or polarization of groups. We don't need division amongst our angling bretheren ... we need unity.
All of us, in the angling community, have greater enemies than each other. ..... cp

[cook]

Its kinda funny.I watch bank fishermen rear back and heave-trying to cast out as far as possible.
Then I watch a bass boat come along and almost bang the shore trying to work the shallows.

I guess the grass is always greener.

[rango]

i remember once, years ago, back in the 80's, me and the wife was trolling this bank one sunday evening. the bank was covered with fishermen who had corks strung out up and down the bank. we was trolling back and forth just outside the line of corks these folks had strung out and everyone was catching fish. us and the bank fishers was really enjoying the sunny sunday afternoon, taking advantage of the bite, everyone laughting and having a good time.. there was a small cut in this bank and in the back of this cut was a aged old timer sittin on a bucket. he was also fishing but cause of being in the back of the cut, he wasnt able to get his cork out there where everone else was catching fish. well he wasnt catching any fish and we pssed back and forth in front of him most of the evening and never seen him pull one in. well here come the game warden up the lake and i suspected we was probably caught with too many fish since we had a cooler full. me being the boat man and the wife the rod man, i had a little fun with her when she got to worrying about what we had. I informed her she had way over our limit and she was gonna have to pay since she caught em all. this got her to sweatin bullets and p*ssed at me big time for puttin her in a situation like that. well to make a long story short, for some reason he dint check us, maybe becaus we had all them lines out, going instead several hundred yards up the cove around a point. i figgered hed check us when he come out so i seen a way out. i told the wife to get the lines in and when she did, we eased into the small cut and i asked the old man if he wanted a mess of fish and he jumped on that like a fly on honey. we poured that whole cooler of fish into his two buckets, filling em both up and he was grinning like a mule eattin cuckleburrs. I said old man, you unnerstand these are your fish now dont you and he said yessir, i unnerstan. I said well it looks like you got over your limit so you better git home and he said he was heading that way right now and we pulled off as he wwas gathering his stuff up to get outta dodge. coming out of the cut, i noticed about everyone on the bank had left and we headed toward the landing. I always wondered what kind of fish tale that old man had to tell when he got home with them two buckets full of fish. Im sure that day he was someones hero when he got home. . after that the wife also refused to put another jig in the water when we reached our magic numbeer of 60 fish and she was adamant about knowing how many fish we had in the cooler when she was working the rods with me. ive tamed down a lot too since them days of long ago...... so bank fishermem and boat fishermen can get along and can even help each other out when the need arises.

[Crappie Reaper]

There was one time that I was catching them just like Sac. I was by myself. There was one lone bank fisherman. He couldn't get a hit to save his life. I offered to pick him up and bring him to the fish. He jumped on the chance. After that, we fished together several times that year. He had to move away, I have no clue where he is now. But, I knew he couldn't afford a boat by looking at his old clunker of a station wagon. He seemed to at least appreciate the chance to fish out of a boat, even if it was just my first 14' aluminum, with only a weak trolling motor for power. You see, I would haul that boat upside down in the back of my truck and would wrestle it to get it back into the truck. His station wagon was way better than my POS truck. I remember him giving me several jump starts after we fished, because I had been using the truck battery to run the boat. After he moved, I finally bought another truck battery, so I could switch them out after I ran one down. I would start the truck, change the battery out while it was running, let it charge for about 10 minutes, then go back to fishing. This way, I still had enough juice to start the truck in case I ran the other battery dead.

I miss that guy, can't even remember his name, but, he was a good guy.

[mperry]

Hello All
Kind of new to the site but I think for the most part this is something no one thinks about. Helping others out is almost just as much fun as catching fish. I've been fortunate but sure there are a lot more out there who are not. If I get lucky and catch fish I always share where and what I was doing.

[smedley]

Sac a lait...glad you busted them. I will offer a lone bank fisherman a ride if I go by myself. done it many time and have never hd a taker. In Sac a lait's defense though. If the bank was full of fishermen, he would have been running a shuttle service all day. I can understand offering a single angler or maybe even a guy and his kid, but not a whole bank full of people. Besides they were PO'd at him anyway for being there first and catching fish...just my .02...smedley

[percher]

Hey Sac, Next time break the ice. Took me a long time to learn but it feels much better to help someone catch a fish than it does to catch one yourself.
I've had my share of help over the years. Seeing someone catch a fish under your direction is priceless.
When fishing along side Slab Hunter (Pineville, La) I think he looks for people to help. One day He took three boats of CDC members out on Larto to learn the lake. Our boats pulled into a spot where several boats where not catching. We started catching them right away and you can imagine the comments from the ones that had been sitting there for hours. One boat commented aloud to us and Randy puts his rod down, goes over and puts a bait on the two guys lines. He gives them the details and they start catching. Sweeeeeet! Seeya, Don

[GRIZZ]

I'm in agreement with pappy. I enjoy shorefishing and meeting others who fish that way. Not big crowds, but its nice to meet and learn about people.

One thing I will mention is that when I do shore fish it is really annoying when boat fishermen who have the whole lake to fish in bring thier boats within casting range of the guys who are shore fishing. In my book thats very poor form. My rule of thumb when I'm the guy in the boat is make a wide berth for shore fishermen and don't spook thier fish.

One more thing pappy mentioned. There is no better way to make a buddy that to teach him something that helps him catch more fish. Most guys will think you hung the moon if you give them a tip that helps them to catch the fish you are. Seem like anglers feel the need to keep all the secrets to themselves. I'm not saying give away all your secret holes, just show some common courtesy and help people if you have the chance. Very very few times in my life have I regretted sharing info with fellow anglers who needed some advice so they could be more effective. You know the old saying "give a man a fish - feed him for a day - teach a man to fish - feed him for life" they should add the phrase make a friend for life to that.

[Mopar Matt]

You got the guy on the boat and the guy on the land and the don't intermingle.

Usually because one of them is being rude. More often than not the bankfishers know more about the lake than the boaters do. We met an older lady at Lake Weiss AL about 15 years ago who was bank fishing a point on a shallow cove. We offered her a ride and have picked her up every year since. She can find more and better quality fish than most of the guides. Matter of fact most of the guides ask her where she has been fishing, so they know where to start with tomorrows trip.