To Close

[Mike Burke]

How do you deal with some one that comes in and fishes to close to you and your spot ?

I was all by myself not a boat in sight and out of now where a boat comes from clear across the lake to with in 20 yards ( to close for me ) and tries to anchor.

What do people think some times.....I guess I'm just not rude enough......I mean its a big lake....go find your own spot......don't come anchor on top of me and ask me if the fish are biting.....

Needless to say I vented on them a little.....but they didn't get the hint and only moved a little.

I felt bad afterwards but really......

[Rees Guide]

If you are on a public lake then unless they are getting in your lines then they aren't too close, I totally understand your frustration but its just the way it is. Last spring you could walk across Turkey Creek here on the boats, its part of crappie fishing looks like. When by myself I never use a net, its seems to be like a flag waving in the air, hey come over here I got one!!!

[M R Dux]

20 yards? How about somebody pulling their boat up against yours and pushing it out of the way so they could drop an anchor? I had that happen on KY Lake several years ago and I'm still amazed I didn't end up in jail for severely beating a man over the age of 80. Two old guys came around a point I was fishing and literally pushed my boat out of the way and dropped anchor. I asked the operator (with many more adjectives than I could ever get away with here) what he thought he was doing. He said they had been fishing there the last 2 days and were going to fish there today. No way I could blame it on OOSers or somebody who didn't know any better, these guys were local. I was pretty much done in that spot before they showed up so after calling the old guy every name in the book, I left. He didn't care, he had HIS spot. Still gets my blood pressure up, some 20 years later.

You know, your post is probably as much as anything the very reason I started using more unconventional (for this area) tactics to catch crappie like longlining, trolling cranks, etc. Most of the time if folks see me catching crappie trolling, they may move in closer to get a look then go ahead and leave. I guess it looks equipment intensive and they don't want to work that hard to catch a fish. Works for me.

[Pico]

20 yards? How about somebody pulling their boat up against yours and pushing it out of the way so they could drop an anchor? I had that happen on KY Lake several years ago and I'm still amazed I didn't end up in jail for severely beating a man over the age of 80. Two old guys came around a point I was fishing and literally pushed my boat out of the way and dropped anchor. I asked the operator (with many more adjectives than I could ever get away with here) what he thought he was doing. He said they had been fishing there the last 2 days and were going to fish there today. No way I could blame it on OOSers or somebody who didn't know any better, these guys were local. I was pretty much done in that spot before they showed up so after calling the old guy every name in the book, I left. He didn't care, he had HIS spot. Still gets my blood pressure up, some 20 years later.

You know, your post is probably as much as anything the very reason I started using more unconventional (for this area) tactics to catch crappie like longlining, trolling cranks, etc. Most of the time if folks see me catching crappie trolling, they may move in closer to get a look then go ahead and leave. I guess it looks equipment intensive and they don't want to work that hard to catch a fish. Works for me.

Most boats will tow a ton of brush... proceed with caution.... slowly! A fluke-style anchor dropped in the middle of it, and slowly idle about 100 yards away....! fish will be right back in it in a couple of days

[M R Dux]

Most boats will tow a ton of brush... proceed with caution.... slowly! A fluke-style anchor dropped in the middle of it, and slowly idle about 100 yards away....! fish will be right back in it in a couple of days

No brush involved with this scenario. The water was 4 feet deep and solid gravel bottom. It was within 10 yards of the bank where I had been casting for sauger until sun-up. I have zero idea what he thought was so special about the place that made him act like somebody I never want to be around again.

[Pico]

wow, some people. i sure don't know what makes them tick. Its jerks like them that keep the golf courses in business i guess!
I used to carry a big saltwater spook, on braid, long rod. think you get the picture. buddy of mine used to do that too, till one day he hooked one... yep, reeled that sucker in, drug him up in the boat, and hauled his dripping wet butt strait to the sheriff. but the sheriff said he had to let him go, and that he couldn't do that no more! so, maybe thats a bad idea?

[Mrs. Crappie Stalker]

20 yards? How about somebody pulling their boat up against yours and pushing it out of the way so they could drop an anchor? I had that happen on KY Lake several years ago and I'm still amazed I didn't end up in jail for severely beating a man over the age of 80. Two old guys came around a point I was fishing and literally pushed my boat out of the way and dropped anchor. I asked the operator (with many more adjectives than I could ever get away with here) what he thought he was doing. He said they had been fishing there the last 2 days and were going to fish there today. No way I could blame it on OOSers or somebody who didn't know any better, these guys were local. I was pretty much done in that spot before they showed up so after calling the old guy every name in the book, I left. He didn't care, he had HIS spot. Still gets my blood pressure up, some 20 years later.

You know, your post is probably as much as anything the very reason I started using more unconventional (for this area) tactics to catch crappie like longlining, trolling cranks, etc. Most of the time if folks see me catching crappie trolling, they may move in closer to get a look then go ahead and leave. I guess it looks equipment intensive and they don't want to work that hard to catch a fish. Works for me.

I would have sat in that spot till the lake (or he!!) froze over before I'd move for those fellas, for one reason only, THEY TOUCHED MY BOAT. Unless I know you and we're pulling up to each other on the water, if you bump my boat, there will be consequences and it won't be pretty.

[M R Dux]

I would have sat in that spot till the lake (or he!!) froze over before I'd move for those fellas, for one reason only, THEY TOUCHED MY BOAT. Unless I know you and we're pulling up to each other on the water, if you bump my boat, there will be consequences and it won't be pretty.

That's the surprising thing about this whole incident---I actually kept my wits about me. I'm not known for that. I have been known to go thermo-nuclear. I guess I was so surprised by the guy's actions I just said my piece and left. If I was catching fish or had just gotten to the spot, all bets would have been off. Hopefully he didn't reproduce.

[slabsrus]

I have run into this situation several times in the last few years and I just politely ask them if they really feel they need to be that close. Most of the time they just move away, but on the one occasion that they insisted on staying there I just paddled away and then went to a couple other boats near by and told them that the guy over by that log was really getting them and that maybe they should try over there. The crazy thing is, it actually worked and two other boats pulled up anchor and moved right in on top of the guys. Maybe not the nicest thing of me to do, and I am sure it will probably come back to haunt me one day, but at the moment it seemed like the thing to do.

[General Lee]

If I see someone fishing a spot, I won't even go near that area, let alone within 20 yards. If someone did that to me, I wouldn't say anything unless they were causing a problem. If that were the case, or if they came right up to my boat, I might be tempted to break out the flare guns and switch to target practice, lol.