We usually start a conversation
We fish small lakes, so when all the crappie and bluegill folks are tied up or anchored next to cover, the bass guys are forced to move in and out of those areas. Everybody keeps it friendly as a rule. When we're anchored on the channel edge about forty feet from shore, the bass guys have room to cruise along the edge and not get in our way. We ask them how they're doing if they don't ask us first.
The way we look at it, it's a public lake and everybody else has as much right to fish as we do. We try to keep out of the way of shore fishermen and we stay at least a casting length's distance from some body in a boat. If we get too close, we apologize for not seeing their bobbers.
We also compete for space with canoers, kayakers and sailboats. The only time things have gotten really testy have been at the ramp with the sailboaters, who seem incapable of tying up their boats at both ends so they don't swing out into the path of someone else. - Roberta
"Anglers are born honest,
but they get over it." - Ed Zern