Thread: To Close

I think the best outcome for a situation like that is that you hammer the fish and the trespassers get skunked.

I did that a couple years ago. I had found a big school of slabs in a pocket on the edge of one of my favorite weed beds. I was all alone and catching them one after another, all 12 to 14 inchers. Then a couple guys showed up, in a 20 foot pontoon no less, and proceeded to ease their way to within 15 feet of my 16 foot boat. They even had the stones to ask me what I was using. I told 'em, too - "minnows" - and just kept hauling in slabs as fast as I could put a bait in front of them. They caught zilch. After an hour I had my 25 fish limit, so I pulled anchors and said "they're all yours, dudes". I'll bet they still didn't catch any

I had 2 guys do that to me here just a couple of weeks ago. And instantly I was mad. So instead of showing it I just trolled up as close to them as I could and started a conversation with them. It lasted about 20 min. Finally they pulled their anchor and left. They were a couple of nice guys. But they just didn't have any manners.

If I see someone fishing a spot, I won't even go near that area

I'm like that to. Unless I know them.....then I don't get to close unless to talk to them or something. I have always showed the other guy respect and stayed away from them... Now I do know that there are times when the fish are biting and you do have to get in close to each other......so there is a time and place for the close quarter fishing...I understand that.

And there are other times that its just nice to be left alone.

The funny thing about it was I was on the Largest Lake in Iowa...15,000 acres of water and I couldn't see another boat in any direction....and I found my little spot and was catching a few.....and I had three boats come clear across the lake to check me out and get fairly close to me and say something about the fishing.....I must me a magnet.

I was polite to the other ones and they moved on....but these guys just didn't get it I guess.

Thanks for the ideas on how to deal with them next time and the funny situations / stories....

On our lake there isn't a lot of crappie or crappie fishermen and I think I am the only one that spider rigs, or at least that I have ever seen, I don't have any fisherman getting to close, the problem I have run into is pleasure boaters that see a boat with 6 long rods hanging off the front of it and they have to get a closer look, they may not be 20 feet( or closer) but they get very close under power and on plane. This doesn't happen all day but will happen several times each time I have time to go. This year I have started jig fishing more.

That would entail a little talking to if I were you

A little bit different scenario but down here, winter time dock fishing is very popular. One particular dock had been on fire all winter. Me and another guy were fishing should to shoulder, tip to tip on a brush pile and visiting and yankin em out one after another. Just having a good time. When all of a sudden this one guy comes up behind us and literally lays his rod over the top of both of ours! I gingerly told him nope cant do that buddy. Well being as he was not from around here he must have had a hard time understanding what we meant so my buddy told him if he didn't move we were going to find out if he could swim! Well he sure understood that! Outside air temp that day we 37F. Water surface temp was less because we were breaking ice to make a hole. Never had a problem out of him after that.

Looks like sumpin going on over yonder, better head that way.

Last year I was the only boat on a 5k acre lake. Catching walleye like there was no tomorrow. Only other boat on the water that day comes up and fishes the buoy I had out. I was like WTH. 5k acres of water, 2 boats, and they come in close enough I could spit sunflower seeds into their boat. They didn't catch any but I continued catching them and from then on I made a huge production of it everytime I hooked up with both poles. They eventually left to fish elsewhere.

I know a guy that fishes below a dam here. Lets just say there are some others around here with zero respect for anybody and if you catch a fish suddenly they will be all around you. Well he caught a fish and they crowded in. He went okay and tied on a snagging hook. He then went below the dam and cast as far as he could down the sidewall. Got all their lines reeled them up and cut them. That kept them at bay the rest of the day.