There Should Be A Law....

..... Ok, probably gonna take some heat for this but I have had it. Won't mention the lake but fished last weekend and the pleasure boaters were out in FULL force. After around 10-11 you couldn't fish anymore if you wanted to. Jet skis, tubers and water skiers had taken over. I have to say they don't give a darn where they go or how close they get. Had one pass right between me and the shoreline I was trying to fish (couldn't have been more than 25 yards away) then anchor a ways down and start jumping off the boat into the lake. Kids & adults, screaming, hollering & raising general h _ _ _. Wish they were confined to certain areas or at least the main lake body. Seriously, talk about thinking they run the place. Not to mention that the ramp area was an absolute ZOO!

Ok, feel betetr now that I vented a little! Guess I need to nite fish only from now until Labor day!

Your experience is exactly why we like crappie fishing from late Sept. till Oct. One other option which we will do some this summer is fish from 5:00 AM till about noon. I have yet to see the pleasure boaters crowd the ramp at 5:00 on a Sat. morning!! The morning bite is usually the best time of the day and the older I get, the less I can take the heat. My Father went to Harris last Friday and even then there were a bunch of pleasure boaters out there. They found some coves and ended up with a good amount of fish, but like you, the constant waves ran the fish off the main water.

I said I wouldn't mention the lake but it was SH. We got there around 6:00 on Sunday and could only fish till 10:30 or so due to boat traffic. We were doing pretty good on the perch and crappie up to that point. Wave action just got out of control after that. I swear it was a zoo after that. Ramp was as crowded as I have seen.

You didn't have to name the lake. Most of us know how it is. I think they feel less likely to be encountered by NCWLC than they would at Jordan. But Jordan is crowed also. Standing timber can be a problem for them in Jordan. Time for a night stalk.

Its not just a problem there. I like many others fish until 11 and leave with whatever i have.

I would never dream of fishing Harris on a Sunday until the cold weather rolls in. It's funny because the only thing I've seen the Wildlife folks do at Harris is bust the jon boats for coming to the ramp with no lights literally 5 minutes after sundown, witnessed it on a few occasions. I've talked to the DNR guy a few times, very nice guy, but he was more concerned about that then trying to educate people about their stupidity. Shame they can't do a mandatory training session when you plan to operate a boat. I had to be educated about applicable laws when I applied for my CCW permit and everyone on here had to be educated when you started driving a car. But there's absolutely no requirements when it comes to a boat. The DNR and Sheriff's office could bust a ton of people for DUI's on that lake if they chose to send a message. There's plenty of lake for everyone to enjoy if folks would just use some common sense and courtesy. I've seen a ton of verbal altercations at the ramps and I've been in a few myself especially when I'm loading my boat and one of the wake boats comes nearly full speed to the ramp and pretty much rocked my boat off the trailer. Like you, it's just good to vent once in awhile then go on about our life. I love winter fishing. I've had Harris all to myself on many occasions.

Unfortunately in the world we live in, nothing will be done until someone is hurt or worse killed, that's what it takes in this day and age to get anything done. I too believe that boater education courses are in order especially for new boaters. All we can do is be better role models and help where we can when we can.

We all feel your pain. I spoke to the Wylie lake law enforcement officer and he told me there is nothing you can do about being crowded out on the water. That being! They have the same rights as you do for pleasure as you do for fishing. Unless they hit you, you can't complain or a less than 50 foot distance and a wake is not going to give you the right to complain. They have to see it to stop who ever is in the wrong. I don't agree with that! So take a video of them if you can and get the numbers of the craft when they invade your space. Maybe they'll do something to the individual with a warning. :dono

is why I leave the weekends to the pleasure boaters and usually fish during week. or if on the lake on weekend get up at dawn and leave when traffic gets bad. is also why i am going to have lights on underside of toon so I can fish at night. just is so it's like a storm or anything else, just part of fishing where you have to adjust as the authorities don't really care. so don't let the BP rise, just adjust.

First let me say I'm not trying to stir anything up. This is my opinion. I see both sides of it. I like to ski and fish. We were at the lake yesterday skiing and a guy in a bass boat came right up on us when I was pulling my 6 year old. He was going pretty fast and got within 25 or 30 yards of us. We got to the boat ramp and he wife said was that your kid skiing. We got a kick out of him. They had the whole lake to watch him ski. I won't dare let him ski on Saturday or Sunday because of the lake traffic. You can't just blame pleasure boaters. Fisherman are just as guilty of not being respectful.