Fishing etiquette question

To start, please forgive me for the length of this post.

Ok, I'm out in my boat fishing the other day in a creek that feeds in to the lake. As I come in to the mouth of the creek there is a guy in a somewhat hybrid looking kayak with a trolling motor. He's stopped at a brush pile and stump baiting his lines and setting them out. I'm towards the opposite bank, shutdown my motor and drop my trolling motor and proceed to a brush pile on the opposite bank. A very popular brush pile that is unoccupied at the time. Anyway, as I am about 5' from stopping with rod in hand and ready to drop my jig I hear a voice behind me. It's the guy in the kayak. He asks, "Hey, are you going in that hole to fish?". Slightly bumfuzzled, I answer politely "yes". He mozees off to another brush pile close by. After about 20 minutes of fishing this spot I hear his trolling motor cavitating loudly. He appears to by hung up a bit in that brush pile. No big deal. Not bothering my fishing. I've pulled about 8 fish out of this hole so far but no legal keepers. Just hoping to land one or two keepers then move on. (a little background here) I've come by this spot ever day for the past 8 days. Each time prior to this day there was someone in a nice, big, fancy bass boat loaded with all the latest and greatest electronics (not the same boat everyday and remember this point. ;)). Again, no big deal. It's a public lake and they got there first. I fished nearby watching them pull several fish out of it. A few really nice fish. I patiently waited for a few hours each day fishing nearby brush piles then just moved up the creek checking other brush piles. Never complained, still caught fish and just patiently waited for my opportunity. Numerous people passed by every day doing the same. Finally, the evening before the encounter with the kayaker, I get the chance late in the day (this is end of day 7 of waiting by the way.) I land several short fish, just under the size limit and one very nice keeper just before the sun sets and I head back to the dock.
(Back to the encounter. Again, my apologies for the length and jumping around a bit.)
So, I notice after the kayaker gets out of the brush pile he begins to head my way. Again, I hear a voice. "I just wanted to come tell you I thought that was pretty rude of you and an a****** move to come jump in this spot when you could clearly see I was getting ready to come fish it. I can't fish just anywhere with this kayak in this wind and current and that's a pretty a****** move to jump in probably the only place you know I can fish." Then he proceeds to verbally bash me for having a boat with an outboard and a fish finder. Not sure how he came up with his synopsis of my boat and equipment but he looks at my new fish finder and accuses me of having live scope and SpotLoc (you can clearly see my trolling motor is a stern mount tiller steer that I made a mount for on my bow with no autopilot motor connected to it). Asking why I needed to fish the only place he could possibly fish in the entire creek when I had all the latest and greatest electronics to fish the open lake with??? He seemed to feel I was somehow responsible for his economic situation. I did let him know I had seen kayakers fishing all through the creek all week long with no problems. He says he had to drive 4 hours to get here. I told him I had to drive 6 & 1/2 hours. And I politely let him know I was fishing and didn't have time to listen to his crying and complaining.

I'm scratching my head at this point trying to figure out why he assumes I'm somehow related to Miss Cleo (you know, the famous psychic on the late night commercials back in early 2000's?) and I can read his mind to know this was his next stop????? I politely explained to him that when I first came up on him he was on the brush pile on the other side of the creek baiting and setting his lines. Anyone with at least one functioning brain cell would assume a person setting lines in a brush pile was fishing that brush pile. I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to assume he was simply getting ready to cross the creek and fish the spot I was in. ????? So, if I arrive at a point in a creek and start fishing, should everyone who comes in behind me have to wait for me to weave my way from one side of the creek to the other checking every brush pile on the way and fish behind me???? Was I wrong to assume this spot was open????? Did I hole jump this guy???

From my angle, you handled it perfectly; the guy was a jerk.

No boat on the brush pile. It is open and up for grabs. Only exception is someone is moving obviously toward the brushpile in question. Seems y'all were fairly even in watercraft. You were in a boat with a trolling motor. He was also in a boat with a trolling motor. Fella was probably having a bad day. We all have them. We have all been cut off on the way to a spot to fish.

Don't fish the hole if and only if a boat is on it or within casting distance.
Other than that, you snooze you lose.

You did right in my book. I would have fish the same but might not have been as patient although I would have let him have his rant. I have found no matter what one says or does you can’t reason with folks like this.

Id be finding a new spot with less traffic and A holes.
There are thousands of lakes in Florida, some are very lightly fished.

You handled better than I would have !!! Good job guy was definitely a jerk.

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First come first serve. You done a good job. The world is full of jerks!!

I don’t think I’d have been as nice as you were. I can’t stand jerks like that and have no patience with them. I’d have dropped some F bombs on him right away.

Sounds to me like you were just fine. Like Jack said maybe he was having a bad day. But that's no excuse for insulting your boat!nonono

Lots of places down that way that very few people fish. When I fished that area from a kayak. I didn't have to worry about boats. I fished places most folks wouldn't take a boat.

I would have taken the opportunity to share Jesus with him. Sounds like he needs it.

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I'm an avid kayaker, and speak for other kayakers (I hope).. Dude was a tool. In my opinion kayakers and boaters are of the same cloth, only difference is some don't have the ability to own boat (we all know some kayaks are just as expensive as boats), or we enjoy the minimalist style. Either way, same rules apply, give each other their space, a gentle nod or wave to signal what's up and good luck, and help each other when in need. If you're going to complain, you're clearly missing the point of fishing. I've been beaten to spots many times and I get excited for the other guy seeing them catch fish.. Id also say an experienced fisherman always has a plan b.. If the first spot doesn't pan out, always have a second.

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I wouldn’t sweat him. He sounds like one of the many entitled people out there running around and unless you got a lot of time and patience on your hands you are not going to change their mind.


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Thanks for the input. In my younger days I would have gladly invited him to the bank so that he might be able to express himself a little better. As we get older we realize we might not have that many fishing days left in our lives. I'm at a point now I don't want to waste precious fishing minutes stomping a mud hole in some disgruntled a****** who seems to think everyone owes him something.

You did fine, probably better than me. I’m a gut reaction type person and wouldn’t have taken kindly to his abuse. Might offer him a tissue cuz he was clearly crying. I’ve a few stories about being on both sides of a situation such as this. If he wanted that hole, why was he fishing the other side of the creek? Clear your mind and move on.

P*** on him. It's public water & it's not like you pulled in on the pile he was fishing. Complaining because he has a kayak instead of a boat tells me he needs to seriously be trying to save up for a boat. I can't stand to be cut off & sure ain't going to let someone run their mouth to me when i did no wrong on public water.

I guess I'll never understand why some people act that way. In my younger years he would have fished with me close the rest of the day. Now that I'm older I don't want conflict. While I wouldn't be run off a spot I probably would have invited him to come on in and fish. Kill em with kindness it that doesn't work then it's on the other guy. Don't waste your time worrying about it. You weren't in the wrong.

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I have had encounters with jerks in cars, kayaks, bass boats, lawn mowers and bicycles. Sometimes I wonder how they find me. Doesn’t take much to just set them off you know. I suspect he was watching you. Probably fuming when he saw you catching fish. I am not supposed to be offering advice in this regard. :)

One advantage that the OP had is he could be long gone and to a different spot entirely. Sometimes it is better to find a more peaceful place without all the turmoil to fish the rest of the day.

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Originally Posted by Les Young

P*** on him. It's public water

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That does not sound environmentally friendly! :Rofl

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Originally Posted by 6poundtest

From my angle, you handled it perfectly; the guy was a jerk.

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:hesaid Definitely.
Bob

You handled it like a true gentleman. Last Sunday I was the guy wanting to fish a spot, but someone beat me to it. I just went to a spot I have never fished. Enjoyed my time there. Didn't catch anything but sunshine. Was beautiful and I was happy. Fished the first spot I wanted after they moved on. (More sunshine :)) Later I started moving to hit a few docks along the area I was in. A few docks down a couple of fellows were hitting them like crazy. As I passed slowly by at no wake speed, I could see them swing them in. It was a beautiful sight. I fished another dock a few hundred yards past. More sunshine. Late in the day, I finally found a spot that ran off the skunk. Plenty of sunshine and a great day. I said all that to say this, sometimes we get there first, sometimes someone else does. It is how we react to others that makes all the difference in our day. I catch one, someone else catches 40. We both had a great day :fish

I fish one lake that only has a couple of access points without navigating the riprap rocks where some of my buddies just can't handle at all. So if you go there and someone is there your out of luck but they are public areas and folks can come fish next to you and happens. Don't get mad you adjust and hope all ketch fish.

But in your situation and that guy comes up to me, those that know me will understand "It's go time" and I have never been in a fight in my life but my mouth will make them wish they hadn't been so rude and I don't cuss just that biting sarcasm and LOLing them. He was ridiculous as you both have similar situations as your both on boats in the water and have same opportunities. I have been known to blister guys in bass boats who come up and try to fish the ONE place I have to fish when on the bank and they see me ketchn and want to come up. I have loaded up with heavy jigs and zip them up to their boats and bang em to get their attention, than a sarcastic sorry your where I am fishing. That has always settled the situation and as I pointed out to them they have the other 6000 acres to fish and I have only one spot to be on, shame is a great motivator. but that's me.

there are 2 sides to every story

it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong based on your version

I know more than a few guys who would have invited him over to the bank for a personal pow wow

I dont know anyone involved in this situation, but around here the younger generation (no all mind you, just seems the majority) has no respect for themselves, much less anyone else. An entitled generation that their parents just wanted them out of their hair and never took time to each them morals, respect, much less the Golden Rule.

Just this week I had 2 young men in a bass boat blow by me at full throttle in a fairly narrow river channel. I was parked on a submerged brush pile about 15ft off the bank. Not in a curve, no visual obstructions. They knew I was there. About washed me up on the rock bank. Within 5 minutes I heard them coming back down river, full throttle. Blew by me again with a big wake. They got the finger that time. Rude is rude. Same type person that will blow by you on the highway and suddenly cut you off. Entitled. Nobody matters but them, self. Sad, sad, sad.

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Originally Posted by Foxy Jig

there are 2 sides to every story

it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong based on your version

I know more than a few guys who would have invited him over to the bank for a personal pow wow

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The story went down exactly as stated. It's not one sided. It's simply a description of the events that took place. I fly fish the Rocky Mt's quite a bit. I've never "hole jumped" anyone in all my years of fishing. If Whether I'm crappie fishing or fly fishing, if I see someone fishing a run (fly fishing) or a brush pile, in the crappie fishing situation I'll either start out behind the guy ( or gal ) and just follow, or move 3 or 4 brush piles ahead to give room. Fly fishing is a bit different, if you come up on someone you don't know if they are working their way up or downstream. I'll always ask the person. Which ever way they are going I'll start fishing the other side of them. I couldn't count the number of times I didn't get this courtesy from other anglers. They just jump in where they want. I don't complain. As stated above, it's a public water. They have just as much right as I do to fish there. I don't mind following. I've caught fish numerous times fishing behind someone, and some quite nice ones. I've watch folks stop, watch and point at me after they moved on to the next hole after an unsuccessful attempt at the one they left and I'm now in both in fly fishing and crappie fishing.

Funny thing was, the brush pile he on to to fish when I started fishing this particular one, I had caught at least 2 keepers off of each day I fished it prior to this day. One just over 13" and the other just over 14". Neither broke 3 lbs, but the 14" fish was knocking on the door. Only reason I wanted to fish this particular pile was I saw one of the other boats land two fish just over 3 lbs on it. Fishing had been tough all week due to weather. Best day for me was 12 in the boat. All other days were 6 to 8 fish in the boat. If it wasn't raining or snowing, it was windy. I can understand the guy's frustration, but everyone was experiencing the same thing. Crappie (pun intended) conditions and tons of boats on the water with everyone concentrated in the same areas. The weather was keeping the bulk of the anglers off of the lake and pushing them into the creeks and backwaters. Lake level was down also making this even more concentrated. I wan't trying to make the guy look like and a******. He was able to do that all by himself.

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Originally Posted by Kevind62

The story went down exactly as stated. It's not one sided. It's simply a description of the events that took place. I fly fish the Rocky Mt's quite a bit. I've never "hole jumped" anyone in all my years of fishing. If Whether I'm crappie fishing or fly fishing, if I see someone fishing a run (fly fishing) or a brush pile, in the crappie fishing situation I'll either start out behind the guy ( or gal ) and just follow, or move 3 or 4 brush piles ahead to give room. Fly fishing is a bit different, if you come up on someone you don't know if they are working their way up or downstream. I'll always ask the person. Which ever way they are going I'll start fishing the other side of them. I couldn't count the number of times I didn't get this courtesy from other anglers. They just jump in where they want. I don't complain. As stated above, it's a public water. They have just as much right as I do to fish there. I don't mind following. I've caught fish numerous times fishing behind someone, and some quite nice ones. I've watch folks stop, watch and point at me after they moved on to the next hole after an unsuccessful attempt at the one they left and I'm now in both in fly fishing and crappie fishing.

Funny thing was, the brush pile he on to to fish when I started fishing this particular one, I had caught at least 2 keepers off of each day I fished it prior to this day. One just over 13" and the other just over 14". Neither broke 3 lbs, but the 14" fish was knocking on the door. Only reason I wanted to fish this particular pile was I saw one of the other boats land two fish just over 3 lbs on it. Fishing had been tough all week due to weather. Best day for me was 12 in the boat. All other days were 6 to 8 fish in the boat. If it wasn't raining or snowing, it was windy. I can understand the guy's frustration, but everyone was experiencing the same thing. Crappie (pun intended) conditions and tons of boats on the water with everyone concentrated in the same areas. The weather was keeping the bulk of the anglers off of the lake and pushing them into the creeks and backwaters. Lake level was down also making this even more concentrated. I wan't trying to make the guy look like and a$$hole. He was able to do that all by himself.

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I could go that route if the guy had been a millennial or generation xyz. Unfortunately, he looked closer to my age. If he was any younger than me, he's lived a hard life. :biggrin

Entitlement mentality is the probably the best description nowadays.

The days of politely asking for the "Grey Poupon" are long over.



Quick story.

Had a good size spring bite going on a local lake.

Invite a buddy and tell him we need to be really early birds on this trip, as in kicken the rooster awake.

Get to the spot in 9ft water, approach and set up down wind and flip upwind to the brush pile.

30 min into it, a boat motors up very close (could touch them with a 12ft rod) to our side and proclaims "Aw Dude, you are right on top of my waypoint".

My reply was " Impossible, I just bought this guaranteed unknown waypoint off a guy on Ebay, last night".

He was speechless.

The look on his face was priceless. rotfl



To the OP, you did well.



We are supposed to lead by example, but I am thinking that sometimes a small knock upside the head may have to be added to the example.:bash

Actually, I can't bash the millennials or generations xyz's. I've "somewhat" given in to their way of life. Nowadays, I don't mind sitting down to a flavored cup of coffee and a good book. :biggrin

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Originally Posted by Kevind62

Actually, I can't bash the millennials or generations xyz's. I've "somewhat" given in to their way of life. Nowadays, I don't mind sitting down to a flavored cup of coffee and a good book. :biggrin

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I don't believe that would be the book or the flavoring most of them would choose :biggrin

So you drove 6.5 hours,seven days in a row to fish that brush pile...or were you just pulling his leg...;) lol

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Originally Posted by Central Minn

So you drove 6.5 hours,seven days in a row to fish that brush pile...or were you just pulling his leg...;) lol

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I've driven 22 hours before just to sit in one particular deer stand on one of my leases. When you set limits to what you are willing to do, you set limits on what you can achieve. :biggrin

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In my opinion both of yall need to learn more tactics and more spots to catch fish.

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good news here is I have about 10 lakes within less than an hour from my house .
if one has to much traffic I avoid it do to these kinds of situations that are frequent in those scenarios .
for every 100 folks out there , about 5 to 10 are jerks , if you bunch them up around you ....
the odds of interacting with them goes up greatly ....just saying

Not that many dock shooters in my area. I come across the occasional bass fisherman throwing around the docks. They are always on the move.

Over the years, I’ve had people literally bump my boat to get in front of me and fish the brush pile I was on. I’ve had people literally run over me in a boat while I was wading. (I had to push their boat out of the way to keep it from hitting me.) They think nothing of cutting in front of me while I’m trying to fish a line of snags, or pull a line while cranking. I used to come unglued, and have acted a fool more than once.

But over the years, I’ve decided to just move along and move on. They old saying rings true: “no sense wallowing with a pig. You’ll both get muddy, and the pig likes it.” I refuse to let a pig ruin my day fishing. I don’t get many, so I try to take advantage of each one.


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You didn't do anything wrong. If he was going to fish that brush pile he should have been on it instead of being across the creek. Some people you just cannot please and they will complain about anything.:dono

Definitely handled better than I would have. He’d have to swim back to the boat ramp! Lol

I have the opposite problem. One local lake specifically, I pull up to a brush pile or whatever dock or structure and catch a few fish or a bunch of fish and then the bite slows or stops so I move to another spot. As soon as I move another boat hurry’s over where I was and sets anchor. That continues all around the lake by several different boats. They don’t usually leave that spot either, they just set and set because they seen fish caught there. It would be nice to go back and hit that structure periodically but that’s not an option. I have to take a vacation day during the week to fish that lake now.


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Not to blast kayakers, but they've gotten to be somewhat problematic on my home lake (Lake Norman). Not so much fishermen, but pleasure kayakers. I know there's no right-of-way more so to one type of vessel than another on inland, non-commercial/freighter/tanker type traffic, but this lake is HIGHLY populated. The last 2-3 years, kayaking and paddle boarding has gotten to be super popular. That's great, get out and enjoy the outdoors. The problem I have is when a string of them are crossing a large creek (size of some of your main channels on your lakes), or main channel, and you're either a jerk for not coming off plane, or you have to wait and idle around them. It would be different if it was closer to shore, or something, but usually they're in that sweet spot of being in the middle far enough that to give them a wide enough berth to not be a jerk, you have to go within 150ft (50yds) of a dock, which is no wake too. Half the time they're not really doing anything, just chilling out there like a navigational hazard that they are.

Sure we share the water just the same, but I also try not to do things that will inhibit someone else's use of the water as well, or how they travel. Im surprised none have been hit in the summer when the party crowd takes over the lake. It's ranked as one of the top 10 party lakes in the country due to its size, as well as it's proximity to a large city (Charlotte). I can't understand the want or need to take a kayak or paddle board along with 6 of your buddies and string them out in a train 50yds long, across the lake.

Oddly enough, and maybe it's the nature of the activity, the kayak fisher people I see, for the most part, stick to shorelines/no wake zones and cross channels only when necessary for travel, unless it's cooler weather and less traffic on the lake.