How close can I fish to your bouy?

[Texeye]

This subject may have been hashed before, but I was wondering what the normal or standard distance you must stay from another fisherman's bouy marker during a tournament? This question was brought up at our last tournament and would like to have some input so we can have a good answer.If you come upon another fisherman and he doesn't have a marker out, can you move in right beside him?

[stewart]

Seems weird to give a marker more importance than an actual boat, but I don't fish real tournaments...

[Gofish]

Go find your own fish, I hope that does not sound to harsh but do you really want to move right in on another anglers bouy?

[rickn]

How close would you want someone to move in on you? This is a subject that really pisses me off, I hate having to jockey for boat space on a 2000 acre lake. Find your own ##### fish! It just seems manners and ettiquete go right out the door when some people see a boat in one place for more than 5 minutes. Sorry for venting, as I said, it's a touchy subject for me!

[Hawgeye]

First of all I somewhat agree with you guys that say go find your own fish. That being said, there are times that there is a river mouth or location that fish are stacked and several boats are fishing an area. What pisses you off also pisses me off. Only one thing worse than someone fishing someone elses buoy is someone who comes in from outside and drops a marker right in the lane that I have been trolling back and forth on for the last hour. Buoys do not mark spots as "owned". I often see people drop a marker buoy, run an edge for 100 yards and expect that area between them and the buoy to be "off limits." The lake is public property and if there is a place that I know of and plan to fish it, if another boat is there, I will give him his space but do not think it is "HIS" spot! I use the 100' rule of thumb when there are not too many boats. There are times when you cannot stay 100' away but just use common sense, if boats are trolling a consistant pattern, respect them and follow the flow. If there are 3 boats trolling or drifting with the wind, don't cut across them at 90 degree angles.

If you fish small lakes like I do, sometimes on weekends, the lake is the spot! You people who think you own a spot need to learn that it is not yours...you do however deserve respect for your space.

[Texeye]

Easy Rick! :) I know where you are coming from,but in a tournament there has to be some kind of guidelines for everyone to follow.We just need a good rule of thumb for our tournaments.Would casting distance be too close or about right? I don't think some people can judge distance in feet, so to say 50ft. might not work.

[riverrunner]

"go find your own fish" that is how all of us locals feel on the detroit river during spawn feel when every tom, dick and harry from across the country are bumping your boat in 6 mph current. but whose fish are they? and who's water is it? its everyones-so you just gotta learn to deal with some of the headaches!!!

[Doug Burns]

In the PWT when someone throws an official PWT Marker all other boats must stay at least 75 feet from that bouy and the owner of the bouy must stay within 75 feet exept when fighting a fish. Upon landing the fish the angler must return to within 75 feet. All that being said I have never thrown an official marker or witnessed anyone else doing so.

It was stated above that you should leave a spot alone if someone is fishing on said spot. "Go find your own fish". These is all good and well but maybe those are my fish and I did find them in practice. My point is, if I travel twenty miles to a spot and someone is already there I am going to fish, but I am also going to give the other person the utmost courtesy. In other words, If competitor A is fishing the end of a point I would work the inside corners or maybe a secondary point nearby. If our paths should cross I will give competitor A the choice if he/she would like me to go shallow or deep. Rarely is there only one spot on a spot and sometimes the secondary spots will produce better. If I have other spots nearby I will fish them first.

Now, on the other hand, if someone is flying past on full plane and I hook a fish or grab the net and they come barreling in planning to fish I will kindly ask them to leave. Explaining to them that I would show them more respect and expect the same. If that doesn't work report the unsportsmanlike activity to the tournament director.

I work hard in practice to find fish away from the crowds and try never to fish community holes. In weekend tournaments or on small bodies of water it can be very difficult to find fish that others haven't. The golden rule is the best rule to live by when it comes to how close is to close.

Doug Burns

[Gilligan]

I can't give you a # in feet that tournaments use but.. many if not all also require that the team putting the marker out stay within x amount of feet of their bouey. If you use 60', that will keep other tournament boats off your spot but necessarily anyone else. What may be a better way would set x amt of feet to another tournament boat if they are on anchor bouey or not. I seldom use a bouey, attract to many crowds.

[rickn]

As I said, it's a touchy subject for me. I like my space, and will give you yours. I have also decided I need to rethink the boat ramp manners I have spent a lifetime learning, or else I will be pissed the rest of my life! (I'm working on it!)

[BlackSilver]

You can fish as close to me and my bouy as you like. If I watch you closely I might learn something, and vice-versa. There's plenty of fish to go around.

And hey, if you gotta a spare cold beer over there, I'll tell you about a couple other great spots that I know about.

SET the hook!!!

Hans/MN

[Box]

Amen Hans! :)

Just try not to tangle my lines! ha!

-Box

[hiwayman]

First off, I have never fished a tournament, so don't know the distance rules there. But I sure would like other boats to give me the same respect I give them. I hate fishing in a crowd and wish everybody else would too! I never use a marker anymore, because if there are 10 boats fishing within site, within 15 min. 6 of them will be fishing around my marker guranteed! If it's a friend, that's a different thing, but otherwise give a guy a little breathing room and he'll do the same to you.

[LightHouse]

Disallow Markers. Their purpose in a tournament is both marking a spot and claiming territory. If a guy is trolling around an area, it hardly seems fair that a marker can be dropped there. On the other side of the coin, if a spot can be fished, it hardly seems fair to claim a channel for trolling over one spot!

No answer but to disallow bouys and create a distance from boat rule.

[Lucky Eddy]

This reminds me of a day of ice fishing.After watching me catch fish, this guy comes over and ask Do you mind if I fish here? Well I don't own the lake, so I said no not at all. Next he ask can I borrow your auger? Well being a nice guy I said no, but I will cut a hole for you. After a while we are both catching fish and he asks what did you bring for lunch today? #@%&. Fortunately I left before he asked for a ride home.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Yeah, Thanks! I walked four miles, up-hill all the way, in 10 below zero temperature with a minus 50 degree wind chill, just to bring those stunted bluegills home for my starving children!

[scooter]

Like Hans said as close as you want.But please be fun or keep going.Even during a tourny except if we are trolling with boards for obvious reasons.I cant count how many times Ive told some one in a another boat that there dead stick has a fish on.And that fish was a good weigher.After all even tourny fishing is still just fishing when all is said and done shouldnt we have fun doing it.
As far as people moveing in on me I dont like it on rivers much unless they are doing the same thing as I am mostly drifting.The guy who anchors on top of bar or hole Im working is a jerk.
If I see a group of boats on a spot that I wanted to work I usually work outside of them untill they leave or I do.

my 1/2 cent worth
scooter

[tk]

What ever you do, don't ever throw a marker out at Mille Lacs, unless you are having motor trouble...the best flare gun available is a yellow marker buoy...that will get you a tow home!!!

[Moose]

I can tell about a time where I had a so called tourney pro move in on us. Well, we were fishing a bar tourney and he was fishing the same tourney,but he didnt know that we were in the same one. He thought we were just locals there for the day. Anyways,we were anchored just like the other(10) boats there. All of us were picking up fish,it was slow but we had our so called spot. You know what I mean, the "casting distance" one. Well, here comes this beautiful boat and all of a sudden he throws the binders on and down comes the trolling motor!!! It only took him a min. to get close enough for me to read the serial numbers on his depthfinder and take our "casting distance" away.
I confronted him after the tourney and he said he did nothing wrong!!!! And it was his partners responsibilty to watch where they were going although his partner was in the back. He said he fishes all the big tourneys. I said, if you represent all the big tourneys RCl,PWT,MWC, I really don't want nothing to do with them. But I know that the guys in RCl,PWT,MWC are not like that, I hope.

Just my two cents!!

[reddog]

From my standpoint, there are many reason to throw a marker, Catching a fish, seeing fish on the locator, seeing a likely spot on a locator, seeing a potential spot on a spot on the locator, or heaven forbid, a decoy. Catching a fish , marking it, and hanging around and fishing that spot may be a reasons for others not to get too close, but any other of my reasons, particularly the decoy option, is fair game, even if they want to anchor on top of it. Heck, Ive even seen someone catch a fish off the decoy. Shows what I know.

Does anyone even carry an anchor anymore? Has technology taken us so far away from fishings roots? Scooter says that if he is fishing a bar or hole, anyone that anchors too closely is a jerk. I agree with him wholeheartedly, he is on a spot, and actively working the spot. ( scooter, from here onward, this is posted in general, and not directed at anyone in particular) If youre fishing the tip of a point, or an inside corner, or whatever, and just convering a general area, and you are 100 yds away from where I want to fish, and if I feel the need to lock in, Im gonna connect with the bottom, and not worry about positioning until I feel I have thouroughly scoured my spot. It goes two ways, If Im anchored up, and you come flying by, decide to check out this antiquated anchor fisherman, and Im catching fish, how close are you going to get to me, if its my spot? My comfort level with another boat coming in while Im anchored up is two cast lengths. One cast length is a no brainer, I wouldnt be casting there otherwise, so dont go there. I feel there is still part of the school out to two cast length, but dont feel I can stop someone from partaking, as long as they give me my 2 cast length zone. In reality, if they wanted to anchor up 3 casts away, and cast back to me, we could both be very happy If you cannot stay 2 cast lengths away, at least come by with the electric, and not the big motor just looking at the locator! Man I hate that.

[eye_guide]

I absolutely hate all those people who suck in on you when they see you catch a couple fish or sit in one spot too long. Now when people suck in on a spot that I had started I will throw the anchor out. By the end of the day I usually have a good collection of tackle to take off my anchor rope. I also will cut lines when people tangle up with me. I don't care what anyone says there is no reason for a person to get so close to you that you're getting tangled together!!

Luckily, here on Devils Lake a guy can fish all day and sometimes never see another boat.

[Stump]

For all you guys who are saying "go find your own fish"....Well,those are MY fish.....as soon as I catch one of them Ill pull over and show you where I marked it.If you look real close,right in front of the anal fin,thats where I mark all MY fish.All MY fish have a hole right there.Now if you happen to catch 1 that does have the mark...YOU are now catching MY fish.Wow,I cant even believe it,your using MY minnows to catch them too!
MY fish, YOUR fish...get real!!You guys must be the same kinda guys who start crying when your fishing partner drops a minnow scale on the carpet of your boat..."WAAAAAAAA,your gettin MY boat dirty".
All joking aside...Its just a point of common courtesy.If there are rules...follow the rules.If there isnt,use your better judgement. Fish as close as you feel comfortable doing.If you are thinking to yourself,"I wonder if this guy thinks Im too close"...you probably are!If your in close quarters,keep the noise level down and manage your boat and have fun fishing.There are times when people are fishing elbow to #@$hole and keeping out of anothers space is just out of the question.Deal with it and fish...thats what you went out to do isnt it?
Hey,you asked for MY thoughts!
Stump P.S.Dont catch all MY fish...LOL!

[Moose]

I wish it was like that here on Winnebago.Oh well????

[luredaddy]

Well, the next time someone asks me, why I do not fish tournaments, I will refer them to this thread! If lack of common sense is any indicator, and if IGNORANCE is bliss, there are alot of HAPPY tournament people out there! Thank goodness the good ones outweigh the bad, at least I think they do!!

[fishy1]

>For all you guys who are saying "go find your own
>fish"....Well,those are MY fish.....as soon as I catch one
>of them Ill pull over and show you where I marked it.If you
>look real close,right in front of the anal fin,thats where I
>mark all MY fish.All MY fish have a hole right there.Now if
>you happen to catch 1 that does have the mark...YOU are now
>catching MY fish.Wow,I cant even believe it,your using MY
>minnows to catch them too!
> MY fish, YOUR fish...get real!!You guys must be the same
>kinda guys who start crying when your fishing partner drops
>a minnow scale on the carpet of your boat..."WAAAAAAAA,your
>gettin MY boat dirty".
> All joking aside...Its just a point of common courtesy.If
>there are rules...follow the rules.If there isnt,use your
>better judgement. Fish as close as you feel comfortable
>doing.If you are thinking to yourself,"I wonder if this guy
>thinks Im too close"...you probably are!If your in close
>quarters,keep the noise level down and manage your boat and
>have fun fishing.There are times when people are fishing
>elbow to #@$hole and keeping out of anothers space is just
>out of the question.Deal with it and fish...thats what you
>went out to do isnt it?
>Hey,you asked for MY thoughts!
>Stump P.S.Dont catch all MY fish...LOL!
as for youre thoughts there yours my partner and i did not fish in the crowd one tourny and were one of four boats that did NOT weigh in fish two weeks later we were on another lake another tourny and fished alone 1st PLACE and 5 GRAND in youre face I want my space the lake is wide open you want part of my realty buy it}>

[Stump]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!Heres a quarter...reality is bought and paid for!

[fishy1]

>WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!Heres a quarter...reality is
>bought and paid for!
ill take the quarter if youre fool enough to spend it the lakes wide open

[CJHughes]

I am so gald I read this post this morning . I and about 100 other boats are going to fish a tourney today. I have a funny feeling from what I saw yesterday 99 of the boats will be in one small channel that is about 100 yards wide . But thanks to WC I am not going to take all of my bullets just 99 LOL .

[brianj]

Have you ever set a bouy decoy out? Don't put the weight on it and watch all the chasers float away from the spot. Seems like they pay more attention to the buoy rather than their depth finder or gps. Then when your done fishing that spot, drive over and pick it up.

[Walleye Express]

fishy 1.
I hope you took your share of the 5 Grand and went back to school. There are these little things called commas's and periods. These little (marker buoys) allows the rest of us read and understand what you have written.

[Jhawker]

I must agree with most everyone, my marker is mine and anything within a 50ft radius of it, so back off. The fish come and go under it and I do not lay claim to them, but I do claim the rock pile, brushpile or break under my bouy while it is in the water. I quit fishing our state circut because after 7yrs, most competitors did not need a 300.00 locator, they did just fine with a 39.99 pair of binoculars. One thing I have done is like one suggestion, throw a decoy bouy 100-150ft from where you really want to fish, or take along a couple of 12"-16" long heavy sticks and tie line and a weight to them, most people will come by and not even pay attention to it, "just a stick floating in the water", it never dawns on them that the stick is not moving.

[SnellTier]

My wife and I fish LOW a lot and I had Totem Lodge guide boats come up and start fishing within 20 feet of my marker last year. Four guys in the boat plus the guide ... all pitching crank baits around the circumference of their boat ... all within 20 feet of my marker. It was the first year they were ever that rude ... so I was surprised. I countered their rudeness by pretending to look down at my graph with the bill of my hat covering my eyes and aiming right at them as I worked my bow mounted troller. They would back off as I neared them and then work back in on my marker as I let up on the throttle.

Maybe the stick idea would keep them off my marker. If not, somebody on here suggested using paint balls to chase off annoying "water lice". HMMMMMMMMMM. I am sure they meant it as a joke, but, HMMMMMMMMM. LOL.


*** A day spent fishing does not count against one's alloted life span! ***

[eyegetit]

Of all the people I know who use markers (including myself), none of us use a marker for the purpose of marking a "caught" fish or even a school of fish for that matter. We are simply placing a visable point of reference in the water for a myriad of reasons. It makes me laugh to see boats do a U-turn when they see your marker in the water and slowly move in to investigate.

[ChrisNE]

I second Hans and Box.

I fish to get away from stress...not find it.

For all I know, they found the same fish I did hours or the day before I did. A marker bouy doesn't mean squat...it's a public lake.

And who knows, you might meet a new friend or learn something.

[W'eyes Guy]

This could work out well, once we determine how far from another's bouy we must stay; I need to know how many bouys I can use to mark "my" area I want to fish. Please steer clear as I'm tossing them out on take-off. Seriously though, A little common courtesy is not too much to ask. Don't get any closer than you would want someone to get to you, it's pretty simple really.

#610

[fishy1]

Capn: Dan
Next time I'll try to be sure to use all the correct spelling,commas,periods for everyone.

[DREW FISH]

When I'm trolling I look ahead to see if I am going to run into anything that might hurt. I pay no attention to little pieces of polypropylene bobbing in the water. Actually I usually don't notice them untill my ReefRunner is dancin' with one on top of the water. I don't use them if I see alot of boats around and really don't like messin' with them anyways. I figure if your putting them out there then your fish are no longer a secret. If you and I find the same fish pre-fishing on different days and you take off before me on tourny day am I supposed to stay away because of that orange piece of plastic in the water,no way. what if you see me catchin' fish in a spot pre-fishin and beat me out of the gates on tourny day and go mark my spot,am I staying away,uh-uh.

[TJ]

Each tournament has there own rules. If your lure hooks my bouy, you're too close. :)

I don't use markers anyway. I punch an icon into the GPS. Only I can see that!

That said, none of us owns any 'spot' on the water, but we all share ownership and stewardship of all our waters. Common sense courtesy is all anyone needs. Some people just lack it and there's nothing you or I can do about it.

[Bouy?]

More like speed bumps, I agree with previos post, all you pwt glorified bass fishermen have fun enforcing your rules on us locals.

[Fishtail]

Go right ahead and fish on top of it!!!! I just threw it out there to draw you way from ME!!! I never use bouys unless it is to keep people away from me.

[James]

I respect a bouy, and I don't fish closer than I'd like someone else fishing my bouy. I caught Sam Anderson at an outdoor show and he said when fishing a new lake, he will cruise around the bouy always looking at his electronics to find out what is so great about that spot and go find a similar spot. Not a bad idea.

[Al]

Here's how far you should stay from my buoy....far enough I can't hit you with a 3/4oz rattle trap or snakie spoon. That's a long ways....if I can find the boat numbers,I'll send you a reference.

[jim c]

this should be determined by the turny before the game starts and vilalators will be disquallified.take a camera to doctument and prossicute.Turnies are busnisses,gambling,sales promotions,big bussines(wal-mart kmart etc.)and has nothing to do with fishing,,just like bingo has nothing to do with going to church... jim c...

[jim c]

dough,ahhhh, common sense ,excellent post,like a cool lake breeze.jim c