What would you do?

[Roger Mayer]

Hi,

I took my son out in the boat fishing for the first time. A friend was also with me. We were having a great time. Two boats pulled up and were just out of casting range from us. My buddy then caught 2 walleye. One was 4 1/2 pounds and the other about 8 pounds. When these 2 other boats saw us photo and release the last fish they pulled up anchor and went right between us and the shore where we were casting to. I didn't see where the one person cast to but I guess I cast over his line. I snagged into his line and he set the hook which made me shift in my seat then my son.........one and a half years slipped and smashed his face into the bottom of the boat. Needless to say I got "upset" and I just cut my line and went home. (30 second boat ride)

This just wrecked my day. I really feel like going back out there as the boats are still anchored there as I type this. I should mention that this guy is out there every day taking fish home that weigh anywhere from 3-12 pounds. He talk catch and release. I feel like this place is his personal grocery store!!!

Roger Mayer.

[Tom]

I would have very politely RIPPED him a new one about manners and fishing too close to other boats. But it doesn't sound like it would do any good, but it would ahve made me feel better.

[bigvic]

I would of given him a good, old-fashion "attitude adjustment" and shot a hole in his boat. A drastic measure for a drastic situation.

[Frank]

Roger I would cool off for a day and then give him a call and give him a piece of your mind. I assume you know who he is. If you tolerate it he will do it again. Good luck.
Frank

[An idea]

That blows when stuff like that happens. I hope the youngin learns ethics from you and not the other bozo!
He's out there every day huh? How many fish does he take each time out? Does he exceed his limit? Do you think he has more than his possesion limit in his freezer? Videotape him (descreetly) with a time code (day/date/time) each time he sets the hook. And be sure to include him keeping the fish. Send the tape to the local DNR. Or turn him in via the phone tip line.The a**wipe may not learn any ethics, but you will take a bite out of his wallet, at the very least.
Also, why didn't you politely ask him what the h**l he thought he was doing? You had every right to. But when your son slipped and fell, you just left. Good way to avoid confrontation, bad way to teach him ethics. I know he is only 1 and 1/2 years, but one day he will follow by your example. The4 sad fact nowadays is there are too many unethical jerks too willing to move right in on someone else when they are catching fish. Educating our children and new anglers is the only way to reverse this trend.

[henckel]

With your son in the boat, I think you probably did the right thing by quietly leaving the area. Any type of display you might have made to the situation wouldn't have been worth the impact it might have had on your son.

Had you been alone, it would have been interesting to slowly start crowding closer.....and closer....and closer....and closer to that other boat. Just see how long that guy would have tolerated you squeezing in on him. When he finally did squawk, you'd have the perfect opening to talk to him about what you thought about him crowding in on you.

On the other hand, from the way you describe him, he still might not get the message. -- mark

[Roger Mayer]

Hi,

"But when your son slipped and fell, you just left.
Good way to avoid confrontation, bad way to teach him ethics."

When I read this........You mean the guy in the ohter boat? I should of taught him better ethics? Or my son?

Not sure if I'm reading this right?

Roger Mayer.

[Bart]

Man, what a bummer! I just can't believe people fish like that. The best part about fishing is to figure out for yourself where the fish are. I wonder what kind of ethics their kids are learning. By the time I'm old and retired I probably won't want to go out on the lake at all!

[jimbo]

Why don't you copy these posts and mail them to this jerk???? To call him a jerk is too mild. You handled it better than most.

[SdDoc]

I had a similar episode happen during a tourney. We left the start flighted, i was near the bottom end of the first flight with a twelve mile run to where i was going to fish. i passed most of the boats that left before me and got to the spot i wanted. I started pitching jigs to shore. As i was moving slowly along, another agler pulls up 40 yard down from me, drops his trolling motor and heads towards me. I hooked up on two keepers within 60 seconds of each other. this boat continues towards me and passes between the shore and my boat. I even had to back my boat up to keep from touching. After he went by, i muttered" Couldn't you have gone around me? He just looked at me like it was his spot and i was interfearing!!! And i was sitting only 15 yards of shore!!! Left a nasty taste in my mouth.... I do AGREE with another post, Turn him into tips... they could do a search of his house and if they are really nasty the could check for any unmarked waterfowl...I know of someone they did that two also...Is your son OK?

[wally]

Roger I think you did the right thing.I wouldn't have. lol Maybe next time you see him out there do the same for him. When he gets upset you can remind him of what he did to you and your young son.That may or may not get the message across but at least you will have tried.I've had similar things done to me and I tend to snap just a bit.Not really a good thing.I would have run the boat over the fish at the very least as I was leaving..

[Harold]

Would have been a good day to put away the fishing gear and drag out the water skis to play around in your "hot spot" and any other place he might lead you for the rest of the day.

[Clarified]

>Hi,
>
> "But when your son slipped
>and fell, you just left.
>
>When I read this........You mean the
>guy in the ohter boat?
>I should of taught him
>better ethics? Or my son?


Roger, you are kinda reading it wrong, and I kinda said it a little funny. I also have a young fishing patner(son), so I know where you are comming from with your boy getting hurt. If that had been me, the temptation to take the flare gun and fire 2 or 3 warning shots accross his bow would have been too great.
When you left, I said that is the best way to avoid confrontation, and that is true. But do we as, a whole, just turn and leave everytime someone cuts us off? Too often in the past, I too have just moved off and went somewhere else. People like the other guy here have proved they are too stupid to catch rtheir own fish or are just so greedy and inconsiderate that they dont care.
The line about bad way to teach him ethics should have been explained better too. By moving off you will be teaching your son to not look for a fight, and that's what I am teaching my boy.
But by not speaking up, I felt that the other jerks behavior is being left unimpeeded. If everyone this idiot moved in on said, "Hey, what do you think you are doing? Why don't you just cast into my livewell!", eventually he would stop doing it, or he would move off. By saying this, (I have said that exact thing) I think it helps to teach our children to stand up for themselves without being a bigger a***ole that the jerk was in the first place. That is my goal for my son.

[Predator NE]

I am afraid I would have had to go back out and play "Bumper boats" with my biggest friend.

I have had similar things happen to me, a few 3/8 oz weights bounching off the side of their boat gets their attention.

There really should be a code of ethics on paper for these scum, but I guess they can't read anyway. Because they don't follow the game and fishing rules anyway.

I may ask what they are using but I would stay at least 50 ft away.

Pred

[Gunga Din]

Yea, you did the right thing by walking away. Save your retaliatory actions and comments for when the kids aren't with you. These days you never know how others will react, and you don't want to jeopardize your child's safety. And he'll remember the incident forever, rather than the fishing.

However, don't end the day on a bad note. And don't let your enjoyment be enslaved to or dependant on the actions of others. Just go to another spot and teach Jr. that no one can ruin your day together. Nothing makes an "owie" feel better than catching a big fishy! :)

ps: I've got a great pic of my 4-year old hugging my boat. He loves that thing as much as I do!

[Bruce]

Sounds like a couple of guys we saw getting off the water; had their boat well off the ramp, and then just dumped their minnows there on the apron. We had the bad luck to be behind them on the highway, and stuff kept blowing out of their boat and truck, paper, 5 gallon buckets, etc. People like that give fishing a bad name.

[A suggestion]

Bruce, you should of taken down their boat number and their car license plate and then called the DNR, dumping bait is illegal. I would also have called the local PD an reported all the trash blowing out of their boat, litter and creating a hazardous road condition. Hit these zero's in the wallet!

[4-given]

Has anybody tried those water-balloon slingshots?

[EXNJ]

EXNJ stands for ex-New Jersey resident. This brings back memories to one of my first opening days for trout fishing when I was 11-12 years old. Fishing starts at 8am 1st Sat in April each year. Some jerk who seemed oblivious to this fact started fishing around 7:30am. Ignoring about 30 other anglers around the hole (no exaggeration) telling him to stop, he kept on fishing until about 4 guys picked him out of the water in an upright position and threw him in horizontally. Needless to say he stopped fishing. This is an extreme and the usual way to handle things in NJ, a reason I now live in CO. Just last week I was belly boating for 'eyes in a local lake and as I was anchored, a 14 foot boat drifted with the wind right into me. I was lucky to have seen them coming from behind and grabbed their boat (which isn't easy in a belly boat) and shoved them off, snidly remarking that they should watch out because I had the right of way. They didn't even say they were sorry. Long awaited point- you can handle each situation with fishing jerks in different ways but they will always follow you around no matter where you are. My personal advice (I have 3 fishing sons 6,8,12 yrs old), is to try to avoid using expletives when they seem warranted and hard to avoid once the kids are over 3 years old. I know I can't remember a d*** thing from when I was less than 3 so I think you would be safe in tearing into the guy. I think sarcasm is the better route until he keeps ignoring you, then follow the other advice about turning him in. Pocket book damage should work. Just my 2 cents.

[Highlander Tony]

Come on everyone. By moving away from the fishing spot, that this inconsiderate fool infringed on, only cemented in the fool's mind and your son's mind that it's OK to treat people this way. The greed of cutting in front of people pays off. You left rewarding the fool with the spot producing the fish. I have also seen this behavior and it's rewards on the freeways, expressways, concerts, movie theaters,etc,etc etc... By cutting you don't have to stand in line as long, you get better seats, and you get first pick (choice)of things. Think for a second.......put yourself in your son's or daughter's place and age. They see it as "if I move ahead of this person, I will be rewarded, If I get caught, I am not out anything. It's time to get back to basics. Stop this behavior and teach the young ones that they might get their butts kicked for unacceptable behavior. Cheating and not waiting their turns are to be dealt with with some sort of punishment. For you folks that are over 40, remember what mom or dad did to you when your behavior was deamed unapproprate? I still address people older than me as Mr. or Mrs. Lastname. I'm sorry that this is blunt but that guy would have had a few lumps and bruises either inflicted or self inflicted. He might put the hurt on me but I'll get the point across.

[Yeah, warning shots]

More like 2 or three warning shots into his boat with that flare gun!

[Roger Mayer]

Thanks people for the input.

My father came up with a good one. Told me to go out at night with a coffee can with the plastic lid. There is a hornets nest on a tree behind my garage. He said just to slip the coffee can under it at night, snip the branch and put the plastic lid back on. When I see that guy out there just drive up to him and toss him the can and say "Here's some really good bait".

I guess you can use your imagination when he opens the lid! HA Ha!

But seriously. Yes I did let him crowd me out. But I had my son with me. Things would have been different if he wasn't. Now that I have had time to cool down I'll speak with the "genitalman"...........opps........did I spell that wrong?.............and say that I was trying to teach my son to respect our fishing resource which I thought I did a great job. Caught, photo and release unharmed etc. But what he did is what another person explained in this thread, is shown my son how to push his way through and forget about everyone else.

Another thing that I will do is carry my video camera with me and turn it on each time he hooks into a fish. I'll see what kind of footage turns up.

When I get the pictures of my son with some nice walleye, would anyone be offended if I leave the link to show ya?

Roger Mayer

[legend]

My favorite polite response to spot glommers is "there sure is a lot of water in this lake, don't you think?" A 12" suick rigged and ready is also very effective. Hope your kid is alright and that you find a way to teach the jerk a lesson.
regards

[MR.Pike]

Send the pictures! Sorry to hear about the Chucklehead in the other boat. Now that your son is home and hopefully O.K. Go take care of business left to settle. Sounds like the guy never got the Belt when he was young( ouch).Maybe he's ready to get a sample now. Have fun, post pictures of the other guy too.<;{{{{<<( Mr.Pike

[jeff reed]

I would have had an ENLIGHTING talk back at the weigh in.

[Nofish]

Hey Roger,

Check out the Kids Korner. Send a pic or two there. Then let your soon see himself on the internet. Even at his age, it will be pretty cool.
And I would like to see the pics too.

Good luck.....R

[Kevin B]

What we say we would do, and what we really do in a given situation is seldom the same. On any given day I could/would ram his boat, pray for him, or anything in-between. I think it is always best to display a level of behavior greater than those around us . . . and I'm still learning how to do it!! - Kevin B

[Diz]

I live in a tourist community in northern Mn. Believe me if I had a dollar for every time that someone plunked down next to me or drove over my line I'd have enuf $$ to fill my rig for the summer. I've often wondered what a 3oz. bell sinker would do.......hmmmmmm.
All a person can do is shake your head at them, what a world we live in.
Diz

[PO'D]

BIG JIG GO PING!Then rat on the FISHHOG!PROTECT THE RESOURCE!

[CJHughes]

stainless steel 357 mag won`t ever rust bought it with trapping money , I keep it in a one gallon zip lock bag with wd40 sprayed in it.Flare gun works but then you have to answer alot of unwanted questions from the cops or whoever shows up to save the day.Most people don`t understand the morals or principles that should be followed by anyone fishing on the same body of water as someone else.STAY THE ##### AWAY FROM ME IF I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ,YOU WOULD BE IN MY BOAT FROM THE DOCK

[snag their carpet]

Reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago from a friend. This friend was fishing with another friend named Bob who stands 6'5", weighs about 250. Another boat started sqeezing onto a point my friends were fishing, making a point of ignoring the first boat like it was invisible, even ignoring a couple of waves from my friends. So the big guy bounced a jig off of the offending boat When the guys in the second boat asked what the heck Bob was doing, he replied, "I'm trying to snag your carpet so I can reel you in and kick the s### out of you!" The second boat left to find a new hole.

[EricCO]

The only problem with carrying a gun is that if you pull it out you better be ready to kill someone. Are you willing to kill for fish or rudeness?