True Story

[Ray McClelland]

Bright and early Saturday morning I launched at Corps Bay on Lake Oahe(first boat out of the ramp). Go to the first long point at the mouth of the and pick up a couple of fish. So I throw out my marker. I would say out of the thirty some boats that lauched of the same ramp, that at least twenty boats stopped and fished 50 feet from my marker. No, big I keep telling myself, keeping my cool holding my ground, because there were good fish there. Just lucky no one hooked a lot of fish when they would stop. But, I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to pick my marker up when, a make-shift Bayliner-fishing boat pulled in 5 feet from my marker and sat there. The Dad went to the front of the boat and started fishing, and his 2 sons jumped out of the back of the boat right on my marker. Mom had ropes tied to the kids. What can a person do, accept laugh out load, pick up your marker, and say to yourself, "I thought I had seen it all"!

Ray McClelland
of McClelland Outdoors

[Amos Moses]

Give it up Ray!

[tj1n]

Ray,
It's the 4th of July and any major body of water had everyone, their brothers, sisters, moms, 1st-3rd cousins, etc.... out fishing and enjoying the water.

I was at my childhood stomping grounds (the big lake in ND) this weekend for a few days and was on the water every morning by 5:45 a.m and had people jumping into my boat and spots every time I landed another eye.... often within 1/2 hour there would be 15-30 boats that had move in. Each time my blood pressure rose and I told myself it's the 4th of July and it's OK.

I personally don't like fishing in crowds so I kept moving and catching fish elsewhere.

My only frustration was how much time I spent trying to educate all of the MEAT HOGS that were on the lake and at the cleaning stations. The big fish were extremely active and I seen many eyes over 5lbs. getting slaughtered. I had more than my fair share of heated exchanges many to no avail... hopefully I affected a couple of them.

Travis Joritz

[Ayeye]

Ray sure can feel your discomfort there, had a group of three, as everyone was trolling on a local lake they would make a sharp turn just after they got past the boat cut me off twice. Ohn well time to get back to the river, never heard of this Corps Landing, where may this be located?

[WAeyes]

Hey Ray,

See DaveB response in the "Number 2" thread. ;)

[bob oh]

Dumb questions -- how does "throwing out a marker" make the area yours?? Second, were the "meat hogs" killing illegally taken fish or fish that were over the "legal" limit??

bob

[Ray McClelland]

Hey Bob,
I know I don't own the lake, but I don't go to a park that you don't own, and sit at your picnic table uninvited, and poke around with fork at food your gonna be eating soon. Look, you marked your picnic table(or spot), and I did the same only in different way.

For the guy asking about Corp Bay, it is the East Shore lakeside use area, a few miles up from the face of the Oahe Dam, on hwy 1804.

Ray McClelland
of McClelland Outdoors

[Dutchman]

Oahe bumper boats at it's finest, that's why I've been going to Sakakawea instead of Oahe. A good tip on Oahe is to never use your net, or you'll be surrounded in minutes, and also Ray never throw out a marker :)


" Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope "

[Ray McClelland]

I'm sorry, but I did not post this to bash Lake Oahe. I'm sure things like this happen on every lake. This post was just a view of the lack of common courtesy one day on the water fishing.

Ray McClelland
of McClelland Outdoors

[Marble Eyes]

Ray,

Next time buy those markers in the Six pack. Head out to where you want to fish. If you find the honey Hole, mark it on your GPS. Take those makers and place em a 1/4 mile from where you are fishing.

For a few extra dollars look at all the entertainment you would get. :)

[BigBass]

Ray,

Don't worry, most of us understood the total humor of your post and took it for that and nothing more!

Funny story



Fish for them all...

Big-Bass

[erie addict]

Another trick we use is to use a duck decoy as a marker bouy. A seagull decoy is even better.

[Texeye]

Ray,great analogy!!! I also fish with a marker when I get serious about catching walleye.A gps will put you in the general area but it does'nt put you within a few feet, and sometimes that is the difference between a good day and a great day! :P

[BigBass]

Good point Texeye.

Fish for them all...

Big-Bass

[Backwater Eddy]

I like the seagull decoy idea.

:D

A comrant or a coot may be even more effective on Oahe...HA!

Backwater Eddy...><sUMo>

[Dutchman]

Just to clarify I wasn't slamming Oahe, just taking a jab at some of the unorthadoxed anglers that visit her. If my wife would let me I'd live near Oahe, it continues to be one of my favorite places to fish, during the week, and never on the weekend. Good story Ray!!!!


" Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope "

[Shannon Yeske]

I know what you are saying Ray. This happened to me at Lake Thompson last weekend in a Tournament. We were slip bobbering over some sunken trees when a guy in a bass boat pulled up and fished 20ft. away almost the entire day. He was not from the SD and I would bet that this was his first time on the lake. The only reason he stopped where he did was because we had a couple of markers out showing the edges of the trees.

Where can you find a Seagull Decoy? I've been looking for some but can't find them anywhere.

By the way Bob OH, it doesn't have anything to do with owning the water or a spot on the water, it has to do with common courtesy and respect. Kind of defensive aren't you? Are you one of those people that fishes next to someone else's marker?????

[Guest]

Hey, look at it like a challenge. Go fish the lake with the most traffic and fishing pressure. If you can still have a good day and catch plenty of fish, then you are a good fisherman. If you just complain about everyone else, then stay home where no one can park on your marker. Oops, I forgot about those darn telemarketers. I really do not think you can expect privacy anywhere these days including your own home.

You may not know this but that guy had marked that spot with his GPS weeks earlier and now is on some other board complaining about how you put a marker right on top of his best fishing spot! Its crazy aint it?

[BigBass]

Hahahahahahahaaaa......... That is very funny(If it is really true????)


Fish for them all...

Big-Bass

[Lane]

Ray,

I hear you all the way, but all you can do is laugh and hope that the people that are fishing around you are as nice to you as you are to them.
I got chewed out for being in on a spot this weekend (Lake Sakakawea) by the people that were there apparently the day before. I thought to myself how come they are so mad at me for being here before them. Apparently they fished there all alone on Friday, Saturday I was there before them and they thought I should leave. I told them that I had been fishing there for a couple of weeks and that I wouldn't leave and that there was plenty of room for both of us, his wife started to call me some really nice names so I got on the marine band radio and called 7 other boats to join us. That really made them mad, it just got funnier as the day went on. The fishing was excellent, we all caught our limit and played catch and release for awhile, and this seemed to really make them made. A little while later I noticed that the tags on there boat were from out of state, maybe it's just me but I thought being from out of state they shouldn't try and tell the locals what to do. If they would have been decent about things I would have told them why we were catching more and bigger fish than they were but they decided to go the other way, oh well we had a great day of fishing and they supplied us with some really good laughs around the camp fire Saturday night.

[haugboss]

tried the trick of putting extra markers out
kind of backfired though me and my partner got in to some nice fish early one morning put out a marker then put out 2 dummies out about 50 yards on either side of the real one
sure enough a boat came right up to the decoy only problem was they started catching fish
as we were watching them fish another boat roared into the other decoy
picked it up and took off!!!!
we were so dumbfounded we just picked up the one marker and left

oh well
al

[infishman]

A one ounce egg sinker on the end of 15 lb. test from a trusty Zebco 33! It tames the wildest "spectators"!!!!

[Airwave(OH)]

Forget the Seagull one. We had one out marking a spot on Erie and another Charter pulled up on it(dropped anchor) and all we could do was watch him catch fish. When his fishing died out he took off right between our marker and us. Then had the nerve to tell us on the radio how he got fish. Didn't even tell him it was our marker he was fishing on. We were using the marker to go up alittle and drift back over. The next day(at a gas dock) he says he couldn't catch any, felt like saying thats because we didn't have our Seagull out for ya--but bit my tougue. LOL

[CJHughes]

The older I get the more of this ( tolerance ) I have . If you speak to them they assume it is ok to fish , troll or swim next to your boat . Don't speak to them if you don't want company Here are a few things you can try to deter them from fishing close to you ,Mumble real loud about your pills that you left at home and how you hope you don't start having medical problems , take your shirt off , and shorts down to your speedo trunks and bend over serveral times on the casting platform . That should get them to back off some . Disconnect your gas feed and crank your motor and tell them you will need a tow in and any time they are ready to go so are you since you forgot your pills . Or do what I really do nothing except keep catching fish in front of them and if they start cussing and screaming telling you how they are going to kick your butt I pull out my cell phone and tell them scream louder so they get a good recording at the 911 number I just called .

[MK]

I've fished for walleye for many years but mostly on secluded Canadian lakes. Its only been in the past couple of years that I've had a boat big enough to handle some of the large lakes. Now, I've read on this site over the past few months many posts and replies about markers and have a question or two. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to start anything but having never used or encountered markers much, I'm curious exactly what people expect others to do around them.

1. How far should you stay away from one?
2. If there is no other boat in sight or within 1/4 to 1/2 mile, are you supposed to avoid the area of the marker? If so, how far?
3. Etc.

I never fish closer to anyone else than I would want them to come close to me, say 75 - 100 yards, but I have fished where there are markers but no fishermen.

I guess that I can't go along with the idea that someone can drop a marker to reserve a spot and then take off for another site on the lake, so I may be guilty of some breach of marker etiquette. It seems that 90% of the fish are in about 10% of the lake and I'm not going to pass up a spot where there is a marker but no fisherman in sight.

Just curious about some "unwritten rules" if there are any.

[jpo]

MK,

It's just about being thoughtful nothing else. On the big bowl in Minnesota we just call it the "Minnesota" fish finder (a pair of binoculars). If you get to close to me or I do the same "say sorry and good luck".
The real problem is the lack of courtesy launching and landing. In April I have the patience of Job and offer to help anybody that looks like they need it and still do in July. However, When one floats their boat in the middle of the launch or on the inside on the dock, I wonder what they are thinking. It really is no big deal but, it would be nice to have others on the landing understand there ARE other people in the world.

Fish HARD,
JPO

[Schnauzer]

I rarely use a marker. I'd much rather use the GPS and I sigh a bit when I see others using markers. It's just an annoyance to avoid as I'm drifting, trolling etc. in the same area. That being said,I realize not everyone has a GPS or they may just prefer a marker. That's OK. I can deal with it.

I think markers will always be a source of friction and misunderstanding. On one hand, the person who drops the marker feels others are infringing on their hard won success. Meanwhile, the other people fishing near the marker are wondering why the guy who dropped it thinks he owns the spot and they fish there all the time.

Like anything, there is a gray line between proper mannors both on the side of dropping markers and infringing on them. The original post in this thread is an obvious example of bad mannors crowding a marker. Then there is the other side... I was trollong cranks at night last fall on a narrow rock reef with about seven other boats. We were all doing quite well, working the reef by going up and down, single file in a tight, counter clockwise circle. While I was on an extended pass about a quarter mile away from the hottest leg of the reef, some boat came in and dropped not one, but 3-4 strobe light markers along the crest of the reef! These things were the size of ice cream pales with 4 foot extensions up to a big strobe light. I ended up getting caught in them twice, with the loss of one lure as the rest of the night progressed. I wasn't sure which boat was responsible for it - it was quite dark and the markers went out when I was trolling in the other direction. But, I wouldn't have done anything other than cuss under my breath even if I had known who was responsible. Meanwhile, the guy who dropped them was probably thinking "look at that idiot get caught in my markers. It's a big lake, why does he have to fish so close to my markers?"

I enjoyed the story that started this thread. I certainly understood the point Ray was making and I would have been amazed at that other boat too. I'd just shake my head and move on, I guess. I'm also amazed someone managed to rip him over a funny story like this.

[Skip]

TJ you have to get it thru your thick scull that you may have an opinion, but not the power to dictate who will catch and take what!! If you flap your pie hole enough, you will likely get your head bit off by someone just as vocal with an opposite opinion! And to label everyone a meat hog because they took some large fish is not really fair. It is entirely possible that they kill fewer fish than you given they fish for a few weekends or just a couple weeks. You fish more and have NO IDEA what your Catch & Release mortality rate is! The latest studies show a lot of fish dieing hours after release.

So get off their backs!

[Gene]

Now that is the smart move!

[Smokey]

Just toss that anchor out as far as you can throw it and reset it about 10 times. Then pull up and run around the spot trying to get on the spot a few times while being a jerk and nearly running over their lines. The fishing will suck after that, so just leave them with the bad spot and be sure to say "Good Luck" as you leave with a smile!

[Ray McClelland]

I just had a new thought. Maybe my next marker should resemble a WWII Water Mine. What do you think? Will that work? LOL

Ray McClelland
of McClelland Outdoors

[Tracy]

Ray,
You need to stop using those orange banded white bouys with the diamond in the middle marked swim area!
Tracy

[Ray McClelland]

Just wanted to say, I've seen nothing but courteous boaters out on the water this week.

Ray McClelland
of McClelland Outdoors