Water rage

[Bottomfeeder]

I would like to know if anyone else is experiencing as many really angry people on the water as I am this year. First I was trying to go down a small river where lots of boats were perch fishing. A boat was anchored on one side and his bobbers were all the way on the other side so he had to pull them in for me or anyone else to get by. He cussed and swore and screamed at me as I went past him. Then I was at a boat landing with the youth group from church where one boat was tied and another boat bumped it as the people were launching. The guy who owned the bumped boat went absolutely nuts. He challenged everyone around to a fight and was droping F-bombs all over. He actually started throwing rocks at the boat that bumped him. It was a great lesson for the youth group.

I just talked to a friend that told me that he was trolling and while he was setting up he got too close to another guys boards and the guy went nuts cussing and screaming at him.

My question is do these people go through life like this? I thought fishing was supposed to be a fun way to relax and enjoy life. If anyone reading this is one of those angry people please, lighten up a little!!!!

Thanks

Bottomfeeder

[Silver/MI]

I have found trout fishermen to always be this way. You ##### near have to carry a sidearm. My brother-in-law is strictly a trout fisher, but this year went walleye fishing on the opener on a very crowded river. He told me he couldn't believe how friendly everyone was. But in your case it sounds like some people take it a little too seriously.

[mtneye]

I recently fished a tournament where there was no rules regarding how close one's boat could come to another boat and I had another tournament fisherman yelling at me from 100 yards away than I was to close to his honey hole. There is at least one jackass on the water on any given weekend!

Umm.. I always thought public waters where for the public!

[Bob G2]

Yeesh! You can have Air Rage flying into your destination, road rage when you drive over, ramp rage when launching and retrieving your boat, now water rage over spots! Welp, that's our society nowadays.

I would rather fish for a few less fish, smaller fish or less desirable species of fish than have to endure the shenanigans that come with the crowds.

[CJHughes]

Fishing in a crowd just doesn't cut it. I agree I would rather fish for carp by my self than to fish for walleye in a crowd.So many of the fisherman act like they are fishing for MONEY. I wonder if that is what is driving their anger ?

[moreyes]

I was at Rainy River this spring and missed a good fist a cuff according to my buddy who getting the truck and I was waiting in my boat, I do belive the devils water }>was involved, one group was hammered and the other and other not, I think the sober group did not like being buzzzed while fishing. I really bummed I missed all the action on land.

Lighten up the world is to serios as is,good luck moreyes:-)

[Tough Guy]

Tough Guy gets a little water rage at times. Ski people get to close to tough hole. Tough Guy launch 3/8 slip weight on 30 lb Tournament Strength. Sometime sinker hook up to ski tuna, give Tough Guy battle of life. No more water rage.

[fed up]

it seems to me that some people just have no consideration for other peoples space. when someone is fishing just give them some space! you know i cant believe how many times my space has been invaded!when you have the whole lake why do people have to roar by or roar into a spot where someone is fishing? whatever happened to common curteosy(sp)? it's down right rude to do that #####. or maybe just go some where else and find another spot to fish, i mean really lakes have soooo many places that hold fish i dont go to a lake and head right for the first boat i find,i like to fish alone away from the crowd. so next time you see someone alone just stay away. i know this sounds off base here but those are some of the things that spark water rage in me!! and why is it that some people just dont understand, when someone gets angry for having they're space invaded? it seems that the perpitrator is always confused, like man whats his problem? i think that those people should learn some RESPECT!!

[Bob G2]

TG, how do you cook those skiers? Also, can you lip them, or do you have to use a gaff? Just curious.

[steve(IL)]

Right on! A little courtesy and respect goes a long way. If I arrive at a spot only to find someone already on it, I go somewhere else. Simple enough. My advice is don't even go on a saturday or sunday during the summer if you're not well equipped to deal with the poor judgement demonstrated by others.

[Tough Guy]

Bob G2, skier tuna is purely catch and release. Unless they get lippy, then it's catch and sink, a new sport invented by the one and only Tough Guy. LOL

[Kroe]

Funny that I would see this on the board today...Just got off the lake. Got on the spot good and early. Began working against the current with some success. There was no one around when I started but after about three hours I couldn't even cast. I mean any access to the river was completely blocked off by this one boorish person. Even invited the idiot to tie on and have a cup of coffee but he didn't get the hint!! Looked at the wife, decided to bug out to another spot. Caught bigger eyes there anyway, but it really makes you wonder what makes some people tick.

Kroe

[GullGuide]

A buddy and I were fishing a pike tourney a few years ago. Things were pretty slow, so we decided to anchor off a point, throw out a few sucker minnows, kick back and relax. This idiot, for lack of a more graphic name, was fishing about 500 yards away from us when we pulled up and threw out the anchor. As we sat there, he slowly began to make his way closer to our boat, casting large suicks into the weedline. He then got so close that if he wanted to he couldve cast his lure into our boat. We then politely informed him that our anchor rope was out and he should look out as to not hook it with his bait. That's when all H E double toothpicks broke out.
He began swearing at us telling us we had no right to sit on HIS spot, especially throwing out an anchor. He then PURPOSELY cast his bait accross our anchor rope, hooked it and began to pull it into his boat. What he did then still shocks me to this day. He took out his leatherman, and cut the rope, throwing the anchor back into the lake. He said thats what we get for hogging HIS spot.
Cell phones are a lovely thing by the way. As he sat there with a big grin on his face, I slowly dialed the tourney HQ, reported what had happened, gave them his boat # and he was immediately DQ'd from that and all future events.
What really showed that the fishing gods were on our side, was that when we were yelling back and forth, we landed a 12lber right in front of him with one of our sucker minnows.
Payback is soooooo sweeeeet!!
>"////=<

[Mike]

The guy was probably just an upset Ficht owner like myself. Who knows, one can probably trace much of the rage back to Ficht.

[Rick]

People like that shouldn't HAVE leathermans! They should have to have a permit!

[Enon Eye]

What I see getting worse and worse on the water is boaters going top speed across the lake and when they get to where I am fishing don't know how to turn the steering wheel 5 degrees to head 30 or 40 yards around me and whoever else is fishing in the area. Time after time these morons will go through the middle of the fishing area, at break neck speed to get to their honey hole or to shore for a big mac. It ruins the area being fished and puts me in mortal danger of being killed. And guess who's the worst of all? Tournament fishermen getting from the start point to the other side of the lake. I can't quit make it out but they must have a special permit hanging off the side of the boat which allows them to darn near run over and have no regard for their wake whoever is in their way. With 250+ HP monsters driving boats 70+ MPH I think it's time for the ruling bodies to talk about governers and/or maximum RPMs for these "bullies of the waterways." I know there is such a thing as water rage but the majority of the time you have no one to blame but yourself. If you buzz me 10 yards away on the open lake why is it wrong for me to give you the same wake when you get settled in a channel trolling and flipping?

[Solomon]

An eye for an eye was given up by society long ago. Two wrongs never make a right!

[Pitts]

I usually do not reply to these posts but I have a problem with people thinking I am to close at the speed I'm going.
In lakes I try to give boats a wide berth when running to another spot if it's crowded I think 100 yards is plenty. That means I would need a 200yd spot to pass through on a crowded deep water edge that runs 3/4 the way across the lake and is stacked with boats. Doesn't happen. So I have powered down and high idled through the area and then back up on plane. What a joke 3 ft waves created by this plus in there fish zone for 10 times as long. I would much rather have someone go by on plane at say 100 ft that have them power down and idle thru much faster and not nearly the wake.
Now when I go to the river I have a different set of standards. I think that if the river is crowded in certain spots I will powerdown and idle through but if there is room to safely manuever and conciously staying as far away as possible we should be able to run on plane and go by at a good clip. If I'm wrong feel free to criticize because maybe I am one of the people that causes some of this RAGE.

Pitts

[Weyes1]

I took my boys out Saturday fishing. We were drifting a 12' contour. We came up to a point where there were 6 to 8 boats fishing. Some anchored some drifting across and using their TM to get to a spot and drift back across. I decided to go around the group of boats, trying to be courteous. Then this guy fires up his big motor, jumps on it and shuts it down right in front of my boat so that he can start his drift. So, I have to make a left and go around this idiot plus fight the wind and the wake from his boat, plus had to look at his ugly mug and the if looks could kill glare. I got to the out side of the group of boats and ran across a couple of guys I knew and they said "hey what are you doing getting in that guys way like that?" We just laughed.
My youngest (6) doesn't like a lot of waves, so this guy not only was rude but scared my boy so that he wants to wait a while before he goes fishing again. Only brought home a 14" crappie for our efforts.

Weyes1
Kevin Clark
weyes1@wamego.net

[chadk66]

I'm sure we've all experienced at least the horrid stare you get when you troll up along side someone. But I have discovered if your the first one to speak up and say something extremely polite, they can't help but smile and say something nice back. It's like they don't know how to react to someone killing them with kindness. Give it a try, it's kinda interesting to say the least.

[Bottomfeder]

You know, I am looking at these posts and we all have people that do things to us on the water that we don't like. The big question is how are we going to deal with it. I started this thread talking about angry people and asking people to lighten up a little. A lot of the responses are from folks telling us why they get so angry. The bottom line is that even if someone crowds your space or does something you don't like it doesn't do anybody any good to freak out and start yelling and swearing at them. We have all made mistakes and done dumb thing on the water and at landings. I try to remember that I am out to have fun.

Thanks

Bottomfeeder

[Terry/JNR]

Both myself and our local US Coast Gaurd agree with Pitts. I fish a relativley large river and normally have 100yds or more to pass a boat. I'll go well out of my dirrection of travel to avoid passing to close to anyone fishing. In spots where the channel narrows and there may be several boats fishing I'll use my judgement as to how fast to go thru the area. As long as I feel I have complete control of my boat and there is little chance of anyone moving into my line of travel, I prefer to go thru the area on plane, especially if there are smaller boats fishing. I leave little to no wake on plane, but can push 3ftrs if I slow to a fast idle. I feel the less time I'm in the fishing area with my big motor running, the better it is for those fishing that I pass. If little or no room is available for planing speed, I'll idle down to leave as little wake as possible. I've been there in small boats and I never got mad at anyone running by me on plane at a reasonable distance. The ones that slow down and leave a big wake, I can do without even in my now bigger boat.
No matter how much room you give some guys when running by them, they'll still think you were going to fast too close. I use my own judgement and beleive I'm being sensible.
I've fished tournaments and although it doen't bother me, some guys do cut it closer than they should. If you're on a body of water where a tournament is being held, try to look at the majority rather than the few. I know most tournament fisherman use common sense and run what they consider to be a safe distance without diturbing local fisherman as little as possible.
I've talked to my local Coast Gaurd and the Coast Gaurd in a couple other areas and they all agree that it's better to run on plane and leave little to no wake, rather than slow down and leave big rollers, even when running closer than some guys would like. If you're in an area where the Coast Gaurd patrols, watch how they run on the water. If they feel they are a safe distance from boats fishing, they'll be on plane.
Another observation I've made over the years, is that the guy in the smaller boat that complained all the time now runs at WOT in his new bigger boat just like the guys he used to swear at.
Also, only in certain situations, does another boat comming into the area I'm fishing actually stop the fish from bitting. The more boats that come into my area, the more I concentrate on catching more and bigger fish than they do. They usually leave in short order unless the spot I'm fishing is also their usual spot. You don't think you're the only one who fishes the best spot on the river, do you? Course, then there's always the other best spot to go to.
The only time I get close to water rage is when the so called local doesn't realize I'm also a local, just in a tournament style boat, and I'm casting a shore line and they think they can just troll acoss the area I've been fishing between me and the shore. This is a common occorrence on just about every body of water I fish. Just because I'm in a big new boat with all the gadgets, rods reels and lures I've worked my but off to get over the last 20 years, they think I'm a non loacal and when they realize who I am, after seeing me on the water all year, they still think they have the right to run thru my fishing area. So it's not just the big tournament boats that can cause water rage.
The guy in the 14 or 16ft boat with a 15hp or 25hp motor can be just as rude. Every one needs to lighten up and just use common sense and courtesy, (what used to be called sportsmanship) when on the water, no mater what size boat you run.

[water_wolf]

If ya go by my boat at 100' PLEASE go by on plane.....dont push those those big waves my way by slowing down....Your not doing me any favors

Rich Ferguson

[CJHughes]

What you have to take note of, is somewhere on that lake, that is so crowded there is a mudline with walleye in it.I try and just smile and say hi,there is always some good from just about everything done you just have to look for it.Alot of the time the mudline doesn't start until about 2 in the afternoon,after they all have been around the lake about a hundred times as fast as they can go.

[mossboss]

Keep those big motors wide open. Your wakes are hardly a ripple. The guy that thinks he is being nice by plowing 3 ft wakes needs to turn around and look at what his wake is doing.

[mossboss]

Keep those big motors wide open. Your wakes are hardly a ripple. The guy that thinks he is being nice by plowing 3 ft wakes needs to turn around and look at what his wake is doing.

[mossboss]

Keep those big motors wide open. Your wakes are hardly a ripple. The guy that thinks he is being nice by plowing 3 ft wakes needs to turn around and look at what his wake is doing.

[Eric_WI]

Don't forget "Marsh Rage" during the duck season!

[Kari]

Sounds like most of you need to take a trip up to Sask. We fish Lake Deifenbaker every weekend and have no trouble. We can sometimes fish for the whole day and hear the boats but not even see them. We catch lots of fish and relax and there is no one around to bang into or troll over your line.

[Box]

Amen Eric.

We try to hunt as much private as we can. As long as you figure going into hunting on public land that you are not alone, it seems to help.

The same is true of fishing. If you go to a busy lake (Whitefish Chain, Winnie, Mille Lacs) even if the lake is big, people will gravitate towards the same area. Go into it not caring what others do to you and you can just laugh under your breath at them. We just had a guy in a speedboat drift right by us within 15 yards so I had to pull in my slip-bobber ... and we were literally in the middle of White Bear Lake, a pretty good size metro lake in MN. We just told him nothing was biting, even though we had a few nice eyes in the box. He didnt come back.

On the flip side, we met a couple real good people while duck hunting a public spot late in the season, and we just hunted together and had fun.

Good fishing,
Box