Ok, I can agree with that last statment. I did not intend to say that a drifting boat had more rights than anyone else. Just to add a reminder to your post that it is prudent to watch for drifting boats, and to do your best to steer clear of them without crossing their lines. I think that some trollers forget how large of an area they are covering, and do not always think about where a drift fishing boats lines may be.

Be realistic here, even with a big spread you have more control of your craft, and are more likely to drive up on a drifting boat than a drifting boat is to drift into your spread. It's got to be dificult to troll in a heavy pack of boats and I realize you don't always have an option of steering clear of a pack.

Most of the near miss situations I've encountered involve the trolling vessels captian not paying attention, or simply not realizing how much water he needs to fish his spread.