What's with the attitude?

[Buzz]

I was up fishing last weekend June 7-10 at Charleston Lake. We went after Northern Pike and Lake trout. Every singe time we would stop on a deep weedbed to fish all the local land owners would go nuts on us. Stop slaughtering the bass they would yell. People would drive their boat clear across the lake to yell at us to stop targeting the bass. We would tell them that we were pike fishing and show them the pike on the stringer and that would not stop them from calling us all kinds of names and harass us until we would leave to another spot. At one point we had one cottage owner after another coming out to scream at us for bass fishing and targeting the bass. Noone would believe us that we were pike fishing even after showing them the stringer. It would always escalate and we were screaming back and forth from our boat to shore. They are lucky I am not some psyco caring a gun, because there would be a dozen dead Canadians floating in Charleston lake right now. They would see that NY sticker on my boat and immediatly accuse us of fishing out of season. In NY this never happens what's with that? We broke no laws and did nothing wrong. What is your take? Buzz

[Kpin]

This is nothing new, I know ppl who have experienced it.

Now...I think it's good they are trying to protect spawing bass...but..there is a limit between out of season hunters and decent law abiding fishermen.

They need to realize that and realize we're on the same page.

Sorry for your bad experience. They're protective nature is admirable but seemingly, often aimed at the very anglers that feel the same way.

Keep fishing, stay relaxed and best of luck this season.

Look at the bright side...8 more days and you'll not hear another angered local in this regard.

[OBD]

Yeah that's really not fun... I was fishing Dows one day and these 2 guys come up to me saying I'm not allowed to fish dows lake and the canal, that it was "against the law" and he kept following me... After multiple times telling him that a CO told us we were allowed to fish, he just wouldnt understand.

Do you have any pics of that trip?

[HitmanHill]

Hey Buzz; I can understand your frustration with the way some people think they own everything and when you know that you aren't targeting the fish they say you are, that can be damn right annouying. Unfortunetly Bass are probably protecting their nest at this time and the chance of catching them is a pretty good bet at this time of year but that still doesn't give them the right to go beserck. Sometimes I think the world has just gone totally nuts. Hopefully by the end of the month when pretty well everything is game the world will go back to some kind of normal sanity.

[Buzz]

Call me stupid but I don't know how to post a picture of the fish we caught nor post any other image on any canadian site I visit. Is it easy? can you send directions so I can do it without spending hours trying to figure it out? If so thanks. My buddy got 2 pike over 10 pounds and I got a couple in the 4-5 pound range. I got a 22 1/2 inch small mouth on my Mepps musky killer though and did take her picture. Here I am fishing with a Mepps musky killer getting screamed at for targeting bass out of season. I really don't care what the local land owners think. I am an ethical angler and try to always do right by the sport. I don't need some local yelling at me to clue me in. All that did was make me think of creative ways to bother them next year. We are going to talk in sign language right in front of them when they are yelling and just ignore them completely to see how long they will stand there screaming crap at us. How is that for those idiots? Well you will see my fish shortly if someone tells me how to do it. Later.... Buzz

[Swamp-Donkey]

I fear that I may open a can of worms here, but here goes....

The first question I would ask you was; were you fishing Along shorelines or other shallow structure? If you were. then good on those that tore a strip off ya! Just because Pike season was open doesn't mean ya beat the shallows with whatever you got in your tackle-box. It is the height of Bass spawning season in this part of the world and as a "ethical" angler, one should avoid fishing any shallow water area where Bass may be spawning. I target lakers and walleye in the month of June specifically to avoid nailing bass while they are protecting thier fry.

If all you caught all day were pike, and absolutely no bass were hooked then I would agree you may have a point. However if you were close enough to shore to engage in conversation with cottage owners, you were beating the bank, and I find it hard to beleive that NO bass were caught. And that my friend is considered targeting Bass. I don't care how many Pike you got danglin on your stringer. If your still catching a few bass while in your so-called pursuit of pike, you are illegally fishing.

I applaud my fellow Canadian cottage owners for giving you the welcome you got. Americans need to learn that catching bass out of season is against the law. I'm glad people are starting to do something about it.
You lads south of the border have made an awful bad reputation for yourselves up here. I've witnessed guys catching dozens of bass and when you confront them, all they can say is;"we're tryin' to catch Pike". Thats is no excuse, so pardon me for not sympathizing with you.

If your going to come up here and fish, OBEY the laws, Prove to us Canadians your the sportsmen you claim to be and maybe next time your welcoming commitee will have a better "attitude"!

Cheers.

[Mr. T.]

You may want to read this thread before attempting to post a picture of your fish.

http://fish-hawk.net/hawktalk/viewtopic.php?t=11759

[Buzz]

Just like the owners you too just jump to conclustions. We were fishing sholes that had deep weed beds on them. Charleston lake has very few weed beds, and lots of deep rocky sholes. When we found one and they were near shore on occation we fished them. We caught pike on them most of the time too. Yes we caught bass and released them right away. However fishing a deep weed bed is not pulling them off their bedding. Not every fish is on a bed at the same time. We were not fishing beds or targeting bass on them. these bass we hanging out and actively biting lures 6-15 feet of water. Pike season was open I wanted to eat pike. I caught and ate pike legaly. You can go pound salt and I will be up there next year doing the same thing. Buzz proud to be a NY USA angler

[CrappieKeith]

Oh I gotta jump in here for Buzz's sake.
No matter US or not you guys beating on buzz makes you look like a fool.
Canadians are just as bad as US citizens are when it comes to morals so please get off of the high horse.

I live in touristville & I see all sorts of crimes committed by all sorts. To say only US peolpe commit them is hogwash.
I suppose you guys do not need enforcement for your locals cause your all so law abbiding.

Now having said that ..if a guy no matter who was breaking the law & I saw that.My camera would be shooting video for proof then I'd make the call to have the guy arrested.
I'm thinking that's why you have & us too law enforcement. Not to take matters into our own hands and maybe get shot or something but to let them handle it.

Canadians put their pants on 1 leg at a time just like everyone else.
Being so indignant is not fruitfull. Then again maybe you do not care about Bobber's site.

[CrappieKeith]

I love your country & go out of my way to leave it better than I found it.
I'm not going to leave my footprint there.

I think we can all get along,right?

[CrappieKeith]

sorry double post.

[esoxseeker]

I know that a couple of days ago, 200 vehicles were stopped by the MNR and of those, 18 were charged with out of season bass. I have never experienced what you have Buzz, and I don't want to. As long as you know you were in the right, that's all that counts.

[Scumking]

Oh yeah, I've experienced this even with cottage owner's who had no idea Bass seaon was open .Soujnds like if you are planning to defend your local waters you better know the regs. In many cases they claimed to know the regs and were going to report us to the MNR. .Swamp donkey does have somewhat of a point but let's face at certain times of the year both Pike and Bass are on the same structure.

My take on this if you begin to get bass you move on .I usually make this move after 2 or 3 fish in a row.

Ron

[RJ]

Swamp-Donkey is a little over the top on his US rant....just this week I had two Canadians....yes Canadians....not Asians or Americans catch a bass within my sight and attempt to hide it on the bank....I simply slid over and threw it back in.....and told them if I saw them do it again their whole bucket was getting dumped....

What I cannot figure out for the life of me, I will never understand how or when it happened.....but someone somewhere along the lines made Bass the holy grail of fish.....they are protected more than any other fish cept muskie..(maybe)....they are hardly endangered....every puddle, lake or stream has loads of them....yet my god...eat a bass and you are a barbarian....

Don't get me wrong.....I bass fish alot....but I hold them in no higher regard than any other fish.....

I guess I'll ask Swamp-Donkey this...were ya beating the bank when ya were crappie fishing?... ...just givin ya a rub SD...

RJ

[Dartee]

buzz

I know Charleston fairly well and as you say there is not a lot of shallow weed beds. unless you were down in the bottom end of the eastern waters.

If you found bass while pike fishing and moved on to a different spot. Good on ya.

If not .....
Accidental catches happen, when they do, move on, change tactics and if your in the right , nod and wave with a smile as you find quieter water . Getting into a confrontation is not worth the hassle and ruins a good days fishing.

Just remember, there are a lot of US cottage owners as well, so please don't paint everyone with the same brush.


By the way I'd love to see the pic of the 10lber,