shore fishing etiquette
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Bass Addict
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I agree with lots of what you guys are saying!! I would not of had an issue if the shore front was a bit bigger but casting big muskie lures takes up a lot of room!!! Oh well next time I'll just ask them to move a bit further or to the other side where there was more room for them..... Dam I wish I was bigger and taller and may be a bit younger 
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Joisey Joe
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There are about 6 spots I go to after work to get my line wet, if there is anyone at any of the spots I just move on to the next one unless I know them. I figure on giving people the same space I would expect, there have been times when some fisher-guys have gotten close but not at the same spot, maybe a 25 foot buffer. That's fine with me, as long as they are not on top of me.
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cprince
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Good answers... but I think you guys are giving a lot of ".. I would have done this... and that...".
Come on!!
Most people who were not deprived of oxygen at birth do not act like that. I have a brother who would have went straight to the lead pipe swinging solution... but I think that it is the air pocket in his head that makes him cranky.
You have to handle situation only after thinking about the big picture. What would could I expect to likely and reasonably happen if I take action # 1 or #2... If you approach it with some tact and reason, you will almost always get the desired result.
Start by politely asking them to move an appropriate distance. You MIGHT get grumbling and passive aggressive behavior out of them if they are 12... but they will likely move.
What if they don't? Many will ask... Only one way to find out.
If they don't? Then you ask yourself if fishing under a bridge is worth assault charges... because if they are ignorant enough to not see that they should move, chances are that they are ignorant enough to throw down after the first stone skips by their bobber, or the first bar of When Doves Cry get belted out...
Then its on... 4 against 2... 10 against 1... 1 on 1 ... who really cares what the odds are at this point. Chances are you are going to at least jail or perhaps a stop at the hospital first.
Now... you are in jail with drunks, thieves, murderers and if you are lucky a molester or two... How 'bout that? They ask you... What you in for?
Ummm... well.... errrr... I was fighting over a fishing spot...
Ten minutes later you are bought by Harvey then sold to Buba for 12 DuMauriers....
Any way this is a little far fetched... but you never know what could happen if you ratchet up a situation instead of diffusing it.
I have the size to do the confrontational approach... but have the experience to know that there is no real win to be had from it.
Talk to them. Humanize them and you. Make friends... it is a lot easier to tell someone you know to move their bobber. When you don't know them... it is easy to demonize strangers.
If you want close quarters fishing tolerance training... go to Port Hope later this month. Watch the fights... lots of fun... fishing in an open cement trench in the middle of a city with about 2000 of your closest friends. Like fishing the Decarie Expressway when it floods every 15 years... except there are salmon the size of horses and trout the size of ponies.
Craig
Come on!!
Most people who were not deprived of oxygen at birth do not act like that. I have a brother who would have went straight to the lead pipe swinging solution... but I think that it is the air pocket in his head that makes him cranky.
You have to handle situation only after thinking about the big picture. What would could I expect to likely and reasonably happen if I take action # 1 or #2... If you approach it with some tact and reason, you will almost always get the desired result.
Start by politely asking them to move an appropriate distance. You MIGHT get grumbling and passive aggressive behavior out of them if they are 12... but they will likely move.
What if they don't? Many will ask... Only one way to find out.
If they don't? Then you ask yourself if fishing under a bridge is worth assault charges... because if they are ignorant enough to not see that they should move, chances are that they are ignorant enough to throw down after the first stone skips by their bobber, or the first bar of When Doves Cry get belted out...
Then its on... 4 against 2... 10 against 1... 1 on 1 ... who really cares what the odds are at this point. Chances are you are going to at least jail or perhaps a stop at the hospital first.
Now... you are in jail with drunks, thieves, murderers and if you are lucky a molester or two... How 'bout that? They ask you... What you in for?
Ummm... well.... errrr... I was fighting over a fishing spot...
Ten minutes later you are bought by Harvey then sold to Buba for 12 DuMauriers....
Any way this is a little far fetched... but you never know what could happen if you ratchet up a situation instead of diffusing it.
I have the size to do the confrontational approach... but have the experience to know that there is no real win to be had from it.
Talk to them. Humanize them and you. Make friends... it is a lot easier to tell someone you know to move their bobber. When you don't know them... it is easy to demonize strangers.
If you want close quarters fishing tolerance training... go to Port Hope later this month. Watch the fights... lots of fun... fishing in an open cement trench in the middle of a city with about 2000 of your closest friends. Like fishing the Decarie Expressway when it floods every 15 years... except there are salmon the size of horses and trout the size of ponies.
Craig
After fishing the same spot for 2 hours, were you still catching fish?
I too had a strange situation yesterday, in which I brought my boat back to the public launch / dock. There was an older man and a younger woman fishing from the public dock, as I approached, they both threw their lines back out right where I would need to go with the boat. I put the boat in neutral and waited for them to reel in and then advanced towards the dock (I'm within 50' of the dock now and my intentions are pretty obvious) As I get to the dock the man casts out over top of me and the boat, I look at him, and he looks away like he didn't know I was there. I then hear a clank up against the boat, moron had reeled in his line right up against my boat and his spinner bait got caught on my gunwall. He asked if I could detach it for him and I said absolutely and reached up with my knife and cut the line and pushed off from the dock and went back out fishing with my new spinner bait.
It is amazing how oblivious people can be to their surroundings.
I too had a strange situation yesterday, in which I brought my boat back to the public launch / dock. There was an older man and a younger woman fishing from the public dock, as I approached, they both threw their lines back out right where I would need to go with the boat. I put the boat in neutral and waited for them to reel in and then advanced towards the dock (I'm within 50' of the dock now and my intentions are pretty obvious) As I get to the dock the man casts out over top of me and the boat, I look at him, and he looks away like he didn't know I was there. I then hear a clank up against the boat, moron had reeled in his line right up against my boat and his spinner bait got caught on my gunwall. He asked if I could detach it for him and I said absolutely and reached up with my knife and cut the line and pushed off from the dock and went back out fishing with my new spinner bait.
It is amazing how oblivious people can be to their surroundings.
CPrince, your post put some reason into some crazy replies in this thread. Being 6'6" and an immigrant who always fish from shore makes for some interesting encounters. People usually keep their distance yet some come close.
99% of the time, people will ask if it was OK to fish here. I always say yes, and it is a start for a good conversation.
In a few times, people can't get themselves to believe an immigrant is practicing C&R and having all the right tools..etc. A guy actually stepped on the same rock I was fishing from at Hog's Back. He was nice, so I said it was OK with me if he really has to fish here. Then he volunteered to tell me that I need a license to fish here, and that NCC police come here often. I didn't say a thing, so he got more bold and asked if I have a license. Well, I told him I will only take my license out to shove it somewhere, and this was the end of our conversation. I think he realized I was Canadian enough.
One more thing CPrince. If you have kids, I hope you don't tell them these Harvey and Buba stories at bed time
BM
99% of the time, people will ask if it was OK to fish here. I always say yes, and it is a start for a good conversation.
In a few times, people can't get themselves to believe an immigrant is practicing C&R and having all the right tools..etc. A guy actually stepped on the same rock I was fishing from at Hog's Back. He was nice, so I said it was OK with me if he really has to fish here. Then he volunteered to tell me that I need a license to fish here, and that NCC police come here often. I didn't say a thing, so he got more bold and asked if I have a license. Well, I told him I will only take my license out to shove it somewhere, and this was the end of our conversation. I think he realized I was Canadian enough.
One more thing CPrince. If you have kids, I hope you don't tell them these Harvey and Buba stories at bed time
BM
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
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dead_weight
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MLR ... I love that story ... it's unbelievable what some people do in the name of catching a fish and sometimes to simply be an A-hole.
In all seriousness fishing spots to me have always been first come first served ... if you were there first then it should yours until you are done. Dear god there's so many other places to fish around here ... haul butt to one of those. Where I grew up there was a really nice run of rainbow trout every spring and you had to get there early to get the good spots ... but no matter if you were a 10 year old kid or a 6 foot brute, if you are fishing in a spot no one would ask you to move or when you are done ... it's yours ... it was just an unwritten rule I suppose.
In the end you have to decide if it's worth the battle or not ... personally I'd let it slide once but if the same jokers did it again ... I'd ask them to move on ...
In all seriousness fishing spots to me have always been first come first served ... if you were there first then it should yours until you are done. Dear god there's so many other places to fish around here ... haul butt to one of those. Where I grew up there was a really nice run of rainbow trout every spring and you had to get there early to get the good spots ... but no matter if you were a 10 year old kid or a 6 foot brute, if you are fishing in a spot no one would ask you to move or when you are done ... it's yours ... it was just an unwritten rule I suppose.
In the end you have to decide if it's worth the battle or not ... personally I'd let it slide once but if the same jokers did it again ... I'd ask them to move on ...
Classic!! 
cprince wrote: Most people who were not deprived of oxygen at birth do not act like that.
cprince wrote: but I think that it is the air pocket in his head that makes him cranky.
cprince wrote:Ten minutes later you are bought by Harvey then sold to Buba for 12 DuMauriers....
cprince wrote: I have the size to do the confrontational approach... but have the experience to know that there is no real win to be had from it.
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Joisey Joe
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Well, CP, I'm a little bit older now and stay away from the "why I oughta's" and "you talkin to me", but if I'm already at the spot and some guys set up on my doorstep to be sure I'm gonna say something. I fish to relax and enjoy and I'd rather not have a confontation, that bein said, my cigar would come out and smoke go their way if I can't get the desired results.