Fish-Hawk.Net

Hello all,

I recently had an experience that concerns me a little and I wanted to get a feeling for how everyone else feels about this, and how they generally handle the situation.

I was fishing on the Rideau River, close to Beckett's Landing bridge, working the shoreline in front of several cottages and homes. We moved from dock to dock, fishing the deeper weeds in between each dock and was approaching the next cottage, when we noticed an older gentleman walking down to the water.

Now normally when this happens, we will make the decision to not fish docks when there are people around close to the water, in that we like to respect their privacy somewhat, in their own front yards and shorelines. I think this is a respectable thing to do.

In this case, the gentleman did not even have a dock and there was no one anywhere near the waterside. The only thing he did have was a floating dock which was out about 50ft from the shore. We proceeded to move along the shoreline about 25ft from shore, fishing as we were going when we noticed the gentleman just standing there and looking at us with a very stern look on his face. We said hello and commented on the nice evening to try and begin some idol conversation as we were going by. He did not respond and just kept looking at us like we had done something wrong. As we proceeded, he yelled out to us to move further out. Well at this point in time we kinda knew that he was mad just because we were fishing in front of his place, so we asked him why....was there an unmarked waterline or a rock or something that we should be avoiding? He didn't answer us and just said...."I said to move out!". So we asked him again why and inquired about the waterline...he said a stern "Yes", to which we looked and could see no evidence of any pipeline or anything in our path. Again he said to move out, so we asked why. His answer was "because I told you to".

Now at this point in time it was quite evident that this guy, for some reason, had a hate on for fishermen. We told him that we were well within the laws of where we were fishing, not close to anything that could get damaged and not even bothering anyone. I could understand him being upset if we were getting hooked and losing hooks where his kids swim and stuff, but there was no for this rudeness at this time, so we asked him why he was being so rude and told him that we most likely would have moved had he asked nicely and just indicated that he has had a bad experience or something with sharp hooks in the water...or something like that.

So the "why are you being so rude?" questions was answered by him with "why are you"? I don't get it, how are we being rude in this case. I can only assume that there are some people out there who think they own the water in front of the cottage and that fishermen in general are violating their privacy by fishing in front of their place, even though we are all within our rights to do so. Do we have rights in this case? An intersting question for sure.

In any case, it was quite obvious that this guy was just about the rudest man I have ever met on the planet, and we didn't want anything to do with him, so we told him what we thought of his attitude, and proceeded to move out further, going around his little cottage shoreline, and coming back in at the next cottage, just to be the better person. The thing that burned me though, is that this guy actually had a rock in his hand, which we saw him throw down against his barn as he was walking away!

Can you believe that? A rock....what on earth was he planning to do with that?

Would he have thrown it at us if we decided that he was not worth the conversation and just ignored him, continuing to fish as we were?

Did he have it for self-defence in case we threatened him or something? Who knows....

In anycase, this type of thing has happened before where we see someone in a cottage watching us...but no conversations are had. We're not sure if they mind or not. Some don't...they actually come down and tell us there are bass under his dock and go ahead and try and catch them. Others at least have a conversation with us when we say hello, and sometimes we'll even ask if they mind us fishing around their dock, provided they are not in the water of course, and most people are pretty OK with this, and I think actually respect the fact that we asked permission.

So, after all that my questions are the following and I'd like to hear how everyone handles these type of situations.

1. Do you feel that Fishermen are well within their rights to fish in front of cottages around their boats and docks? (being careful of course not to damage anything)

2. There must be some cottage owners on this site....how do you feel about this?

3. How do you handle a rude cottage owner who quite clearly just thinks he owns the water in front of his place?

4. How do you balance the "right" to fish were we want to, and at the same time "respect" owners of cottages and homes that are on the water? Assuming of course that we do have the "right" to fish there.

5. Do you feel that property owners who are on a body of water that holds fish like Bass should expect that fishermen are going to fish in front of their place, and take the initiative to either post a sign or something to indicate to not fish there..please...or to be careful or something...instead of just coming to the water and tearing a strip off an innocent fisherman?

I've got lot's of other questions, like what can we (as a fishing community) do about it...and is there anyway we can help remove this obvious prejudice against fishermen with cottage owners.....but I'll leave it here for now. Not all fisherman are the same, but I get the feeling that some bad experiences have put bulls eye's on us all.

Comments?

Bobber

Maybe it's just you but it seems we had a pretty interesting conversation with several cottagers on their dock the 1 time we fished together.

As far as I am concerned they do not own the water and have no right to tell you to move along but at the same time I think it is fishermen's ettiquete to respect other people's space

There will never be a right or wrong way to handle some people but if people just learned to get along and respect each other these situations would never present themselves.

I usually just ask them to call the Police while I anchor and wait, and we'll let them figure it out. Then they usually walk away, not in a good mood but they do WALK AWAY.

Hey Bobber....I live on the Ottawa River and have a floating dock to which my pontoon boat is moored to...I have never really had any major problems with anyone fishing the shoreline along my waterfront nor would I ever create problems with other fellow anglers who did so...

I did however have one incident many, many years ago with a couple of lads casting towards my dock and actually heard their lure "ping" off the side of my boat...I went out and asked them to watch their casting as I would have BIG ISSUES if their hooks got snagged on my mooring cover ....they apologized and kept drifting down river....that was it....I went back to enjoying my cold beer!

Don't let guys like that bother you...they obviously don't have a life and way toooooo much time on their hands!!!!

FISH-ON!!!!

Mr. J, I know exactly what you're talking about. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's just me. In any case I think this was a slightly different situatin which involved fishing for Pike where the cottage owners thought we were fishing for OOS bass...which was not the case.

Wallyboss, that's one way to approach it I suppose and is the stick to your guns method. A valid way for sure, but doesn't really solve the problem, just ticks people off more. I like it though...

Trouthunter, totally understand about pinging jigs off boats and potentially ripping mooring covers. This is something that we should all be aware of and if you are not confident that you can hit a mark, don't try it...or use something soft like a sluggo or senko or something with no weight attached. Pitching jigs is not easy for most people and needs to be done with respect for other people's property that sits on the waters that we fish. If you do decide to risk pitching in a little hole between a dock and a boat, then you better be pretty sure no damage will be caused by this action, otherwise take necessary precautions to avoid hitting anything. If you do, and you are screamed at, then apologies are in order...and more practice is a must. But I can see how this happening to someone's property in the past may turn them off of all fishermen. A simple sign requesting not to fish around the dock or boat would most likely do it for me, and I would respect their wishes.

I agree, Cottage owners have no reason to get upset at you for fishing in front of their cottage. The water is public and does not belong to the cottage owner.

Technically the cottage owner does not have rights to the dock in front of their house as they have built a dock in public property.

This argument is somewhat equivalent to home owners trying to kick you off the beach in front of their house. Home owners do not own the beach. You could have a 10 million dollar mansion on the ocean but you do not own the waterfront. There is a certain distance from the high water line that is public property.

My only concern when people are fishing in front of my cottage is that they'll catch 'my fish', haha. Actually, I quite like people fishing out in front of my cottage, I usually ask what they are using and their techniques. We share a fishing moment and be on our way. Then again, I only see a few people each weekend.

Given this individual lives on the the Rideau system he should come to accept it is a busy water way and that yes, there will be people fishing, boats cruising and jet'ski's flying by - all summer long! You can only hope you land a nice fish in front of him to boot

In one sense I can see where he is coming from (most of us fishermen don't like people anchoring close to us or having boats fly by us when we are fishing) given he doesn't seem to be much of an angler. Next time bring an old rod along with ya and toss it to him - tell him he'll love the sport (and that rocks don't make good bait)!

Have a safe and happy weekend all. And may the fish be with you!

I was fishing on a lake over the weekend and while trying to fish some guys made a large amount of waves for a long period of time water skiing not taking any consederation for those enjoying the water near them. After a while they left and parked the boat a few minutes went buy and I wanted to relocate to a different fishing spot as I drove by a cottage owners property the decided to yell and tell me to slow down, I was on a boat with 9.9 hp and was at half throttle. I let them know I wasn't moving very fast and they blamed me for making all the waves and causing there boat to move side to side while it was parked by there dock. I had informed them that I was parked in a spot fishing and I did not make all the waves, they continued to yell at me and said it must have been me a tenager. All I could do is laugh and say thank you for thinking I am still that young, I continued on my way as they were yelling and made it a point not to ruin my day on the lake.

Bobber I think you handled yourself professionally by not yelling and moving a good way around his property, but you will always get people that just care about themselfs and don't care how they sound. I agree with you if there was a sign on the dock saying "Please no Fishing" I would respect that wish and move on to another area.

To tell you the honest truth .. I've never had this happen to me, ever. We regularly fish the high density area of the Rideau, my buddy shwishin' flys and me rippin crankers into everyones space.
All we get are the occassional waves and questions about how the fishin is.
Ya know ... Maybe the old guy was half in the bag and havin a bad day ... or .. maybe ... he could have been a father of an old girlfriend of yours ...

D-mo

Gday all...

I have a cottage on the Big Rideau and love to fish. On weekends, there must be a good 5-10 or so fishing boats going by and casting towards my docks and boathouses.

I don't mind so much..i hear the occasional ping off the boathouse door, but that's fishing. My wife loves the largemouth that lives in the boathouse and aptly named it Sherman, then Sherry, so she will be sad when she doesn't see it anymore.

Here are my thoughts:
- My view is that the boathouses are on public property and I'm grateful to have them there.
- I've run into a few "unfriendly" fishermen, I try to chat with them, but they don't seem to interested in chatting, so if a cottager wants to chat about fishing, just be courteous.
- I have to be honest, the fisherman go by the channel in front of the cottage *slowly*...the speed boaters, not so much. I'd rather see a fishermen than a speedboater any day.
- Generally, if we are out on the deck or lawn, fishermen truly respect your privacy and move along quickly...(good work gang).

Sorry to hear about your experience bobber as you did nothing wrong.

Gday all...

I have a cottage on the Big Rideau and love to fish. On weekends, there must be a good 5-10 or so fishing boats going by and casting towards my docks and boathouses.

I don't mind so much..i hear the occasional ping off the boathouse door, but that's fishing. My wife loves the largemouth that lives in the boathouse and aptly named it Sherman, then Sherry, so she will be sad when she doesn't see it anymore.

Here are my thoughts:
- My view is that the boathouses are on public property and I'm grateful to have them there.
- I've run into a few "unfriendly" fishermen, I try to chat with them, but they don't seem to interested in chatting, so if a cottager wants to chat about fishing, just be courteous.
- I have to be honest, the fisherman go by the channel in front of the cottage *slowly*...the speed boaters, not so much. I'd rather see a fishermen than a speedboater any day.
- Generally, if we are out on the deck or lawn, fishermen truly respect your privacy and move along quickly...(good work gang).

Sorry to hear about your experience bobber as you did nothing wrong.

Hi,
Too bad about that experience Bobber unfortuntely there are people out there that have nothing better to do than make other people's recreation time unpleasant. It honestly comes down to mutual respect and good old fashioned manners. I have yet to run into someone who is so unhappy with owning waterfront that they feel they need to share the unhappiness with anyone who approaches.This guy is a loser.
I always have my beagle JoJo with me up on the bow when I fish so generally people are very friendly.
What is a little scary is that this guy had a rock in his hand that he consciously picked up for one purpose, he obviously was looking to escalate the situation. You guys took the high road, that's generally the best one to take but, I honestly don't know what I would do if someopne winged a rock at me or my boat.

Slop

So I said this in another post last week...The first 50ft of shoreline is public for emergency situations...You can even light a fire on this section of land for safety survival reasons only. Be polite, say hello, and continue down the shoreline fishing. If you were outside my cottage fishing I would be happy if you stopped and said hello. I would of course find out all your secrets but I would never be offended if you were being polite and curtious. Don't fish when kids are in the water etc. like Bobber said and if you do get in a confrontation be a bigger man and show them it is not the fishermen but the cottage owners who are rude.

My .02 as one who owns a cottage on the Ottawa River.....

It's all part of owning a cottage and I don't really care as long as they are moving and I don't hear any clunks. If I am near the water, I will go chat with them and ask them how they are doing. Most of the fisherpeople who go by are on the trolling motor and aren't there for long but in the rare instance where someone decides to drop an anchor out front, I'll end up telling them about a "better" place in the area to go catch fish or suddenly find something to do in the water.

As far as I know, it is perfectly legal to fish someone's dock or shoreline. But just because it is legal doesn't always mean it should be done. Some questions to ponder.....

- Would you be OK with a couple of strangers (likely 2 males) chatting on the road at the end of your driveway for several minutes all the time looking at your house/car/boat/wife? Keep in mind that cottages often become targets for break-ins because of what is seen from the water.

- If the area looks like it is used for swimming and you leave a hook in the water, will you jump into the water to get it or will you leave it there figuring no one will ever step on a rusting hook? And yes I have picked a few up over the years.

- Are there no places on this body of water to catch fish that are away from people? Of course there are.

In this case it sounds like you ran into someone who is just grumpy and moving on is such a situation is generally the right thing to do. I'm guessing most of us would rather spend our time fishing than arguing.....

I always have my beagle JoJo with me up on the bow

Beagles are great fishing dogs and am never surprised to see a beagle in anyone's boat. It's been 6 years since mine went to snooze, eat and fart on the big-bass-boat-in-the-sky and I still have fond memories of her as my trusty navigator.