Don't be "That Guy"!

[eelpout1]

Nice post Shack!! I'm like you on the lake ,I don't put myself into situations where there could be that sort of confrontation. IF I come up to a gps spot where some one is fising already, I throtle back, way early and try to figure out how they are fishing, back trolling, drifting, anchored, ect. Assess the options and and either move in or move out to another spot. ML is a funny lake there are maybe 20 spots at one time where the fish seem to be stacked up, everybody knows this when you launch your boat. there are, on average ,most of the time, 150 boats on the water?? I might be wrong, just say its correct for the sake of this post. you will eventually run into a boat on your spot, the guy on the spot knows this and the guy looking to fish there knows this, there are no "SECRET SPOTS", on Mille Lacs, only the same places people have fished since they lauched the first boat there. There are people that choose to fish only where there are other boats, there always will be, if they want to fish by my spot, its ok, thier skills will be different than mine maybe better, maybe worse, maybe they catch some , maybe not...who cares..as long as I'm catching and having fun, I 've learned to blow it off, thats why its called fishing. In short there are alot of fisherman and only a few spot where the fish are hitting, its all about sharing and making the best of a situation. ITS A HUGE LAKE..... BUT WE ALL SHARE IT.

[ranger20]

very good post i agree with everything you said

[Born2Fish]

Maybe the next time you and your kids come to Mille Lacs...will have everyone removed from the lake so you and your kids can have it all to yourselves...for better or worse at times that's fishing on Mille Lacs...

That's not fishing, it's being ignorant. You don't chew out some guy with his kids sitting in the boat.

[james_walleye]

If you knew how to read a depthfinder maybe you would understand the real reason why a person might circle a piece of structure.

[GravelBar]

What do you consider an appropiate distance between boats. If you anchored and bobber fishing is it 15 yards or 20 yards? Is 5 yards ok if it's a boat filled with young Ladies?

[james_walleye]

150 yards surely is certainly enough room that someone shouldnt have turned the post in this direction.

[S 16 Guy]

that's why I enjoy fishing the river for smalleys. The only thing that will get my blood pressure on the rise is if my buddy up front sees me whack a rock and says something stupid like, "I though for sure you saw that one..."

[smokie30]

This sounds like something I ran into on Sat the 27. at the

public landing by the casino.

I was by myself, boat tied to the dock.

As I started to back my truck up to load the boat,

I could see another boater untied the back of my boat

so he could get to the dock. Then procedded to tell

me that public landing were not for people fishing

by them selves, and that any by them self should go to

private landings, because we take too long to load and unload.

Normally, I kept to myself, but not that day.

I told him just because you own an expenise truck, and ****** boat, doesn't mean you own the lake, access. I pay taxes too.

He then reached again to push my boat further away from the dock,

I again replyed, touch my boat again I will ***********!

Need less to say I hope I ruined his day, and that he learned

that because you have money. Doesn't mean your better than

anyone else. We all put our pants on the same way.

[Bluegill1510]

Quote:

there are no "SECRET SPOTS", on Mille Lacs

I beg to differ otherwise there wouldn't be big fish in it and I'm not talking skis, eyes, pike or smallies!

[Red Miller]

"we caught 10 today- I didn't see "that guy" catch any."

I guess if you had paid all that money for a boat and still couldnt catch any fish, you'd be ornery too!

I know "that guy"....hes a legend in his own mind.

[bwana_d]

I know – let’s get some legislation going to fix it, maybe we can legislate decent attitudes. (that there is sarcasm).

I have to laugh at what I have read, I have seen it as well, even in the bdub a couple of times and “those guys were guiding”, one time it was a motorized boat in the non-motorized zone of Basswood – when we canoed by he mooned my wife and I, another time it was another guide that said how many years he had been fishing that spot, I actually thought he was crowding us because we were circling the structure, he showed up and claimed his side of the structure and let us have it verbally, it was a bad idea that time, I had a motor as well the other 2 guys I was with proceeded to make him and his client very uncomfortable the rest of the day.

On the flip side this year had some canoes coming by when we were catching fish, could tell they were struggling to catch fish, did not have a depth finder, etc. I invited them to fish right next to us – 10 feet a way because we wanted to share the fun and we had found fish in a location that was not very typical.

I have had people take my buoys when I have marked some weeds Muskie fishing and left the spot to come back to it an hour later. It was a small lake and I watched two other boats fish the spot. When I went back to the spot – after those boats had left my bouy was gone, my 11 year old son guessed right about the boat that took it – the fancy one. We confronted them, the guy in the front of the boat denied it, the guy in the back of the boat threw it to me and said they ran into it with their trolling motor. Try to explain why people are like that to your son.....

Try this one for fun, when you are the boat catching fish and other boats are closing in on you, throw out a buoy with a weight and a short string, as it floats away so do the boats – works almost every time. I even watched one boat hook it by accident, drag it, and then keep fishing it as it drifted. Wish I could do something like that ice fishing.

[Born2Fish]

I think you can do that ice fishing. Make about 30 or so fake lightweight shacks. Place them all in a area that you want people to go to. Within hours you should have a nice gathering of piggyback fishers around the fake shacks!!

[SunneyeDay]

One black buoy marking your real spot, one yellow/ orange/ green buoy marking a dumb spot 30-40 yards away giving you a line with something on the horizon so you can find your black buoy. Nothing better than watching boats pull up to your brightly colored buoy and trying to catch fish that someone else "marked."

Entertaining even when your not catching fish at your real spot.

[eyewarrior]

I

I have had people take my buoys when I have marked some weeds Muskie fishing and left the spot to come back to it an hour later. It was a small lake and I watched two other boats fish the spot. When I went back to the spot – after those boats had left my bouy was gone, my 11 year old son guessed right about the boat that took it – the fancy one. We confronted them, the guy in the front of the boat denied it, the guy in the back of the boat threw it to me and said they ran into it with their trolling motor. Try to explain why people are like that to your son.....

I have a garage full of marker bouy's that people have left on a spot. If nobody is obviously in sight of the bouy it is considered a navagational hazard and is left behind illegally. Pick up your bouy when you're done fishing the area and you won't have that problem.

Sorry didn't want to hijack the original post but I also had a similar problem with a different "guy" smiled told him I didn't see his leased sign for the spot went around him continued to fish. Saw the same guy same spot next day had a nice conversation (not sarcasm) about how's fishing and we both went about our merry way. BTW fishing was excellent this past weekend on lots of different spots

[MyThai]

Fishing should be relaxing and catching should be fun. Please don't forget that WE are all out there for the same reasons (to relax or having fun catching fish). Remember the golden rule (treat others as you would want to be treated). We definitely have conflicting believes.

[Moe Szyslak]

On the flip side this year had some canoes coming by when we were catching fish, could tell they were struggling to catch fish, did not have a depth finder, etc. I invited them to fish right next to us – 10 feet a way because we wanted to share the fun and we had found fish in a location that was not very typical.

I have done this several times this year on the east side when 100 foot distances changed action from no fish to one a minute. My experience is that people get very confused when you offer up your spot so they can join in the fun. I have yet to have one boat actually accept my invite and join in the fun.