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How close is too close?


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My 8 year old son and I had a guy pull up to us after we had been fishing for a while and ask us to move because he already had the spot as a way point. Can you believe that. He just showed up and asked us to leave. All I could do was laugh and ask my son to reel up.

LOL.

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I'm thinking something along the lines of an auxiliary speaker connected to the stereo (if the boat has one, mine doesn't frown ), 1 tory amos CD, or maybe Mariah Carey. Crank up the tunes, and point the speaker in the direction of ... the party.

The BeeGees work great for this too wink.

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On most lakes, if someone pulls up way too close to me without saying anything, pretending not to see me, I will land casts right next to their boat and give them the ol' stare-down, maybe even a head shake and 'w t f hands' as I like to call it.

I think hitting their boat is going too far though.

On the flip side, its a completely different story if someone quietly comes near my boat, is friendly, and asks if there's room for more than one person to fish the spot.

Not too many people do this but I have a ton of respect for those who do.

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I'm thinking something along the lines of an auxiliary speaker connected to the stereo (if the boat has one, mine doesn't frown ), 1 tory amos CD, or maybe Mariah Carey. Crank up the tunes, and point the speaker in the direction of ... the party.

Make sure you have a good subwoofer in there so all of the fish know you are in the area too.

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Make sure you have a good subwoofer in there so all of the fish know you are in the area too.

Thats a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

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Okay.... Game on people!! You get too close to me and its....

DANCE PARTY TIME!!!

4.5 watts of throbbing distortion!! Disco city baby!!

Think I won't? LOL!!! Sounds like a blast on Waconia during the spring panfish bite! I may even have to get dancers for my casting decks! Kinda like Soul Train or American Bandstand (wow! does that put a date on me or what?) on the water!

Go crappie!!! Go bluegill!!! Woot!! Woot!!

Seriously though... Casting distance is about as close as I'd like someone to get. Twice that on big water. A little "common" (yes, i know) courtesy goes a long way. I'll never go closer than what I would expect from others.

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I have met many of my closest fishing buddies on local lakes, either at the landing or out on the water. it doesn't hurt to have a conversation, and get to know who they are before you try to scare them off and do something or say something you might regret later.

when people troll by for northerns or whatever i could care less how close they come as long as our lines don't tangle up (in the metro anyway). it used to bother me too when someone would try to push me off "my" spot but think about all the other uncharted spots on each lake that hold fish. theres a ton of water out there. an acre of rocks isn't worth a fight. let them snag the rocks!! you can go catch fish somewhere else. of course if its marked on the H-bird chip then everyone else that has one thinks its their "go to spot" also. If you have a larger boat i could see some some inexperienced fishermen follow you, weather the H-bird is locating fish or not. some people are a little slow!

Take an older aluminum tiller boat out there, find a good spot away from crowds and fish for a few hours, a couple days a week even. I doubt anyone would be within casting distance. i would bet a high horsepower engine and an H-bird could lure in some dummies, especially when your sitting on a well known spot.

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My favorite way to avoid this is to fish for less desirable species, fish on lakes that are not very popular, and have many spots predetermined.

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I bought a trailer three years ago on Mille Lacs and this is the worst for inconsiderate fisherman, please don't get mad a me, it's only a few, not the majority. I don't get PO'd just confused because the worst situations have come up when things are not busy and worst yet - when I'm not catching fish. We do alot slip bobbering with a little extra time on our hands we have come up with a some ideas. I started using the music tactic, I am a big Bob Dylan fan and I am very aware that he can turn stomachs, we keep a tape cued up at all times and this will get some to move on, I also put on a dark green ball cap and then the binoculars around my neck ( They think I'm the CO) this can get a few to go on. I have also started shooting a few videos of how close they get and in the future I plan on making a montage and posting them on a popular viewing site.

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I've been following this thread with interest...and a bit of sympathy, as (like most everyone who's fished anywhere at anytime), I've had lots of boats move in "too close," at least by my estimation.

Well, I was out on Mille Lacs tonight fishing waaaaay in the middle of the lake. I could literally see only one other boat fishing on the lake. I was anchored up on the tip of a nameless little flat, and would've swore I had a DNR guy coming out to me because the boat was headed right for me. Guy anchored up within an easy cast of my boat. Happens to all of us, but with the amazing amount of water to fish, I was a bit speechless.

I just reeled up and moved to another spot. I still don't know what the guy was doing...I suppose I was probably on "his" spot, and he was just as mad at me as I was at him. Who knows.

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Here's what happened to me on a port side turn while trolling the Blue Jug area...

IMG00657.jpg

This guy was WAY TOO CLOSE as it took a few seconds to get my phone/camera lit up and ready. He was so close, I saw the sweat on his beer can!!

If these guys had had lines out, I would have snagged them both.

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Yeah, that's about as close as the guy was to me, though he actually anchored up. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big issue, but it is supremely annoying, especially when there are, what, 20 flats within two miles?!?

Maybe he had launched off the east side and only had enough gas to get to the Blue Jug before heading back??? smile

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  • 2 weeks later...

A couple Octobers ago I was fishing on a local SW MN lake, Sarah. I wasn't doing real well but I was in a spot that is no secret. I set up anchor, I was the only feller around. Right around 6 pm another couple boats showed up and wanted to drop anchor right next to me.

Seriously, if I had known these guys or if they would have at least said, "Hi" I wouldn't have cared that much. But, they showed up, dropped anchor and started beatching at me for being in their spot.

This is when I took my pants off and told them, "I can't help it, sometimes I pee red and I have no control over where it goes." After about 2 uncomfortable minutes (For them) looking at a guy with no pants on and wondering when he's gonna let fly, they pulled anchor and moved aboot 50 yards down the shoreline.

I'm no male model but seriously, who wants to look at a naked bald guy and wonder when he's gonna take a #1 in your boat? If you're that close, you're too close.

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If your naked, do you really think it matters to the other person if you have hair on your head or not? laugh

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Had it happen to me last night. Out fishing with my daughter last night. Just trolling down the docks so she can catch her fish, guy slowly drives by, sees us atching fish, goes about 30 yards past drops his trolling moter and tries to troll right back at us. I just kept on going, my daughter asked why he did it when they had the whole lake to fish on. Just told her some people don't know any better. He even tried to do a circle to keep me away from him. Just went on past him then stayed away from him the rest of the night. Pretty sad when a 10 year old knows better.

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Hey jigging, at least he came AT you. I don't mind that at all actually, it is when someone pulls up in front of you while trolling a shoreline, then proceeds to go in the same direction you are going. That is when I will say something. But I have no problem stopping at a dock, then working towards a person and going around them the other way, or when someone does that to me. Good luck.

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My problem was then he tried to circle his boat to keep me away from him, like he had been there all day.

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I’m assuming by “Too close” as in people coming too close and anchoring next to you, right? When I troll the shore line for bass, sometimes I’ll get too close to others who are anchored and on the path I’m traveling. But its not like I crash into them, or try to cast to where they are casting and invade their area. Usually, we’ll try to give them a good amount of space, go around them and wait until we are out of their fishing zone before we cast again. Everyone in my boat usually gets the idea and takes a break when this happens. Sometimes we’ll talk with them to see if they’re catching anything. I hope by doing so isn’t offending anyone or bugging them. We try not to bug other people out there.

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Was trolling friday on Madison lake, 11' and happened to be making my pass along the narrows. Two mid 50's to early 60's guys troll up behind me 2mph faster than I, minimum. They came directly behind me, thought my line was going into their prop, they scooted 20' to the side of me as they passed. My rod stops bouncing and the line starts following their boat. I just laughed, put my boat in neutral and waited for them to figure it out. grin

They both ended up snagging my line laugh

That was a first for me.

I didn't say a word. One of them appologized, i really didn't think that at their age they were actually sorry since they should be weathered enough to figure out the situation before it happened. I figured i'd better give these guys 1/2 a lake worth of distance and off i went.

I couldn't believe myself. Figured that would have 'set me off', but i was too relaxed on a friday afternoon to give a hoot about these clowns. Pity them a little bit for being so ignorant at their age.

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Okay.... Game on people!! You get too close to me and its....

DANCE PARTY TIME!!!

4.5 watts of throbbing distortion!! Disco city baby!!

Think I won't? LOL!!! Sounds like a blast on Waconia during the spring panfish bite! I may even have to get dancers for my casting decks! Kinda like Soul Train or American Bandstand (wow! does that put a date on me or what?) on the water!

thats funny!!!!!!!!

pi$$e$ me off when people pull up on me but kinda depends on how they go bout

usally you can kinda tell if they have fished that spot before or they are just there cuz they saw you there

remember as a general rule no matter how big the lake only about 10% of it actually holds fish

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I've had it happen many times and seen it happen to others many more. Just this last saturday morning I was fishing a tiny point on a bay of a northern lake. I have a bass boat so it does seem to attract more people than my old tiller boat did. I was fan casting this point on one side of it. Had a boat with two guys in there 40's pull up to the other side and start casting to it. Maybe 30 feet separated us and they took a lot of my casting angles. I gave them a few minutes thinking maybe it was there starting point and they would move on or around me. They didn't so I moved about 100 yards away to some reeds with rocks mixed in. I knew these rocks usually hold fish. Poor guys had to watch me drag 7 or 8 smallies into the boat while they didn't catch a sing fish on that point. They must have got the point that I didn't want them close to me because they never came over. I finished my morning fish and went in. Came back that evening and low and behold they were fishing the spot. Oh well. I moved across the bay to a similar spot and caught a few and made sure I did the loud yell when I got them in the boat. Never saw them catch one. I don't think they realized I was casting a crankbait into the reeds to catch all my fish. So even though idiots can follow you and steal little honey holes you find doesn't mean they will have the know how to catch them when they get on the spot. I just laugh. Or sometimes If I snag a big bunch of weeds I'll fight that clump of weeds for five minutes. Then release the weeds right on the side of the boat. Sometimes you can hear them talking about I wonder what that big fish he caught was.

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Talk about deja vu.... No, not the gentlemen'c club...

A couple days back, I popped a nice chunky box fish off the base of a flat. My method of the time was using planer boards. As those that have used them know, you can't exactly turn on a dime with boards out. So... I pulled in my one and only line, turned the boat 180* around and started back on my previous course. BANG!! Another fish, this time a bit too big so back she went. During all this, I had two other boats in the area. One was a few hundred yards off, the other a few hundred feet.

With my board on a outside turn, ol' Snoopy decides he needs a closer look. The picture doesn't represent the situation very well scale wise, but this guy in the glitter boat is catching up to me at a very quick pace. I was going roughly 2mph, and he was "hammer down" with a bead on my board!

By the time I had the planer board at the side of the boat, Snoopy was OVER my crankbait that was still 150' in back of my boat! He ended up about where the arrow is in the picture.

dejavucopy1.jpg

This is the second time this very scenario has played out on The Pond. People completely oblivious as to what's in the water in front of them! This can really get on a guy's nerves, ya know?

If you feel the need to be THAT close to the action, either find/catch your own fish OR buy yourself a nice set of binoculars! Seriously... What the (you know what) was this guy thinking??!! Is he also attracted to shiny round objects or bright lights? Bad form Snoopy!! VERY bad form!!

Note: All you nay sayers and crack forensic photo experts can keep your read of my pic to yourself, thank you very much. It's a lousy cell phone pic. You'd have been just as tweaked had this happen to you. No words or gestures were exchanged.... THIS TIME!!

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that would be something i could not even think of doing. that guy was lazy and certainly does not have a clue on fishing ethics. good luck.

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As I've read this thread I keep thinking about opening weekend on the St. Louis River. Hundreds of boats and there always seems to be room for one more. It takes "how close is too close" to a new level.

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