A little common courtesy, PLEASE??

[slick814]

PEOPLE....

This past weekend, I witnessed so much rude and otherwise unnecessarily poor behavior both on and off the water, I don't know where to start.
First off, if you see a small group of boats that are anchored 40 feet off the bank using bobbers cast towards shore, you don't need to troll between the boat and their bobbers... should go without saying.
Second... If you don't know the basic rules of boating, (which side is the proper one to pass on, etc.,) PLEASE take a course or at a minimum, read the booklet the state gives out. I saw a lot of actions that made no sense to me out there.
Third.. if you are launching your boat from the river, those of us with boathouses or boats docked at the marina would appreciate it a whole lot if you followed the signs in the NO WAKE areas... that means SLOW DOWN... not go through at 20mph...
And finally... when you clean your fish, find a proper place/way to discard the guts... throwing them on a road in hopes that gulls will eat them is not acceptable... it also attracts bears and other critters that may not be welcome.
I have honestly never been so appalled at the behavior of other fishermen in my life, and hope that this was the actions of a few, and not what I will need to expect in the future on the beautiful lake that I grew up loving.
For the rest of you... I hope that you enjoyed your fishing, that you found a way to stay warm & dry, and that you will come back some day .. bring the kids.

[LundExplorer]

Thumbs up slick

I was anchored 20 yds off shore and this guy (I think he was one of the elite few who actually owns the WHOLE LAKE..or at least just thinks he does) buzz between me and shore, wide open throttle of course. Close enough I could read the capacity plate in his boat...

If this guy is as considerate on the road as the water, no wonder there is road rage

TL

[Fish-n-Freak]

You guys have hit it on the head -- The reason why my fishing season won't start until June 1st.

I have had enough of the "Opener" crap! I enjoy fishing way too much, to let a bunch a-holes ruin my day. I didn't know they had migrated that far north. I thought the Big V was too far for the weekend warriors?

Well, I will be up there on the 1st of June, and the only reason my Black and White Alumacraft would come within 100 feet of your boat would be to offer a Beer and some BS.

Steve

[This message has been edited by Fish-n-Freak (edited 05-14-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Fish-n-Freak (edited 05-14-2002).]

[Guest]

That's Why I call the opener "Amatuer Hour". Your best bet is to fish during the heavy rain. Head out when their heading in!!!!!!

Good luck.

[Ely Lake Expert]

Slick,

I gotta agree with you on this one. I can't say I had any problem like these this weekend because I had to work all weekend
I know what you are saying will happen to me soon. I do catch my fair share of crappies off my dock and every year it happens, I will be catching a few and some fishing hundreds of yards away if not more and they see me put one in the bucket, then they put it on super troll or even the big motor down. Within 5 to 10 minutes they are trolling back in forth by mine and my neighbors dock casting 10 to 15 feet away from me. It drives me nuts.
It happens so often when the crappies are in that i have developed a counter attack. I see them coming and go get my dogs so they can go for a swim and play fetch in the lake.

What I am getting to is that if someone has or found a good fishing, don't bother them by going right next to them, go find your own. I don't even remember finding a lake where every fish in it is in one spot.
Please can everyone just have some courtesy.

Ely lake expert

[This message has been edited by Ely lake expert (edited 05-15-2002).]

[tjwierz2]

I guess you can always expect a few bad apples out and about on a busy weekend like opener. I can see where some people might get a little close fishing a busy area, say hoodoo point or everetts bay early in the year. But when you're fishing away from the crowds and someone gets that close or flies by you within 50 yards when you're trying to finesse fish...thats ridiculous.

I can think of one time when I ticked a couple guys off and it was totally unintentional. I was heading to a walleye spot on the west side last August and came around the point of an island and happened to come within 30 yards of a boat doing some muskie fishing. Couldnt see them until it was too late. Well, they let me know their displeasure by casting within a foot or so of the side of my boat, I probably deserved it though...accident or not. I had seen a muskie in the spots the were fishing too, so I know it was a good area. Man did I feel like a jerk. Hopefully the other boat wasnt any of you guys.

[WallEYES]

SLICK814
I hear ya. I have never been so pissed off at people in my life on rude boat and behavior in general. Been doing the opener thing up der for 15 years. Just the past 3 years there has been so much boat traffic it's starting to look like lake Minnetonka. 38 walleyes were caught by our group of 7 guys and we had to leave the shallow water and go deep. Most fish were caught around birch point area in 27-35 feet of water. Seen a 9,7, and a six # eyes taken in same area. There was so much bad etticate on boat driving, I was tempted to go back to the house and get my potato gun. Where are all these people coming from?

[slick814]

Thanks for all the agreement, guys. For a while, I've wondered if it was just me and my family that felt this way about some of this behavior. I'm 33 years old, have been fishing Vermilion for 30 years (Literally)...
And I was taught , thankfully the proper way to do things when you're sharing the water with one or 100 boats. And you know what? I'm teaching my daughter the same rules, because I want her to enjoy herself, be safe, and have respect for other people.
I just hope that maybe someone who was acting the weekend warrior saw what we've all had to say and will re-think his previous ways.