whats a reasonable distance?

[Gadgetman]

Just wondering if I am expecting too much or not. Was out on Sylvia last weekend in a bay all by myself on Friday nite. Came out to my house on Sat. afternoon and some jerk had set up camp 15 yards from my door...bear in mind this isnt Buffalo lake. There was not reason to crowd me and certainly no reason to fish the same piece of structure that I was fishing. Needless to say I go there and pack up the show and moved to another spot a couple hundred yards away.As I was packing up the twit came to ask if I was moving cause the fish had stopped biting. Told him "no their still biting but its a big lake and I dont like to fish so close to other people". Hope he got the point. Noticed that a couple hours later, about 5:00 he was out with a scraper shovel scraping the ice all around his house trying to bank it up, took him 10 minutes. Had I not moved that would have certainly put me over the edge...There I feel a bit better now. So am I expecting too much or did this guy push it?

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I fish, therefore I am.

[federline]

A neutral party would cite MN fishing regs that say the minimum distance you can be to an existing fish house is 10 feet. This is not my opinion, but technically, 15 yards is legal (not reasonable - that's subjective).

Through exchange of words, you confirmed that this guy relies on others to pick a spot, and him banking up after you left (without killing his hope - fish biting) you cleared his (possibly flawed) conscience of his method of picking that spot, so he "claimed it".

We all have preferences. I'm glad you told him the real reason why you were moving. On the other hand, if you told him the fish weren't biting, maybe he would have left, and you could move back soon.

Who knows!!!

I think 10 feet is way too close, I only put up with it on Buffalo 'cause the lake itself is a benevolent one (for how long is a big question). On the other hand, I can fish 3 feet from a buddy, and we can have wildly different results!

I say you did what you had to. If you told him he couldn't do that, and insisted he move, and he didn't? What would you have done? He had the law on his side. If you would have thrown a fit, who would have appeared in the wrong?

I think you handled it well, and if more people did it like you did, maybe the "unwritten code of conduct" would change a bit, and maybe, eventually, the law, too.

This guy is kinda like people who park in handicapped spots 'cause they can get away with it, or idle in the fire lane in front of the grocery store, blocking everyone else from getting by. They choose not to use common sense and courtesy or take the time to put themselves in someone elses shoes. They don't think "what will this guy 15 yards from me think about me being so close on a blank sheet of ice?" and "if he doesn't like me doing this, what will I do?"

Is this guy pushing his luck? For me, on a blank sheet of ice like that, I'd prefer only people I know and/or trust near me - someone I want to share good times and my success and dinner with, 'cause that's what it comes down to in fishing.

Wow - this is a helluva lot more than my $0.02 worth, but what the hey.

-Jim

[This message has been edited by federline (edited 01-28-2004).]

[Ruttin' Buck]

I have to vent on this one. There are 8 houses on the lake I fish OR if I equate it there is 1 fishouse for every 22 acres...yet every toad that comes out thinks it necessary to set up shop within' 15 yards of me.

What a joke! I'm ready to strangle the next guy who pulls that stunt. There were 2 guys in a portable 10 yards from my house last weekend when I finally had it. After the morning bite, I went and got my jeep. Mostly so I could let an engine run on the ice for an hour...but really to turn my house so I can see my tip-ups easier out the window. I parked it 15 yards from their portable and let it run while my brother and I chiseled the snow bank around the house away so it could be shifted. After all this commotion the guys were still there...well obviously I needed to bank my house now...with the plow on my Sportsman. I started opposite them, but when I got to that side of the house I scratched that plow to within 10' of thier house...then they left.

The afternoon guys were a little more subtle. They started about 50 yards away. But I noticed their auger would run every so often. When I finally looked, they had incrementally moved to within 15 yards of my house! I could hear them talking from inside my house!

And that's really the thing with me...if you're going to fish by me...SHUT UP!! This lake has no noise, so augers, 4-whlrs, sleds, spook the fish. Pull up, put down, and shut up and it really wouldn't bother me too much.

You know, if you're going to make noise, I'll move...I guarantee I can catch fish anywhere on any lake that I can mark them...can't anyone else manage this?

One last vent...I inadvertantly got this twit back. I show up for a quiet afternoon of jiggling when the circus arrives. 1 portable, 2 toads with a case of beer, and 4 ankle biters on ice skates. Well, for Pete's sake! Not only were these the guys that drill 2 holes (they don't fish anyway) every 10 minutes...and imagine 4 sets of skates on ice with no snow...my vexilar showed nothing. I left, slammed the door in a fury, and ripped by their house with my wheeler.

Well, this guy stops by to visit one day asking how I was doing...I said, 'good when there's no noise on the lake' explaining how profoundly the noise effects the fishing. He agreed, so I offered up, "yeah, one day some guy pulled up with 4 kids on ice skates", to which he replied, "those were probably my kids". I didn't say anything more, but I was thinking, good, I'm glad he know's I was upset...and maybe he'll figure out why I'm outfishing him!

I feel better....sorry I blew up.

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"What should I do...I think he's probably got the hook, I'd set the hook...PLINK....ooohh, I would have gave him some more time"

[Big Johnson]

I don't see how you can gripe about 15 yards, that seems a respectable distance to me. If they set up quickly and quietly as is reasonable. If they crank up the boombox that's another matter. I'll go over and raise hell with 'em.
People can't help it if they don't arrive at the lake before or the same time as you, they need to set up also. The ones who show up at prime time and make a racket are just plain ignorant about the bite time. I'll try to start up a conversation and work in that if they would come by such and such a time, they would be ready when the bite starts and not turn the fish off. I've been growled at for it, but then I say that real fishermen would know better, usually they don't have a comeback for that. Whether they learn from it or not, who knows.

[Ruttin' Buck]

I would agree BJ if it so happened the lake my house is on would have a city of houses on each break, reef or sunken island. But like I said, there's 8 houses on the lake.

My perm is on its 13th season. Back in its earliest days it resided on lake Waconia...obviously amoungst a plethora of houses. Despite the commotion, I caught many many fish in that lake. Then again, my opinion is that the fish get accustomed to the noise. Actually, I can contribute some fish to the noise made by a truck driving by...not sure if it jolts them into bite mode on a busy lake or what, but then again, I've seen stranger things happen.

It's a completely different fishing environment when at any given time 2-3 people are fishing the lake. An auger that gets started beit 15 yards or 40 yards away scatters the fish for 15 minutes. The vex does not lie. If this is done twice in one hour, you can almost kiss 'the bite' goodbye for that morning/afternoon. If a 4 wheeler drives by...another 15 minutes gone. If I can hear guys talking over themselves through my perm walls, that's too loud. Hopefully this paints a better picture of how empty the lake is and how noise effects it.

I guess I think it should be common courtesy. If you see someone slip bobber fishing a weedline in the summer, do you rip by them sparing only 15 yards with your boat...heck no, that's rude...so why is it necessary to drive that close to my house with a 4 wheeler, or pull up with augers wide open?

Also, it's not like there is 1 spot on the lake. There is a break just like the one I'm fishing (or better) on about 75% of this lakes perimeter and many other structures to fish. Why pull up on a group of houses if you're in hole hopping mode?

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But maybe you'd have to see it to believe it...it gets quite frustrating at times.

[09ultra]

Everyone is making sense, Some people just don't care where, when or what they do. I used to own a resort and guide in the ottertail area and the things some guys do are insane, driving to close in the boat andsetting up so close in fish houses that you could here them burp.What is a guy to do grin and bare it or pack up and move. Last year open water fishing I had a group out fishing ,had my marker buoy out and these two boats came over and asked how the fishing was not to bad we had really just gotten there, so one of my clients pulls in a walleye and bang before you know it there is five boats and I can't even get to my bouy. So I pulled up and went to a different spot(clients didn't understand why I moved it didn't bother them) I just said there are plenty of other spots on the lake. We did find more fish! Some people just don't care, happened several times when I would go out.

[metro 1]

Here is a good point posted by Jim on to close..metro

http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/004272.html

[ackotz]

I, for one, do not like to be "leaned" upon either...that's why I choose to set-up a good distance away from crowds. Provided there are fish being marked.
I'll watch the crowds closely, if I do not mark fish, to see if these people are on "the spot" for good reason, or if they're just clustered because they are lazy and insecure.
If they are on the fish...well guess what? I'm moving in! Because...it's as much my lake as it is yours. And if you don't respect yourself or me...then I sure as hell won't respect you. I'm an "eye for an eye" guy...(and I do have to change that personality trait)...
And another thing...10 feet!? I'm sure you've all seen it, some people are within 5 feet of each other, with trucks parked as close!!!

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"Please...respect the 'NO WAKE ZONE' around my portable..."

[This message has been edited by ackotz (edited 01-31-2004).]

[dewoutdoor70]

ackotz thats why i catch all your fish,even if i give several away, granted they cost alllloooot

[tie flyer]

I gotta get in on this. ackotz, you're right on about the "lazy and insecure" part.

Buckblaster and I have fished his lake for over 20 years together and that spot has never been known as a hot spot. You get one or more houses in a quiet bay and every drunk lemming in 25 miles is on top of it.

If fishing truly is "the contemplative man's sport" I sometimes wonder what in the world these men could possibly be contemplating? It really explains why 10% of the guys catch 90% of the fish.

The thing is, if the spot really was hot (even though there are plenty of other similar features), it will not continue to produce if the followers come in with the circus and marching band.