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The implication to drive as fast as I wish is the fact that there are NO posted speed limits on the water except for no wake zones under bridges and near marinas (which I observe with extra caution). But that doesn't mean to be unsafe toward others.

There are a lot of great fishing spots that fish set up on in the boat lanes at Fork... Marked and unmarked... Common sense goes a long way... Throwing marker buoys out in the lanes and drifting off the spot a little is also a concern by taking the chance of getting the rope stuck in prop... But that's a different topic I guess but they can be hard to see when your going 70mph.

Common courtesy is a two way street. In my opinion, on lake fork common courtesy tells me not to fish in the boat lane because I understand to commute on this lake you must stay in a defined area or risk damage to my boat and to myself. On other lakes I may be able to pick and choose my path without danger to anyone.

I don't think I would fish in a boat lane- not that one shouldn't legally or ethically, but that it is and will continue to be inherently dangerous to do so. I have known a person who died from a Fork boat to boat accident. I hope and pray that never happens again to anyone else. You can be sitting there perfectly right in doing so and get plowed all the same.

I wouldn't fish in the boat lane, not because there is anything wrong with it but as the this thread has shown, there are a lot of idiots out there.

It's not just fishing in there. If your boat won't go as fast as theirs then you have to watch out for them flying around you from all sides at once. That lake is full of people who have no business driving a boat

10 yards, 30 feet. that's too close to go by WOT. i am going to come off plane or slow down enough to know that we are safe depending on how much room i have in the boat lane and how far in advance i see you - If i am WOT and see you at the last minute then i am killing the throttle and unfortunately you are going to catch a wake but there won't be a crash. if i see you 1/4 mile before, i would slow down to 25-30 mph and give a wave as i go by rather than swamp you with a big wake. Nothing is worth risking a life, I have a wife, daughter, and 2 dogs to come home to. Not to mention i drive a beater of a boat that won't really go all that fast, lol. By the same token, given the # of idiots running around on Fork on any given day, not sure i would risk all i have by fishing in a boat lane to start with.

Technically a boat lane isn't a road and I agree with that BUT that being said, It is used for a road by almost every boater on the lake so in my book even though it IS technically NOT a ROAD you still have to treat it as such because of the way it IS BEING USED. Me personally, I fall into the category of just blow past me at 70 MPH and give me a wide a birth as possible. I fished rivers and bayous a lot at home in Louisiana and you were pretty much going to be faced with stopping a starting all day long if you slowed down off of plane every time you met someone fishing because the boat lane is also the fishing area so most folks that ran these waters, me included, just stayed on plane and stayed as wide as possible away from other boats that were fishing; with one exception, if I was in a channel that was very narrow, most of the time I ran those areas idling anyway........
Someone also mentioned staying away from Fork on the weekends and YES I am a firm believer in that notion. I loved fishing it in the mid week because the boat traffic was minimal, the pressure was off, and the bite seemed much better. The only exceptions to that rule for me would be if there was a tournament I'd like to fish......my two cents

If I am fishing off the bank by a boat ramp and casting toward the ramp should I be upset if someone wants to load or unload their boat. Probably not, I should just go down the bank a little ways to an area where boat traffic is not expected. Some areas you expect boat traffic , ramps and lanes.

This is all very good dialogue,,,,,,but the best thing to remember is that there is no set one-way to do or approach this subject. It is just a matter of,,,not even courtesy,,,,,but COMMON SENSE. Just do what is right. If you want to fish in a boat lane, fine just be careful about where you set up. if you are coming up on someone fishing in a boat lane, be careful, make a good judgment call and stay on plane or come off plane depending on what would be best for the boat fishing.
Neither side is right or wrong,,,,,
same with just fishing,,,,, use common sense when fishing near someone.
It is the COMMON SENSE factor that get most people riled up these days,,,,,,when one person becomes "THAT GUY" that thinks he/she is entitled to do it their own way and to heck with anyone else.

Interesting that some folks see common courtesy as not driving by a boat fishing in the boat lane at high speed. Others see it as not inconveniencing every other boat on the lake by fishing in the boat lane. I suppose to each his own. For me personally, I slow down if it's a narrow area of the boat lane or fly by if I can go wide enough that I'm not too close to them.

I fish holes near the boat lanes from time to time, but I sure don't expect folks to slow down when they go by.

But if I was really offended by people driving fast right next to me, I sure wouldn't fish the only place that boats can drive fast and then expect every one of them that goes by to slow down. To me, that's the epitome of arrogance...expecting every other boat on the lake to slow down so I can fish a particular spot. How could someone think that it is it my right to inconvenience them but it's not their right to inconvenience me?

Everyone keeps talking the people that got killed on Lake Fork. NONE of them died from fishing in a boat lane. Matter of fact, one was killed from something that could easily be caused by someone fishing in a boat lane. He come off plane in the lane and got run over from behind.

I am a novice boater, I have spent more time on Lake Fork the past few years than anywhere else, I've never fished tournaments, I just really love the lake and yes it is pressured and the odds are against me, but I like knowing on any given day out there that I Have the opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime.

I have a boat lane chip, but I don't run those boat lanes often, so I'm wondering if you guys are talking about the clearly marked, "main" boat lanes or the ones that most of you know about, and are on chips but not marked on the water?

I only go full speed on the ones that are clearly marked on the water, and I would never feel safe fishing in those lanes. I would also feel unsafe slowing down to idle if I saw a boat in the main lane, I would do it because I would be so afraid of hitting them, but I would also be fearful of being hit by a boat coming from behind or in any direction. I have fished close to those lanes and had the trolling motor down and not pay close enough attention on a windy day and get almost in the boat lane, and it is not a good feeling.

I'll say it again. There is not a boat lane on Fork where you cannot come off plane and idle around a stationary boat. None. And it's not like there are a ton of boats fishing in or near the lanes. I might encounter 2 or 3 in a full day's fishing.

If I'm running xcross the Horseshoe and someone is out on the end of it, I don't come off plane. If they're smack in the middle of it, I come off plane and idle around them.

But it's obvious from the responses on this thread that I'm in the minority. I like to drive fast as much as the next guy, but not right by fellow anglers.

Lets hope you never get run over from behind while some guy is looking at his graph behind you

Yep. I'm going to sit here and fish this boat lane and inconvenience 100 guys per hour by expecting them to slow down for ME.[b][/b]