Let me start out by saying I do more bass fishing then anything. And I am not wanting to start anything here, If I wanted to start anything it would have been yesterday on the water. But I am curious how it all got started that people (Crappie guys) feel they are intitled almost that they can pull up to another boat within 5-7 feet of another that is crappie fishing. This is mind boggling to me. Anyone that has been fishing long knows this does not and will not be tolerated while bass fishing, so what makes it different crappie fishing? I am curious. Maybe the more I crappie fish I may have to adjust and just accept it as a norm, I personally would not do it to someone I do not know, because I believe it is disrespectful and wrong.
27,000+ acres on Fork fishing with no one in site and then Boom two or three boats come within less then 10 feet from you...Mind boggling to say the least.

I don't think it's right to say crappie fisherman in general.. Because that could've been a bass fisherman going for crappie that one day. Or could've been a cat-fisherman going for crappie, you never know... Its not right to throw all crappie fisherman under the bus just because of one bad apple.

Now to answer your question no I don't think it was right, but hey I don't care what fish you target. You will always run into someone like that..

That is not something that would be cool with me either if I didnt know them. It happens no matter the kind of fish you go for. I don't understand bass fisherman myself LOL.

I deal with'em all the time, they are called "bent pole fisherman" those bent poles draw'em in like you wouldn't believe....
Some will soon call your spots their spots & will look at you crazy if they see you fishing in your spot that they have claimed...
Happens all tha time, dint y'all know...LOL

Yeah, I hear ya Ranger. Everyone trying to fish the same brush pile or hump or whatever. It seems to happen a lot during the winter on Fork down by the Dam and the points.

I have not been to LOP but I heard it can be 10 times the amount of boats than Fork. I heard on LOP guys are so close you can literally shake hands.

I really don't know what the etiquette is exactly.

My Dad, Mom, and I fish exclusively for Crappie and we are pretty much used to it.

I don't necessarily agree, but it seems to happen a lot. If we are going to a brush pile or certain spot and it's occupied we go somewhere else and come back later after its empty.

During the winter off the points and by the Dam you will have a lot of boats in your vicinity. I think 5-7 feet is ridiculous and I personally try to keep a couple boat lengths or better.

I do remember this one time on Tawokini there was a spot that had some logs or lay downs down by the dam. If you fished near those logs or lay downs you could catch a 2 man limit if the Crappie were there that day. Every day was different. Well this particular day a bunch of boats were down at the Dam getting ready for a Crappie Tournament. The sun was out and it was just beautiful and because of the up and coming tournament we expected there to be a few more boats. The spot which had the lay downs had a couple guys spider rigging on it so my Dad and I just fished other areas in the vicinity that also had structure. These guys spider rigging would hook up anytime they were near the lay downs but if you got more than 2-3 feet off you were fishing in no mans land. I honestly don't think they knew the lay downs were there. Well eventually they were a good 4 boat lengths up the damn so my Dad and I slid over to the lay downs and the Crappie were there. Well dumping a marker makes it a lot easier for my Dad to stay right where he wanted to. We would throw a marker and then just do 360's around the marker. We started hammering the fish! Every drop within seconds we were hooked up to a fish. We were putting on a catching clinic.

What I did not think would happen despite all the boat traffic was that within 5 minutes we had at least 4 boats right up on our marker practically rubbing boats. I knew what they were doing and my Dad and I thought it was pretty rude. We picked up our marker and left.

If we see a boat fishing somewhere we have not fished and they are doing well. We just wait till they leave then we go look to see if we can see what was holding the fish. We certainly don't go up and rub paint so we can mark their spot. To me half the fun is looking for new stuff anyway.

When it comes to Crappie fishing especially in the winter you will have boats bunched up and close but again in my opinion 5-7 feet is too close. Others may see it differently.

Like I said at LOP I heard there will be 150-200 boats and guys are so close they can shake hands.

Now, we have been doing really well in a spot and someone else that was in the vicinity was doing nothing. We have invited them over and told them what we were doing and helped put them on some fish. We have also been the ones not doing anything and had other boats invite us over as well to help put us on some fish.

We will be catching Crappie and see a boat not doing as well. My Dad and I on numerous occasions will grab some jig heads or a certain plastic or whatever we are using and we will go up to them show them exactly what we are doing and how we are rigged up. Then we will give them some of our baits. We like helping others because when we first started we did not know squat about Crappie fishing. It is no fun being the NEW GUY.

In general I believe the majority of Crappie fisherman are extremely friendly and most do try to be polite on the water with regards to fishing a certain hole or hump or whatever. But there always seems to be those few anglers that don't have a clue. Like you said 27,000 acres to fish and just like that day on Tawokini rather than get in a pissing contest and despite us being their first it just was not worth the argument.

We defused it and left.

I'm sure others will chime in with their own opinions but that is my take on it. Sorry that happened to you yesterday.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I personally don't have a problem with this while crappie fishing, especially when the fish are on their winter pattern. More than enough fish for everyone and the conversation is great. Just be courteous and ask...most have no problem with moving closer. Life's too short and fishing is too good to get upset...just have fun and help another angler.


Gman

Or why bass fisherman fly by going 60 mph with no regard to the guy anchored and fishing, or go around a blind corner going way faster than is sane.

Ive had this happen to me a couple times and its very rude, I was taught to keep your distance when fishing. bridge fishing is the only exception in my opinion.

I agree. I enjoy the conversation. Sometimes they might have some good info on some spots too.


Boomer.

Unfortunately, lack of respect has increased too much among people in general.

That's why I've had bass fishermen come flying by at 60 mph within casting distance of my boat. Or the guys that went between my boat and the bank I was casting too with their big engine idling and when I said something about lack of sportsmanship, the reply was, "we're fishing a tournament." Or the guys that bird dog any boat that is catching white bass and come up on plane and shut down with enough speed to drift into your boat. Too many people with the attitude that "it's all about me."

However, I'm encouraged that fishermen in general are a great group of people who do respect their fellow man.

To me the bass guys are the worst. There's just something juvenile about their WOT/Off mentality and that they don't care who's day they mess up with their big outboards and boat wake. It's all about them.

Several years ago, we had a couple of bass guys up in a corner of our marina. We asked them not to fish there and explained that we had some environmentally sensitive stuff under water, fuel, sewer, and electric service. They proceeded to ignore us like it was their lake and kept on fishing. They didn't leave until I told them I was going inside to call the Sheriff and was going to file trespassing charges on them. That seemed to be the only thing they understood and they left. Never had much use for bass fishermen after that.

If you don't care for company then you might not like LOP here in a few weeks. I still enjoy bass fishing and have met some other really nice bass fishermen, but to be honest I've had more trouble with tournament bass fishermen than anyone else on the lake. All you can do is control your actions and be polite to others. No fish is worth a confrontation. When I feel like I'm getting to close to another fisherman I'll ask them and I always appreciate a fellow angler asking me. Really, it's just a fish!

Just wondering what could the Sheriff have done ?? If there on the Water ?? unless there tied off how are they trespassing ?

I don't do crowds, if I'm on fish or a good brushpile, when they are a 100 yards away, I pick up my marker and move on. Those fish aren't going anywhere & will be there later on in the week.

The boats that bother me are the ones that crank up & follow you across the lake & then set up like they are going to fish. After a few rides across the lake they wiil finally get the idea & move on.

Guess you guys have never been in a white bass "boat show", or a striper run on Texoma, where boats use anchor ropes to tie up to one another so they can stay on a school of stripers. happens all the time. No one bitches. Crappie are school fish so when they congregate, they also do so in some large numbers. Granted, 5-7 ft might be a bit close, but if you have ever been to White Rock Creek this time of yr, you see folks shoulder to shoulder on both sides of a 20 ft deep hole in a bend, and virtually every one is catching fish, and yes there are a few crossed lines from time to time, but somehow the Republic has managed to survive in spite of it.

It happens. Big deal.

Rudy