On this particular lake it has happens to me many times. I�m not bent out of shape as much as amazed at the gall of people. And believe it or not there are a lot of people that that can catch fish if someone else can put them on them. They are just too lazy to read a map.
That said just buy a good map chip like lakemaster and they spell out exactly what is there.
Yes I know exactly how to mark a waypoint from a long distance but my point was that these people get 50 foot from you and drive in a circle. It is really no different than the guy that thinks it�s ok to move in 50 yards ahead of you even if it is obvious you are fishing that direction.

Happened to me twice on Fork this weekend on stuff that is very obvious on Navionics. Very strange

I typically don�t fish structure spots I have found when boat traffic is high-on weekends or holidays for this very reason. However, I fished a lake yesterday and was on a certain pattern fishing brush piles. Most of these are community holes with gps on the maps. One of my prized �secret spots� I found years ago isn�t too far from a brush pile. Sure enough, I pulled up on a brush pile and there was a boat fishing the spot I found years ago. So much for that �secret�. I had never seen a boat fishing that spot in 15 years....Even guides who fish the lake....Between technology, map reading, bent pile drive by, who knows...secrets on lakes nowadays don�t last. what happened to you is frustrating, no question. Time to find some more spots, on a weekday no less.. That is my plan..

Lol, we have our own heathen over here on this side of town. He is a massive scavenger. I think we all know who I'm talking about

If they aren't trying to move in and fish it beside you, who cares? I can assure you that your secret spot isn't a secret on a public lake. I make a mental note of where I see boats fishing while I am out. If I saw them catching then I would probably drive by there when no one is there and see what type of structure was there and log that away in memory when I come across it somewhere else on the lake.

Heck Steez gave me info on my home lake where to catch big fish. I've been on the lake for a few years and didn't know it existed. I still haven't bothered driving over there to check it out. I see people sitting on the spot all the time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it is a good spot.

Too many people get their feathers ruffled trying to protect something that isn't even theirs to begin with.

There are very few secrets today.......... electronics, YouTube, friends, guides......get over it. There are plenty of fish for everyone.

Does he fish for LUNKERS?

It�s annoying if nothing else. I throw out a bogus marker buoy sometimes just to mess with people but I don�t always feel like taking the time to throw it out and go get it back. But if this stuff isn�t a problem then why do all these guides blur out the background on pictures? They probably deal with this [censored] on a level most of us could never understand.

I find it intriguing that many people assume that the person(s) are not doing their homework, he didn�t stop and fish. Maybe they have done their homework, found the offshore spots on their maps and were coming to explore. Saw someone fishing so instead of coming right in and joining, ran around the outside looking at how the fish were stacked and moved on?

It is not something I would do, but I have dropped off plan when I was headed for a spot and saw someone on it to scroll my map looking for the next feature along the creek channel, in the general area, or in a similar location somewhere else.

I admit I am still trying to get confidence finding bait/fish before fishing an area. I have to stick to the higher probability targets. Therefore, I assume people coming in on me knew the spot was there before they idled around scanning. Maybe, just maybe this person already knew about the spot and wasn�t �obvious� in his �pot-licking�, just scanning and moving on.

Of all the things that happens on lakes these days, that is one I just laugh at and not worry about. Heck, I've gone back and looked at and in some cases marked many spots I saw someone else fishing over the years....I just do it after they have gone.

This used to drive me crazy and still irritates from from time to time. The thing that finally settled me down was realizing that there ain't no way those guys are going to catch a bass that the good Lord intends for me to catch.

Why do some people think they are the ONLY ones that can find a spot & when they DO, want to whine about someone 50' away marking something. At least he was idling. Do they THINK only THEIR chart/map shows there's a hump, channel bend etc? Geez... Everyone spends big $$$ nowadays to buy good graphs to USE. Just because they are marking something & YOU happen to be sitting on a spot DOES NOT make them a pot licker, bent pole pattern fisherman. Get over yourself & enjoy your time that you DO get to be on the water. By some of yalls standards,, EVERYONE else would need to turn off their graphs when within 250' of you & never look towards you without being called a potlicker. How bout this? A man has fished a spot for years. He gets a New graph & Autochart card . He is running around marking his own waypoints on his new graph. You HAPPEN to be working the spot. He idled by marking a breakline, but he's thinking," THAT Dude is fishing my spot I've fished for years. I'll be courteous & just mark my break line or begin a new map using my new Autochart feature . Maybe I'll come back later to pinpoint MY old rock pile". Maybe he's thinking you saw HIM fishing it one day & YOU are the Pot Licker.
Believe me, when I go to a lake I don't get to go to often, I'm GOING to use my high $ graphs to mark as many spots on my mapping, which obviously shows humps, bends, funnel points,etc etc. so I CAN come back & check them out when someone else isn't using it. That's the way it's SUPPOSED to work. I'm not potlicking,bentpoling, or whatever you want to call it. I'm doing EXACTLY what you guys are wanting. Hunting, mapping, finding structure. No one can "claim" a certain spot as their own, because its
1. Public
2. Available for EVERYONE to find with a graph
3. Its stupid to even THINK you're the ONLY person that's ever found it.
I CAN find & locate structure/fish on my own. I have for years.That's WHY I bought my equipment too.
Good Lort!!

Thank you for following up my mild version of this with your comment! Now they�ll flame you instead of me...

Just kidding. I know how you feel, and I wholeheartedly agree.

How do you know they weren't just changing screens? My Lowrance doesn't beep when I drop waypoints, but does when I change screens out.

But they think they are the ONLY ones that ever found it. HOW did THEY find it?? By using a graph & maps possibly? The same way ANYONE else is using their graphs & maps for. They want to throw accusations, claim a spot on public water as their own, REALLY??? Maybe no more graphs & mapping charts & cards should be sold because , heaven forbid, someone may ACTUALLY use it the same way THEY themselves did. Rotflmbo