Unfortunately any slip owner who has his boat on the lake for any period of time has had problems with damage resulting from those who fish the slips from their boats or theft of property left in the slip. (You can't take your prop with you but I have had a stainless steel prop stolen from my boat while it was in the slip.)

This sours dock and slip owners against those who fish this way. Joe Pool Marina has signs posted that you can not fish the slips unless you are that slip's owner. They are probably aware this can not be enforced but may feel it keeps some people from doing it and limits their liability if somebody gets hurt fishing the slips.

Yes, the slips are on public water. Yes, everybody has a right to fish public water. But everybody is liable if their boat wake causes any damage to another boat or lake property and everybody is liable when their fishing lure causes damage to any property in the slip area, including the boat.

A custom cover on a pontoon costs over $1000. A damaged fuel hose can cost several hundred if a boat shop replaces it for you.

My slip neighbor just paid $16,000 to have the gel coat redone on his 36' cabin cruiser. You can bet he does not like it when jigs or lures hit it.

I do not condone shooting at somebody for fishing your slip. I no longer condone shooting somebody for stealing from your boat or slip, nor running your trot lines and nets. A life is worth more than that to me today.

But I grew up on the Tennessee River and fished with my grandfather, who was a commercial fisherman at that time. He carried a rifle in his car and boat and would shoot anybody he caught damaging his property or stealing from his lines.

He would state his boat and lines feed his family so damage to his gear or stealing from his lines took food from his family. So they deserved to get shot. Many of the rivermen of that era felt that way. I would not be surprised if many did still felt that way.

I would take their picture if I saw them damaging my property, if I did not see them I would ask the slip owner across from me to check his cameras and provide me a picture of the boat(s) who were fishing the slip that night.

Since he has a $200,000 house boat docked there he has cameras covering the slips from all angles. He told me when I leased the slip one of his cameras covered my slip so I did not need to get a camera for the slip.

I would then use those pictures to file civil and criminal damage charges against whoever was responsible and had left the scene after committing the damage.

Criminal damage is "Recklessly defacing or damaging property of another person". Since it is well known that lures can damage the property of another person you are acting "recklessly" when you toss a lure into a slip containing a boat if it causes damage.

My slip is 36'. The first 6' is a deck, my pontoon is 20'. That leaves the rear 10' of my slip as open water.

I don't mind anybody fishing that last 10', as it is open water. I even have lights on it.

It does bother me when I find hooks, jigs or lures in the lines that I use to secure the boat to the slip. The rear of my pontoon has an exposed fuel line from the gas tank to the motor, a water line from my aerator pump to my live wells, a line from my rear transducer and various other electrical lines.

If people are hooking the tie lines from the rear of the pontoon to the deck then some are probably hitting the rear of my boat, where they could damage my aerator pump, my transducer, my fuel line or any of the electrical lines.

So your insistence on "shooting" your lures around my boat can cost me money in repairs and loss of use of my boat while it is being repaired.

If you feel my attitude is unreasonable, then I am sorry. But you are not the one paying for my damage. This became a sore point for me when somebody stole four fishing rods from the back of my boat in my slip in August this year.

Yes, I should have removed them from the boat. But it was late at night when I returned to the slip and I did not think anybody would steal four used rod and reels. But they were gone the next afternoon when I returned to clean the boat and put everything away.

As to tossing lures around boats in slips I can only state that if I started tossing lures at your boat while you were fishing the slips you would get upset, even through your boat is on public water and I have the right to fish the water where your boat is setting.

The key is treat everybody's property the way you want your property treated. If you don't want lures tossed around the water where your boat is at, then don't toss your lures around the boats in the slips.

Fish the ends of the slips. Fish the slips when the boats are absent. If the slip is longer than the boat then fish up to the boat. But don't toss or shoot your lures along the sides of the boat nor at the rear of the boat, as you can do damage you would not want done to your boat by somebody tossing lures at it.

End of rant. I will not post again in this thread, as those who act badly do not care whose property is damaged as a result of their actions as they exercise their "rights". At least they don't care until they get caught and sued, then they rant against lawsuit-happy slip owners.

As to tossing lures around boats in slips I can only state that if I started tossing lures at your boat while you were fishing the slips you would get upset, even through your boat is on public water and I have the right to fish the water where your boat is setting.

The key is treat everybody's property the way you want your property treated. If you don't want lures tossed around the water where your boat is at, then don't toss your lures around the boats in the slips.

They should start a mid-day drama series with modern day DRAMA filled fisherMEN!!

You break my stuff...you buy my stuff. SIMPLE! I break your stuff, I buy your stuff...SIMPLE