Today I was fishing my new old fishing hole. This part of the creek seems to hold bigger fish than most of it the parts I've fished. Anyways I was doing pretty good caught two nice fish after only being there for 10 min . A man and 2 boys about 16 years old show up. were this place is you can only fish on a ledge about 100 foot long . The water is crystal clear so you have to be super quiet and still. So they climb up and the guy is real nice and every thing but I instantly know there scaring fish. Heck I saw them swimming off. To top that off they get there 50 ton weights hooks, nasty cut bait, bobber. They let it rip and started a title wave.So im talking to him and the kids. One know what he was doing. The funny part is I asked the man what he was fishing for he said bass. He was telling the kid who knew his stuff those frogs don't work and basically soft plastics are gimmick made up by lure makers. How do I tell him he runing the fishing with out offending him?

Would have swore that man was going to say catfish when I asked what he was fishing for.

Just smile and say bless your heart.

It would not have surprised me if he said sharks when I asked.

Man I've ran into that where I work/fish kinda a cool job when ppl see me catching them and ask I tell them how / w what and all trying to be nice they don't change and the ppl get mad when they don't catch but heck how are u going to catch with 5 pound lures/bait we are lake fishing not ocean fishing so I feel u on this kinda stuff

It can be annoying . At my other good fishing part of the creek there is more area to fish but most of that is private property . The man that lives there is real nice to me but I've heard story's. Im the only one he has ever given permission to fish. He has lived there 22 years so when this happens to me at that spot I walk about 50 yards up the creek if they try to follow they are told were the line is if they pass there told it private property then I let them watch me catch fish while there bobbers just blow in the wind its funny when they are bragging like there KVD they they start to fish you can spot them before they get to the water as I've said before there throwing 30 ft diving crank baits in 3 foot of water during there retrieve they set the hook on 10 different rocks till one of those rocks keeps it but he instantly turns to tell you a big fish just broke his line .yall ever met that guy?

That's the downside of bank fishing on public property. Any jack wagon with a pole and his loud offspring can sit right down within 25 feet of you and start ruining your fishing. I've had kids throw big rocks into the water within 50 feet of my fishing pole because they were bored. The parents were oblivious that this might be an issue for others fishing nearby.

So what you got is people who take fishing seriously right next to folks who think they know what they're doing. In the old days, when I was a kid, the old fishermen would let you have an earful if you disrupted their fishing, and you respected them, and changed your behavior. When it comes to adults or kids, just be polite, and respect their right to be there, and ask if they can move. A little farther away. If they can't move, ask them if they can keep the noise down a little, and explain to them the fish are swimming off. You can do it from the perspective that you're teaching them how that particular fishing hole works. They might learn a thing or two from you which can only help you and them when fishing. Same goes for their use of bait. Tell them they might want to use that bait for catfish, not bass. Help 'em out. :-).

As for the 'private property' problem, they need to respect property lines. Simple as that.

Scott in Flower Mound

It was a teachable moment. Show him how you are fishing and see if he will watch and learn. That is code for see if he will sit down and be quite.

When you see the fish swim away simply pack up and say good luck. Your day is screwed at that point.

I think any seasoned bank fisherman (or woman) has run into this at one point or another. All you can do is be polite and hope that the person/people will listen and understand what you are telling them is FREE advice. I was fortunate enough to have a family full of fisherman that showed me how to fish in all kinds of ways. Not everybody has the luxury. I try to let people figure it out on their own, but sometimes if I see somebody struggling, I'll mention a few tips to help them. It's up to them if they take my tips serious or not. If people come too close and are not being respectful, I normally move further away, but in a place where you really don't have that option, I would mention that noise scares the fish off too.
Some people may take your advice as BS though. I was told not that long ago that at Pond A at Bethany Lakes, the small one in the back, that he caught an 8 pound bass in it. Now saying there's not a bigger bass in there, but I've never seen anything close to that in that pond and I've been fishing it for many years now. I think this is the bigger problem. There's so many people that try to tell you what and how to fish and they are not giving the best information out. After you try it a couple of times and not catch well or anything, you learn that person was full of it. I think this happens too much and people learn to just ignore the advice because they don't know difference between good advice and bad advice.

I thought that it was a chance to teach myself but the grown man was not having it he jokingly told me when I tried that he had been fishing longer than I have been alive today I'm going to seek permission from one of the lands owners to fish a area about 100 yards upstream from the ledge that will solve the problem

ive never said anything until one time this knucklehead throws across my line. then i said something. a 20 something year old so he should know better. if a little kid i just untangle the lines lol

Hopefully this isn't perceived as hijacking your this thread. I am not a dog hater. But I hate it when I am fishing from the bank and someone is walking their dog close by and lets it jump into the water, or even more inconsiderate throw a ball out there for them to retrieve. I typically don't say anything but give a nasty glare, which if that has any effect I don't know.

Just throw some dynamite out to the dog to fetch. problem solved.

Scott in Flower Mound

I was fishing at this pond once and here comes these 8-10 yr old kids. Lucky for them they came to fish but had no idea what they were doing besides scaring the fish off. I saw an opportunity. So I reached into my bag of plastics and wacky hooks and threw that catfish junk it into the water and showed them how to wacky for bass. The only sound those kids made after that was the sound of excitement, and laughter. Made my day and I hope those little dudes learned a little something