I'm 70 & it's the worst on etiquette I've ever seen on the water- fish Rayburn & Toledo- last week's tournament- we were fishing a straight bank line in a larger creek- boat pull around us & stopped 50 yards ahead of us & began fishing same direction. We just turned around, & fished back the other way instead of saying anything.....................oh by the way- we caught our biggest fish headed the other way!!!

Ha

Just a comment- the boat captains of these school teams are the worst on the lake- just think what the generation they are teaching will be like on the water in the future.

my 2 sense

I was fishing the Birch Creek roadbed one day at Fork. It is a well know community hole. I am on anchor (thats what we did before Ultrex). I had 2 clients with me and we are catching fish every other cast on C-rigs.

This guys rolls up and drops his TM within 2 boat lengths of us. I didn't say anything but as he was pulling his rods outta the box I threw over his boat. As soon as my bait hit the bottom a 2 pounder grabbed it. I set the hook and drug the fish up and through his boat. He was busy rigging so he didn't notice my cast until the fish hit the side of his boat and came through his boat.

He looks up at me like WTH?? I said Oh man! Sorry I didn't see you there! I unhooked the fish and threw right back over his rig. He got the message and move about 50 yards down.

Answering “poor manners” w/guns, 1oz tungsten weights, azz whoopings….? Ya, that’s how to “handle it”! “Keyboard bad azz’s”……I mean “dumb azz’s”…..

I have been in similar circumstances on a lake. Not busy at all and no reason to get on top of someone but it happened.
I looked a little unhappy but just found somewhere else to fish. Its not that big of a deal to me.

You cant control someone else's actions, only your own. Most people dont stop being [censored] just because you point it out. The look of catching a fish behind someone who cut you off is priceless, thank them for leaving the fish for ya and move on

Fighting over fishing just seems counter to why I go fishing.

I do like the "let the air out of their trailer tires". That pretty funny.

It's not alpha though, so there's that.

I have too many stories to tell. One guy cut us off, with his son in the boat mind you, running to a spot and damn near hit us. We got swamped by his rooster tail. That guy got a talking to. He apologized and even though I was still mad, it was all good. I feel like letting the air out of one tire would be a good healthy inconvenience for an a hole like this. But I do agree with some, while you may want to be "alpha", there's always someone bigger and tougher than you out there, so choosing words wisely helps.

These stories remind me a lot of my daily commute to and from work on a daily Mon - Fri basis unfortunately. Boating etiquette is not the only thing that has vanished.

I guess the saddest part to this ordeal is that you know it was done intentionally since we were the only 2 boats on the lake.

Teach us the correct way. What would you do? Nothing? Wait for someone to come bail you out? Get another boaster shot?

50 yards is a good distance IMO. The truth is most people do this when fishing. They just find ways to validate for ourselves. Some have no clue, other's think 50 yards is fine, some think 200 yards is too close. Many find ways to legitimize what they are doing is right., and often the worst offenders are also the quickest to complain about the same thing. Very hard to tell what a fisherman is gonna do in many cases and communication goes along way.

Course there is also they very well know emotion when your on a good stretch and someone pulls in and now u have to share. Easiest thing you can do is get Angry and spin out.

There is no Hard rule on this, etiquette is an idea with no real constraints, and it varies from person to person.

Fishing a team tournament another boat pulls up rather close, then closer, my partner says something, guys says I;ll come beat your azz
guys puts his TM on high comes right to our bow, his partner say" you don;t want to mess with him, he's former Marine Special forces"
my partner takes off his shirt, guy jumps ONTO our boat, my partner made him bleed, threw him in water , guy gets back on our boat at stern,
my partner Right Crosses him, back in water he goes. Got in his boat and left. Marine Speciial Forces ZERO, GANGSTA ONE
BTW found out he was in same tournament and went to hospital for stitches. So be careful who's boat you jump onto.

I remember being young and hot blooded. A boat pulled in less than 50 yds in front of me close enough that his wake literally came over the side of my 17' aluminum boat. He just whipped out a crankbait and got after it not even acknowledging me. I knew there was a good stretch of bank a little ways ahead of us that we were both fishing towards, I just politely cranked the big motor and blew the spot out. We exchanged a little sign language and I went to a different spot. Definitely not the mature way of handling it but also not resorting to violence or threats, lol.

Nowadays, I probably would have just let him fish through knowing that he was going to be leaving plenty of fish behind due to his run and gun style of fishing. I also may make a remark to myself loud enough for them to hear but not confrontational. Just a little reminder that I saw what you did there and I don't appreciate it. Usually sounds like, "Must be a great spot for somebody come in so close on such a big lake."

Just troll on high around them and wave as you go by....you gave up three docks and left them used water.

Trim up...throttle down!