I am a Christian and I try to remind myself to be kind to others on the lake, but sometimes it is hard.

I was fishing a bass club tournament Saturday. It was a difficult bite. About 2 p.m. I only had two fish in the livewell and I had not seen anyone else catch a fish. I got to a spot I wanted to try and no one was around. I put my trolling motor on spot lock and actually moved to the back seat of my boat to fish from there. I caught a short fish dragging across submerged structure. About that time I looked up and a boat from a couples tournament was approaching from about a quarter mile away. The man stopped the boat about 100 yards away and started fishing. No problem.

A few minutes later I caught a two pound keeper. He kept getting closer and closer and within a few minutes was casting across my line. I didn't say anything for probably 15 minutes. Finally, I got another bite and set the hook but missed the fish. When I looked up he was throwing into the exact spot where I had just missed the fish. At that point I couldn't stand it and said something. I asked, "Really? I have been sitting here for the last 20 minutes wondering if you really think that what you are doing is okay, the right thing to do." He seemed indignant and said something about how he was just fishing. I pointed out that I was spotlocked and hadn't moved an inch, had made the same cast over and over, and that he was throwing over my line. He finally said, "I'll just leave!" to which I said, "Good."

By the way, his wife/partner had been giving him a hard time since shortly after they got there. I heard her say at least three times, "Let's just go!" Finally she put down her rod and sat down in the passenger seat. She seemed embarrassed.

They had not been gone three minutes when two guys in another boat that had been hanging out nearby came over. The driver got up and threw first a marker buoy, then an anchor into the water at exactly the spot where I was throwing. The same conversation ensued, with me asking him if he really believed that what he was doing was the right thing. I asked if the fact that I was there first meant anything to him. He said, "It's a public lake!" I said, "Yes, and out of 30,000 acres this is the only spot you can find to fish."

Disgusted, I cranked up and left. I understand tournament rules about being 25 yards from another boat, but I have a higher standard for myself. I don't care how many yards away I am, if I can casting across someone's line I am too close. It would never occur to me to drop a marker buoy and anchor directly on top of where I had just seen someone catch a fish. Apparently not everyone shares that way of thinking.

There was no profanity from anyone in any boat, no threats, no screaming or yelling. At least there was that.

Both of the other parties were wrong. If they wanted to fish there they should’ve asked you for permission- something along the lines of they fished there the day before, etc.

This is what happens when you "grow the sport"

you took the high road, good for you sir!

I'm going to create a FB page and start taking pictures and humilating people when they do this.

Maybe they weren't Christians. Lakes have been getting crowded!

Two choices, accept it and move on or stand your ground and defend it. Both of those can take place in real time where and when the incident occurred.

I think pictures of them is a great idea.....but I am not going to have it.....I will not do anything to get arrested, but they are not fishing over my damn line....that is cra cra

should have just told them to go back to kalifornicate if they want to act like the kalifornicators.

Not the same but comes down to ethics and integrity...There is a local thread going on here involving a high school team fishing an off limit area during a tournament, quite literally a hazard area at the discharge from a power plant, based on how the boat was parked and the angler was not in the boat.

Quite literally everyone has a camera nowadays, it's almost as if they need to be put on blast or the behavior will continue.

really you should ask permission to come upon someone that is spotlocked the some general public has no common sense or manners anymore with a whole lake to fish one shouldnt pull up on someone whether they are in a tournament or not.

First off they were wrong in fishing too close to you.
Second thing is, you were a lot nicer than i would have been. I would not have threaten them in any way but I sure would have made sure my cast were going to cross theirs and hopefully drag their line toward my boat where I could have cut their lines.
I will not go any closer than 100' of another boat, unless we are on the trolling motors and they are coming my way and I am heading their way, then I will always be the one that goes around the other boat to keep on fishing the bank.
I am a firm believer if that one spot that has someone already on it is the only spot I might can catch fish, I not doing very well anyways. Why ruin their day.

Sounds like you did everything perfect. Hopefully both thought about their actions later in the day, and see how wrong they were.

bent rod syndrome, more contagious then covid.

A different perspective on these kinds of scenarios...I had two boys in the boat with me a month or so ago captaining a HS tournament. We pulled up to an area a gentleman was fishing and looked as though he was fixin to fish the direction we were wanting to go. I simply asked if he intended to fish that way after he got his bait tied on he said yes. Rather than cut him off while he was tying I said thank you and good luck and we would look elsewhere. He asked "are those boys fishing the tournament"? I said yes. He then said "please fish in front of me then and said good luck to the boys". It was great of him to do that and a great teaching moment for me with the boys on how to conduct yourself on crowded water.

My point is that in this situation, there is usually room for everyone IF there is a polite conversation about intentions. They should have asked if they could join you and if you said no then they should have simply moved on. I never appreciate someone coming up on me but if they are polite, things change and we can usually work it out. It is getting way too crowded and we all need to be a little flexible and considerate.