I'm going to have to get me some buoys and mark off my spots, LOL.
I have the road beds and other structure marked on my GPS and people just won't honor my spots!
I could just get me about a dozen buoys and build a fence around me. That should work. Ya think?


I really don't mind fishing with other boats around, as long as people use a little common courtesy. The problem is that common courtesy and commom sense are getting more and more in short supply. I try not and let it spoil my day though. I just shake my head and laugh.
How long is it going to be before there is a "Honeyhole Rage" (ie "Road Rage") incident on one of the more crowded lakes? I heard of a incident from one of the guides on Fork, Friday or Saturday. Guy just pulls up and starts cussing at him. He had clients and just ignored him. Makes you wonder were we are headed in the long run if this kind of thing is tolerated and there are no consequences. If you just drag up and leave you reward their bad behavior. I have not fished much in the last 7 or 8 years but used to fish 2-6 days a week, just about every week. I just got back on the water last thanksgiving and I would have to say that I have encountered more rude and inconsiderate fishermen on the water as of late. I would still have to say though that the vast majority of fishermen are good and decent folks who would bend over backwards to help you. Sorry for the rant. I have to go to an appointment right now so I will spare you from what else is on my mind.

"Can't we all just get along?"

If i pull up to a spot and someone is fishing it i either go to a different spot or fish about a 100 yards away from them. but having two buoys out that far away from each other is a little much i think.

I am sure you would you have a thousand spots... LOL. I would have also moved on but not everyone has a ton of places to fish.( Just playing devil's advocate here) that being said 100 yards is too much water to try and "claim"

No... I just show people courtesy. I realize you need to justify your pot licking... and that's ok. Keep telling yourself there is nowhere else on the lake you can fish.

It depends on how big the other fishermen are if i feel i can take them i would sit right in the middle of both bouys and alternate casting to each one. No NO really IMO if you have to ask yourself if your to close YOU PROBABLY ARE, but also it never hurts to ask them if they mind. Also another thing i do sometimes is ask them if they are doing anygood and if so ask them what they are fishing and offer a lil team work and try to go find something similar on the the lake and let them now if it works. With that being said it usaully never works because most (not all) people will say nothing instead of giving insight on what may be working.

I like to get out there early, put out at least 20 bouys to reserve an area for myself then defend it. A one ounce weight can be fired like a bullet if you can cast with accuracy. This is a courtesy question, in the good old days people had much more respect for others and wouldn't even consider coming in on another persons bouys but now days all is fair game so learn to play the game within the current rules. I have had guys pull up to the same dock I am fishing and throw at the post right next to the one I am fishing, it used to bother me till I realized all I had to do was figure out who the guru is at each lake, buy the fastest boat on the water, then follow all day. It is so much easier to just follow the local all day for one tournament than to try to find spots on my own. My success has sky rocketed. All is fair after all I am breaking no rules in doing this. All sarcasm aside, oh nevermind.

Think that sums it up for me too. Let them have plenty of space but within reason. Not gonna give them the lake. 50 yards from someone fishing a spot is fine. If they are working down a bank or whatever then cutting in front of them by 50 yards is cutting it close. 100 yards is fine, even to cut in front of them. Would not start working back towards them from 100 yards away but to move in the same direction as them is fine.

If you put out multiple markers for reference fine, the only one I am going to respect distance wise is the one you are fishing.

So troyz if you pull in 100 yards ahead of me going down the bank and I happen to be fishing faster than you, and I fish right past you, do I need to wait until I am 100 yards ahead of you to start fishing again? So confused.

i use 2 bouys on fork all the time!during the bassin for babies a young guy in a z9 hit one of my bouys because him and another boat were racing.

Years back there was a guide on the Fayette Power Plant, "Ballard", that thought the whole lake was his. Actually pulled into a cove with customers, and my friends were already fishing, he parked aways away and yelled for them to leave because he had prefished it the day before. He ended up storming right by before circling out. So yeah there are a lot of good guides, just as there are good guys, but please dont categorize all guides as Mr Nice Guys. He no longer guides FPP, but now guides saltwater, so watch out if you pull into HIS bay!!

I didn't get to read all the replies but has anyone ever considered maybe the guy was trying to mark 2 things to throw between like 2 ledges with a high or low spot in the middle? I have gone out before and fished pond dams where I wanted to mark both sides of the pond to focus on casting at and between both. As a few others have mentioned, all I would ask is if you are coming up to the area simply come ask me and I will tell you what I am doing to avoid the "stink eye".

In that example, I gave you the courtesy of 100 yards space between us. What do you think would be the courteous thing for you to do? You can try to make it as complex as you like but the courteous thing to do is allow reasonable space between the boats. I personally think 100 yards is plenty of space if both boats are heading in the same direction. If you do not think so, then you have to use your own judgment on what is reasonable.

If we are going to discuss what is reasonable and you insist on fishing the same area what you do is pull in behind the original boat and fish behind him. I can fish 100 yards in 3 minutes but like I stated earlier in this post I am comfortable playing by any set of rules and if you pull in 10 yards or 100 yards in front of me I am going to fish right through or over you because thats what the game has come down to. I would prefer to play by the old school way of courtesy but that has not been my experience in the last decade especially when basschamps crams 225 boats on Ceder Creek. And since I love tournament fishing I will deal with each set of circumstances as they arise. Yes it is a public lake and yes by law and most rules you can fish anywhere you like so just like any situation that requires personal judgement and integrity it comes down to personal choice just don't get upset when you cut in front of someone and they fish right through you. It really isn't that complicated, if you cut in front of someone going down the bank, you have just cut them off. start behind them and have some respect or prepare to be run over.