WOW!!!

I felt the need to post this after reading some recent posts about the behavior of some lake fork people. I was fishing fork for my first time Saturday and was minding my own business fishing down a tree line. Two guys come idleing towards me from the main lake. I thought they were gonna just go on by but they kept getting closer and closer to me. So I start to think maybe they are just gonna ask me something or just make small talk, I was wrong. They pulled right in front of me and starting fishing. Now there has been a lot of talk on here lately about fishing etiquette and what is proper distance to pull in front of someone. I obviously agree that casting distance is too close. If someone pulled 30 yards in front of me I may not like it but I probably wouldn't say anything because I'm just not confrontational. However I HAD to say something to this guy. He was a little closer than 30 yards. I am not exadurating this in the least. I could have touched his outboard with my fishing rod. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. I calmly and without cursing said " wow, that is the worst I have ever been cut off ". Mind you I didn't have to yell this because he was litterly 20 feet in front of me. He looked at me and said " oh did I cut you off, I didn't know what direction you were fishing ". I like to think that a boat is probably going in the direction it's pointed in. I'm no rocket scientist though. So I said to him " I'm obviously going that way since I'm pointed that way ". Then he says back to me " well you don't have to be a @&$? about it, this is my first tournament ". I said " I am not the one being a $&@? and tournament fishing has nothing to do with it. It's common sense and common courtesy ". There was a few more things said as I passed by but that's the jist of it.

Sorry for the long story but I just had to share this. Y'all tell me if I'm wrong. Is ROD length to close?!?!

yup!

haha dude thats BAD. ive had a guide pull up on me and start casting so close that the splashes from his c-rig were hitting me. but no you were not wrong in the slightest. just chalk it up to charity for those who cant find fish themselves.

Ya. It was so bad I thought it was a joke at first. Oh well. Still a fun day on fork.

Yep you get all kinds on the lake these days. One spring I had my two sons with me and we moved into a pocket to check out some bedding fish. I saw a boat in the back working a bed so we went to the other side. I curised around looking for bedding fish. We were the only two boats in there. He got frustrated not being able to get the fish to bite and decided to leave. I guess he did not want me to move in on that fish after he left so he started the big motor, kicked it up so he could run shalow and ran down the bank churning up the water destroying all the beds along the way. What a jerk.

They are more important than you and you are fishing in their water. Happens all the time...

I....just....don't get it!!! Fork ain't no different than other lakes, i hear. Not a fork resident, but....oh h%#+ NO!! Wanna dance?

It's getting close to the McDonalds BBS so it will only get worse from here on out, you can bet on that.

Take their picture next time.

It's just like anywhere. If you see people being idiots you have to mix it up with them and let them know it. Otherwise they will do it forever. Well they still probably will do it forever as you can't fix stupid but at least you know they now know what they are doing isn't right.

Flip into their stack of rods on the front deck and set the hook. Lol, that might break them of cutting that close though. Idiots

That is bad.

My wife and I went to a point of Ray to fish a pond on Wed. and there was no boat in sight, we fished for about 45 minutes when we see a boat coming from inside the cove and he gets about 800' from us and cranks up and drives to about 100' from us and starts bithcing about being cut off.

All I could think is if this is what he calls getting cut off then he must have never fished Fork before.

With the stumps sticking up so high now you can barely see some boats until you get on them.

+1. It's the right thing to do.

Guy cut me off once, so I went to the other side of the cove. Then the guy goes to the same side within 20 yards. Cast right on his deck and he says "What the heck!". There is no way you can reason with anybody that arrogant and stupid.

Wow, is the correct title! It's really hard to understand some folks.

I fish Falcon out of my red & white Bass Cat and I NEVER have anyone come in on me like you guys are always talking about on Fork.

I posted the other day about not having any problems on Fork myself, but your story just jogged my weak memory. Two springs ago I had a guide cut in front of me at a distance of 50 yds. They dropped the trolling motor and started working the same direction I was. Being a little upset I kicked my TM in high and went about 50 yds around them and started fishing. On the second cast I boated a five pounder right in front of them. They left after that.

...just a bit too close..

sounds like you was nicer then me. He might have gotten all wet if pullrd that close to me. Way to much water for that to happen

If you're a non competitor and they're fishing a tournament. See if you can find out what tournament it is and let the TD know. A few DQ's may change some attitudes

Guess I'm the only that caught this! I bet you don't have any issues at all with it

there is a guide at Squaw like that... Any ways I think rod length or even 2 boat lenghts is to close

TAKE THERE PICTURE AND TELL THEM TO SMILE FOR TFF!

I am an avid bass fisherman, live 45 minutes from Fork which is arguably one of the best bass fishing lakes in the world and I have not even bothered fishing there in around 5 years. I used to go several times a year but there is just too much good water around to mess with the bad eggs I always seemed to run into up there, ESPECIALLY in the spring.

Jason

If Falcon was closer to the metromess, you would be talking about nothing else, BUT how rude people are.

I think he was making a joke about the red and white basscat

I was making a joke about the red & white Bass Cat. I thought it was funny and that is the standard by which I measure all of my jokes.

Im sorry I am just not that easy going and my wife can vouch for that, I absolutely would have been casting the biggest crank bait I have into their boat. I did that one time with her in the boat with me and she about crawled under the console but I feel if they don't already know good manners they can be taught. works on ski boats and jet skis too

Bet theyre on here. You see
Some the threads on here?

That is bad for sure but Fork is not even close to being the worst lake for getting cut off by folks. Monticello is much worse.

Cutting in front of someone that close is bad enough but I think running over you while you're trying to fish a specific spot is worse. Guys at Monty will idle over your line between you and your casting target rather than go around you where there is 5 times more space of open water. I swear they are totally clueless there in the winter!

It is like the Guys That Fish Twice a Year wait until December then come to Monticello. It is bad.

This is exactly why I quit going to Fork, unless it is a tourney.

I bet you dont exspecially in the back of the salado.... btw they got that boat back.

Sadly its not going to get any better. It's a "ME" world.

That's when you grab the 1.5oz rattle trap or spoon and zing that across their bow. I would be pissed if someone did that to me on Fork or any lake for that matter.

Unfortunate it is , too many JackWagons on the water , report it to the Tournament Director . We were fishing Squaw and watched, listened two boats going at it over a spot both were in a tourn. We later came across the Director and reported what we saw.

Tie a loop around the top of a chartreuse dip bottle, remove the lid then carefully flip it onto their deck. If they are close enough that you can actually pull that off, they are way too close.

+1

Happens on all lakes, not just Fork. In the past year I've had similar experience with boats pulling right on top of my boat (within 20 ft sometimes) on Cypress Springs and Pat Mayes. While fishing a point on Cypress, one fool saw me catching fish and trolled over so close that he actually bumped the stern of my boat as he wasn't paying attention to how he was drifting! Had 2 crappie fisherman pull up on Pat Mayse and idled past me about 15 yards and tossed their anchor out right on top of the brushpile I was casting into, lol. I just looked at the idiots. He looked at me, smiled then shrugged his shoulders. I just fired up and left it for him.

I would have slung a 2oz jig into the side of their cowling and said "oops, sorry i'm new to throwing these bait casters"

That red, white and silver cat with the 250 Pro XS has been returned to Texas and the rightful owner. In pretty darned good shape, too.

What's really sad is I may be wrong but I don't think they did it on purpose. I think they really were just that dumb. I can't decide what's worse. Someone that dumb or someone that just doesn't care about others.

We've talked about this a million times. Some folks think if they are in a tournament fishing for $100 or $1,000 first place, that all common courtesy, decency and sportsmanship go right out the window. They're now in the Big Leagues and they must do whatever it takes to win. Fork is the worst lake in this regard I have ever been on.

95% of the guys who tournament fish Fork are not like this. It's the other 5% that ruin for all of us. Used to be my favorite lake. Not so much any longer because of the frequency with which this type of carp happens.

I would say less than 5% are like that , even on Fork. But I guess its the few bad apples that truly spoil the bunch. There are 2 ways that it can be handled (IMO) either turn the other cheek and leave , or cuss them like a sailor to let off your own steam and frustrations. Both have a time and place (IMHO).

Man that's no lie. There was this chucklehead last year in a big ol Bullet with a 1,000 HP racing Merc on it and everywhere I went he was already there. He even tried to block my path as I was leaving the RR bridge - I had no choice but to just run right by him. He pretended to be fishing the spot but I know he was just trying to pizz me off.

Why ya think he sold that boat?

Dude why doesnt EVERYONE start taking pictures of these diks and posting them on here.

Granted it may not accomplish asingle thing fishing wise, but theres nothing better than to publicly humiliate someone who REALLY deserves it.

Maybe the shame alone will make them think twice about being on the new "TFF A-Hole of the week" page.

HAHAHAHA.

I will be taking pictures from now on if it happens to me again. I think it's a great idea.

Hell with the pics, if you phone can do that it can take videos as well. Get the TX numbers and we can look them up and see who owns the boat.

We car start a thread on here about, called Courtesy Fisherman and put info in the body so if they ever do s search they will see how people really feel about what they did and thye might learn a thing or two.

Just a thought.

I was with a member of this forum a year or so ago...We were fishing shallow, within a good cast to the bank. We looked to our left and here comes this JA coming right between our boat and the bank, we could LITTERALLY see the stress cracks in his jell coat!!!

We just looked at each other and the owner of the boat said...Strap these rods down please...He kicked up the TM, cruised right up the guys boat, spun ours around and immediately pulled the trolling motor...He jumps back in the driver’s seat and fires the big motor, that was already trimmed up with just the prop in the water and PUNCHED it!!! HE SOAKED THE BOY AND EVERYTHING IN HIS BOAT!!!

I can still see the look on that boys face as we just idled out of the cove! IT WAS PRICELESS!!!!

There are all kinds on Fork.

Guess you might say he turned the other cheek in a way that guy could understand huh.lol

That's funny

There are idiots all around us and some of them look like fishermen.

i have to ask, physical retalliation to encroachers is something we all would like to do to open these jerks eyes BUT.. whats to stop one of the encroachers from just pulling out a pistol and shooting you?

Nothing really.

But if he does, he's gonna have to deal with return fire from me. And I practice shooting from a boat.

What do you think the odds are that someone will pull a gun and shoot at you?

I made a joke about it and granted it may not always be the best approach but sometimes (and with some people) it is the one they understand the best.

I think it is very important that we all stand up for our rights and not let the idea that someone else may have a gun deter us from standing up for those rights.

Agreed Troy but wouldnt it also be a wise decision to pick ones battles? I wasnt pointing my comment at anyone specificit was just something that crossed my mind.

+1

No doubt you sometimes have to pick your battles.

It seems that I hear so often when someone does something wrong to a person, the person that was wronged (or more often many other people)say "just let it go, its not worth confronting them about it. I believe if someone does you wrong, they have to be told about it and in some cases maybe they have to be shown also. If we don't let people know about it when they do you wrong, it only encourages them to keep doing it.

You're a nut...

??????????????????????????? U need to se a doctor. Lol jk

Quiet a shame...

Just take the cowling off your outboard each time you stop to fish; When they come in on you they'll think you're broke down and need a tow and they will stay as far away as possible

genius!

HAHAHA... now thats an idea there

That cowling idea is funny
I think communication really helps. No fish or tourney is worth sacrificing ones integrity. Lake fork can be bad but Most of the time the tourney guys are actually friendly and talkative. My son and I were bed fishing fork couple years ago in a canal and these guys pre fishing came up and asked politely to go by our boat. Our boats nearly touched but we had communicated so it was all good. On the way back out they told us about a nice slot fish on a bed further up the canal and in turn I told them where we had seen several nice big unders unmolested on beds. My son caught the nice slot and I think they did well in the tourney the next day, so it all worked out. Stay friendly and talk it out!

i had something like this happen to me on joe pool yesterday i made it very clear he was to close and i was gonna hit his a** in the head with my dd22 if he didn't move.

What does irritate me is when I'm sitting on a BIG female trying to be quiet so she will move back up on the bed and people keep trolling up asking stuff like, "how big is she.". I'm like well she spooked again so it will be another hour before I know but thanks. It's kinda sad, they hang around like vultures waiting for me to give up on the fish--not happening. If they try to troll between you and the bank they actually will troll over the deep bed, so I have to move my boat from anchored position to guard against that. In the spring it's not cool to troll between a guys boat and the fish he is targeting unless you ask first!

Ok, what's the back story on the red and white basscat?

you should have cast your biggest jig and hit his out board. After he yelled at you for it I woulda said," Sorry, didn't see ya there and I've been here for an hour."

When I was tournament fishing in FL we stayed at least 50 yards away from other boats, if another boater in the tournament did to us what they did to you they would be disqualifed, most people not fishing in a tournament, if they came up on us they asked if we where fishing a tournament and if you said yes, most would leave you plenty of room to fish.

Years ago I was fishing a hump on fork I had a marker bouy out and we were dragging c-rigs across it when a boat pulled up on our bouy and started fishing , he did not stay there long when those 3/4 oz egg weights started beating on that gelcoat!

Thats WHY I Hate Fishing Fork...
TOO Many Inconsiderate [censored] out there,
Especially during the McDonalds!!!

I've fished 2 McDonald's Tourneys...
First one was a BAD Experience with some [censored] Cutting Me Off and getting TOO Close, Figured I try ONE more time...Same thing!!

It brings out the Total "IDIOTS" Out of the Woodwork...
Thats WHY I Don't fish McDonalds at Fork!

Other Lakes have their fair share of "Idiots"...
Something We ALL have to Unfortunately HAFT to Deal with IF We're going to continue to Bass Fish.

Ya'all just be Careful out there...
Just Remember, There's more water out there than You can drink!