Lake Fishing Etiquette or Lack Thereof

N. Metz said:
What do you all do when your fishing a lake and someone pulls up 50 feet from you and starts fishing the same water you are? This happened twice on a lake with plenty of room on it. I was in a good spot both times, but that doesn't make it alright.

I'll usually stare em down a bit or think to myself "fucking asshole" but don't say anything. I am starting to reconsider that, as in the past week I've had to deal with some real idiots and I'm tired of it. I've always thought it sucks when people do that, but also don't see any point in getting worked up over it and letting it get in the way of my day.

Additionally, I also figure that 95 percent of people know better and just don't care. Am I wrong? It seems like common sense to me and probably should be if someone fishes somewhat regularly. Do more people than I realize just not know any better or am I right in assuming that they just don't care?

What are your thoughts? Should i politely say "hey, how you doin, your too close, please move further away from me"?

I think it's probably just a reflection of where humanity is at right now but god damn.

Nick
Click to expand...
Get yourself a boombox and some Polka music cds. When the interlopers come near, crank it up.
 
I don't tend to experience this problem too much, for the following reasons:

1) The lakes @iveofione and I fish are very often free of any other fisherfolk. They're out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere of NE WA.

2) I relentlessly follow Ive around the lake and park myself <50' away to try to ferret out why he's catching fish even on slow days. He's not posting about it...probably because he's too much of a gentleman to do so.

3) My lack of flyfishing success doesn't seem to provide much of an attraction for other anglers...I'm left alone in the solitude of my quiet misery.

4) I'm in a kayak, which everybody knows is worthless for catching fish.

I will mention one incident that occurred just last Monday. I was preparing to launch my kayak (prior to Ive's arrival) at one of our OLP lakes, and some fellow flyfisher had left his bigass truck totally blocking the primitive launch ramp.

Preparing to get aggravated, but I soon saw him frantically rowing his pram across the lake to his truck, trot up to where I was parked, and profusely apologize....which allowed me to bask in my magnanimous nature by telling him it was no big deal....and he moved the truck up to the parking area.
 
Last edited:
FWIW, I used to pretty quickly get surprised and frustrated by others' behavior on the water, too. I guess I've just come to expect the worst, hope for the best, and if I really don't want to be bothered by other people fishing the same fishing program I'm trying to do, I take that into account and plan accordingly. That can involve lots of different strategies.
 
Sounds like all the low-holers who got kicked off all Puget Sound's rivers have invaded the lakes. 😄

I go fishing in part to get away from humanity, so my gut reaction when folks in boats cuddle up to a spot I'm already fishing on a lake is to GTF away.

But, as Billy pointed out, my current highest priority is to keep the happy vibes going. So I go out of my way to be polite and friendly while I figure out whether I'm going to be staying or going.

FWIW, I've found a lot of people don't share the same the same understanding of what I consider respectful behavior on a lake.
 
N. Metz said:
What do you all do when your fishing a lake and someone pulls up 50 feet from you and starts fishing the same water you are? This happened twice on a lake with plenty of room on it. I was in a good spot both times, but that doesn't make it alright.

I'll usually stare em down a bit or think to myself "fucking asshole" but don't say anything. I am starting to reconsider that, as in the past week I've had to deal with some real idiots and I'm tired of it. I've always thought it sucks when people do that, but also don't see any point in getting worked up over it and letting it get in the way of my day.

Additionally, I also figure that 95 percent of people know better and just don't care. Am I wrong? It seems like common sense to me and probably should be if someone fishes somewhat regularly. Do more people than I realize just not know any better or am I right in assuming that they just don't care?

What are your thoughts? Should i politely say "hey, how you doin, your too close, please move further away from me"?

I think it's probably just a reflection of where humanity is at right now but god damn.

Nick
Click to expand...
I tend to agree most cases it's not a lack knowledge but selfish lack of concern. But as soon as you assume that you find out it's the guys first time ever fly fishing.. so just grin and bear it.. maybe make a new friend.
 
Rob Allen said:
I tend to agree most cases it's not a lack knowledge but selfish lack of concern. But as soon as you assume that you find out it's the guys first time ever fly fishing.. so just grin and bear it.. maybe make a new friend.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I cringe when I remember fishing the San Juan river tailwater in NM, mere weeks after buying my first fly rod. I started well below the dam and walked right up the middle of the river, fishing everything I could reach, waving at the anglers camped out on the bank every 75' or so. I must have pissed them off! But nobody yelled at me and I'm sure it was obvious from my casting that I was just starting out.
 
Dustin Chromers said:
I agree with this. I've been on both ends of that exchange. Generally if asked I will invite a struggling angler to anchor up next to me and share my recipe for success on that day. If I'm struggling I sometimes go over, not too close and with rod on the floor of the boat and ask a question or two. More often than not this has resulted in a new friend and some bit of knowledge I didn't previously have. The modern angler is Internet raised and socially inept in many cases.

Having a few cold ones even if you aren't drinking but to offer others is also an excellent technique for luring a fellow angler into spilling the beans. Just make sure your presentation is subtle and accurate. And always have a beer of upper scale. These are fly fishers and they can be particularly selective. You don't want to put them down with a Budweiser.
Click to expand...
I always have a few ice cold Coors Light on my boat.
In regards to this thread and crowding someone already set up: I'm a pretty low key fella and when this happens to me, I hope I have it all dialed in and that I am catching a lot of fish. if they ask what I'm using, I will usually respond with just the color of the fly. after catching a more fish and watching this other person searching for the color, I'll just move on smirking,
 
Dustin Chromers said:
I agree with this. I've been on both ends of that exchange. Generally if asked I will invite a struggling angler to anchor up next to me and share my recipe for success on that day. If I'm struggling I sometimes go over, not too close and with rod on the floor of the boat and ask a question or two. More often than not this has resulted in a new friend and some bit of knowledge I didn't previously have. The modern angler is Internet raised and socially inept in many cases.

Having a few cold ones even if you aren't drinking but to offer others is also an excellent technique for luring a fellow angler into spilling the beans. Just make sure your presentation is subtle and accurate. And always have a beer of upper scale. These are fly fishers and they can be particularly selective. You don't want to put them down with a Budweiser.
Click to expand...
A fine IPA is dandy, but hard liquor is quicker.

On a more serious note...I was taught from a young age that you just don't endlessly take up residence on a productive spot. Flyfishers tend to rotate through what we know to be great trout habitat to give others a shot. But maybe that's not a common practice?

It's not like we're a bunch of powerbaiters (basically chumming and attracting fish) hanging over a 'honey-hole' and quickly hauling them in with heavy winch-like tackle. Once you've fought a fish or two on an appropriate weight flyrod and terminal gear you've probably scattered them around. Time to move on anyway.

Now that I think about it I can't remember ever asking someone I didn't know specifically which fly they're using...beyond some vague question like "chironomids?" when I see them coming off the lake with an indicator setup.

If you've flyfished lakes awhile, especially with a fishfinder, you realize that pattern is less important than actually putting a fly where the fish actually are. Drag a wide variety of patterns through the depths/areas where they're hanging out and a great many of the patterns will be productive.
 
Last edited:
If I'm indicator or dry fly fishing and I see someone closing in, I'll purposefully extend my casting range right at them, so they get the "this is as close to me as you're gonna get--without saying it". That works out pretty good for me the few times I've had to employ that tactic.
Of course then comes the 20 questions, to which I'm lying so far out the side of my mouth anyone on my boat is usually laughing at this point. You gotta be a part of my immediate crew to get the straight info.
The one single instance I gave not only info but the actual files used a guy came into our camp in the evening, saying they watched us hammer fish all day and they got skunked. He then told me he was fishing with his 85 YO dad, and this would probably be his last fishing trip. Now we're talking a huge guy. Think giant lumberjack kinda guy, compete with a polished .44 hanging on his hip. He was being so humble you could tell it probably took alot for him to approach us like that. I gave him a few of the hot fly. We watched them absolutely kill 'em the next day. The guy came back to our camp that evening and was so thankful. I knew I had done the right thing. Good karma passed forward.
 
N. Metz said:
It has nothing to do with property rights, as it's a public lake. It's a common courtesy and decency issue, not one of ownership.
Click to expand...

I’ve seen this become the norm in my 42 years with everything. Now it is all about what is legal or not. That is it. Courtesy is a relic of another time. Welcome to the machine.
 
I've done quite a bit of commercial fishing. I've seen men desperate to pay for "baby food and diapers", do some seriously messed up things. Both those that are "jumping the reef" and those that are having their reef "jumped". "Desperate men do desperate things".That is a saying that is often used when a man's very livelihood is at stake..... Now.. when I am fishing Pass Lake...any childish behavior about "crowding" is (to me) simply a cosplay of a "wanna be serious fisherman". FFS it's just a trout.
 
krusty said:
I got news for you pal...in my 65 years of fishing...there have always been plenty of pricks on the water. 😀
Click to expand...
Somehow, they just keep on reproducing that gene…
Haven’t fully understood it…you’d think by now, that gene would be extinct, like the dodo bird. 😉
 
FinLuver said:
Somehow, they just keep on reproducing that gene…
Haven’t fully understood it…you’d think by now, that gene would be extinct, like the dodo bird. 😉
Click to expand...
Ah yes...let us harken back to memories of the halcyon era of decent human behavior.

I'm sure it's here somewhere...perhaps it fell between the couch cushions.

Gotta turn up sooner or later! Maybe not.
 
Zak said:
Yeah, I cringe when I remember fishing the San Juan river tailwater in NM, mere weeks after buying my first fly rod. I started well below the dam and walked right up the middle of the river, fishing everything I could reach, waving at the anglers camped out on the bank every 75' or so. I must have pissed them off! But nobody yelled at me and I'm sure it was obvious from my casting that I was just starting out.
Click to expand...
Da Juan was the first place I really fished too, besides a couple of attempts at Tingley beach in ABQ where the only thing I caught was a minivan on a backcast. I was standing with my pants up to knee off the ramp at Texas Hole and a couple guys gave me some big pointers.... first fish on a fly was a 22" rainbow on probably a size 22 midge. That was a good way to start fly fishing
 
Salmo_g said:
Yeah, how can other anglers not possibly know that your dominion on public water extends out to where the natural curvature of the earth renders them invisible to you? Many of us have heard the refrain that "the pool belongs to he who arrives first." OK, but how much or how big is the pool? And who made up that notion in the first place? I like Tallguy's approach. If people are too close to you, you aren't acting crazy enough.

Personally, I'm in the more distance from strangers, but closer to friends so that we can socialize while we fish, but not so close that our casts overlap. I haven't grown to think about public lake fishing in terms of property rights yet. When I think of lake fishing etiquette, I'm more inclined to think about how loud the other fisherman's boom box volume is set at. God bless those who use ear buds!
Click to expand...
I don't see much boombox action on the lakes I fish...but it is aggravating in a place like The Thorofare between upper and lower Priest lakes.

A pristine area where one might see moose or any number of wildlife...but often traveled by $100K + ski-boats with huge sound systems.

I am however capable of tempering my disapproval in direct proportion to the number of bodacious t-bars aboard.

I am old...but I'm not dead.
 
Last edited:
krusty said:
I got news for you pal...in my 65 years of fishing...there have always been plenty of pricks on the water. 😀
Click to expand...

I wasn’t talking about fishing. But yes I agree as far as fishing goes. It’s always been that way on the water.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top