Etiquette/Manners Question.

Last i knew, it's against the law in WA to interfere with active and lawful hunting and fishing activities. Not everyone knows that, especially in the larger places with shared public water access.

I've had my own run ins with the entitled and clueless. Both on the bank and on the water.
"Dude, you're in a $90000 fishing boat and I'm on the bank, can you move on and not crowd me?"
Or,
"Missy this is Mercer Slough. It's public access for paddlecraft into Lake Washington. Why do you think we should have to wait for your dog to stop swimming in the channel?"

Move on if you can, I guess. A boat, even a canoe or kayak, gives you advantages.
 
You are digging yourself a hole. You know you are wrong when you try to justify it. You ask others for help until you get the answer you want. This happened in the water. So who do I call: The Coast Guard, the Navy, the Marines?

I know the WDFW (Washington State of Fishing Women)!

Quit digging the hole and go fishing...
 
RCF said:
You ask others for help until you get the answer you want.
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Honestly, this isn't the case here. I just wanted some other thoughts and opinions and I thoughtfully considered the ones I got.

Either way, it isn't like I'm going to sell all of my gear and give up fishing due to one sour incident.
 
IMHO I agree that Breck is/was not wrong. I have little tolerance for inconsiderate people.
 
Next time this happens you should try a different angle to the dialog.

You:
"Beautiful dog you have there, but I like your jeans (other article of clothing) even more."

Karen:
"Thank you, uhh. Excuse me?"

You:
Smile warmly, maintain pleasant eye contact.

Karen:
Hesitates, looks around for an authority figure.

You:
Reach for your phone.
"Mind if I take a photo?"

Karen:
Rapidly retreats with dog and ball to a more secure part of the public park.
 
Breck, I like you're style. I too am a detail oriented guy. So let's examine the scenario as you described.

"On Saturday" to me this translates to lots of people out and about.
"little public park" pretty straight-forward...little and public. Add "boat ramps with picnic tables and a restroom" Sounds like paradise. 😁
"Lining most of the harbor shoreline are thick blackberries but there were a few rocky spots that were accessible to the water."

Ok, so a little public park with limited rocky shore access for all these Saturday park people. You see where I'm going here.

Do we know if the dog lady had tried a different spot? Probably not the spot with the boys fishing? While her "Where the fuck else am I supposed to go?" was quite rude and pretty aggressive it does hold some merit based on your description of this lovely park. If that spot was the only one open then she's gonna use it rather than pack the dog back in the car and drive somewhere. I think most of us probably would.

Anyway, this is why I don't fish in front of busy small parks. Been there, done that. I don't want crazy dog lady Karen to ruin my day. And I don't want to ruin crazy dog lady Karen's day. Although, she was probably telling stories about you at the bar so maybe you actually made her day?? :ROFLMAO:
 
skyriver said:
Breck, I like you're style. I too am a detail oriented guy. So let's examine the scenario as you described.

"On Saturday" to me this translates to lots of people out and about.
"little public park" pretty straight-forward...little and public. Add "boat ramps with picnic tables and a restroom" Sounds like paradise. 😁
"Lining most of the harbor shoreline are thick blackberries but there were a few rocky spots that were accessible to the water."

Ok, so a little public park with limited rocky shore access for all these Saturday park people. You see where I'm going here.

Do we know if the dog lady had tried a different spot? Probably not the spot with the boys fishing? While her "Where the fuck else am I supposed to go?" was quite rude and pretty aggressive it does hold some merit based on your description of this lovely park. If that spot was the only one open then she's gonna use it rather than pack the dog back in the car and drive somewhere. I think most of us probably would.

Anyway, this is why I don't fish in front of busy small parks. Been there, done that. I don't want crazy dog lady Karen to ruin my day. And I don't want to ruin crazy dog lady Karen's day. Although, she was probably telling stories about you at the bar so maybe you actually made her day?? :ROFLMAO:
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If she truly was limited, she should have politely asked Breck if he would mind moving, since there wasn't a good alternative spot there for her. If he refused (he has the right to, but I suspect he probably would have moved), she could either wait for him to move or pack up and go to another park. She could also have framed the question along the lines of "how long do you think you'll be fishing there, as this is the only spot I can access because of xyz?" and that might have gotten a "Just give me time to make a couple more casts and then it's all yours." out of Breck. Approaching the situation as if she's somehow more entitled to the spot even though he's already there was wrong (and rude) on her part.
 
Motor downstream to fish the islands and Rock piles down by the bridge.
Not a solution to your encounter but a way to avoid it in the future..

She could have played with her dog at the barely used boat ramp like I do.
You did nothing wrong.. the non fishing public just doesn't get it.
 
skyriver said:
Breck, I like you're style. I too am a detail oriented guy. So let's examine the scenario as you described.

"On Saturday" to me this translates to lots of people out and about.
"little public park" pretty straight-forward...little and public. Add "boat ramps with picnic tables and a restroom" Sounds like paradise. 😁
"Lining most of the harbor shoreline are thick blackberries but there were a few rocky spots that were accessible to the water."

Ok, so a little public park with limited rocky shore access for all these Saturday park people. You see where I'm going here.

Do we know if the dog lady had tried a different spot? Probably not the spot with the boys fishing? While her "Where the fuck else am I supposed to go?" was quite rude and pretty aggressive it does hold some merit based on your description of this lovely park. If that spot was the only one open then she's gonna use it rather than pack the dog back in the car and drive somewhere. I think most of us probably would.

Anyway, this is why I don't fish in front of busy small parks. Been there, done that. I don't want crazy dog lady Karen to ruin my day. And I don't want to ruin crazy dog lady Karen's day. Although, she was probably telling stories about you at the bar so maybe you actually made her day?? :ROFLMAO:
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The only people at the park that weren't using the boat ramps that I saw were Karen and her dog and the two lads fishing from shore. I think the thing that attracted Karen to that particular spot was its proximity to the parking lot. But yeah, if she had just approached me with some manners instead of entitlement, I would've been more inclined to accomodate her. The only thing "busy" about that park was the boat ramps.
 
Rob Allen said:
Motor downstream to fish the islands and Rock piles down by the bridge.
Not a solution to your encounter but a way to avoid it in the future..

She could have played with her dog at the barely used boat ramp like I do.
You did nothing wrong.. the non fishing public just doesn't get it.
Click to expand...
I would have done exactly that if I had the proper boat for it. We were in my Clackacraft drift boat with a 36# thrust electric trolling motor. No way I'm going out onto the main river with the wind whipping downstream with just that. I'm limited to fishing the harbors, marinas, and "lakes" if I want to fish for bass on the Big C.
 
Bingen marina drama! I would have been annoyed too, but probably would have just chalked it up to people being idiots and moved off.

After 2 days of a lovely float trip on the river just east of there I had a little incident on my way out. After not seeing a boat for almost 2 full days I was rowing out a little late, so I was pushing my way down stream when I came upon the pack of guide boats about 2 miles from the ramp. I pushed past most of them but the last guy pulls anchor right on front of me and starts rowing like hell right next to me. I wasn't pushing super hard, just enough to get up my momentum. After a minute or two of rowing next to each other I just had to look over and ask if we were racing? He then decided to fish one more spot... gotta love that pack mentality.
 
By the rules of the road, public water belongs to whomever arrives first - for a reasonable amount of time. And in Washington State it is illegal to interfere with someone who is lawfully hunting or fishing. But, you have a boat and more options than she had. So the gracious thing is to move. Plus, her dog blew up the water as far as fishing at that time. But I'm going to file away Dimebrite's suggestion; that's priceless.
 
I fish both boats and shore a lot and can see both sides of this. Granted, my viewpoint is built off my experience fishing Puget Sound where shore access is limited and shrinking by the hour it seems. I personally would always, 100% of the time, cede my position on a boat to a public access shore bound angler, dog walker, etc.. in Puget Sound. I go out of my way to not crowd public access spaces because I know how limited they are and because I have access to 95%+ more water than shore bound folks.

In other spots where shore access is more readily available, I’d feel differently. If I was fishing a river or lake where the majority of the bank was public access I’d say if you were there first, you’re good.

So, not wrong but maybe inconsiderate…depending on the situation.
 
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