# Fishing vs. non-fishing....



## T-Bone (Oct 24, 2013)

I rarely fish. But I do canoe and I also have a small electric trolling motor for my canoe. I don't go out looking for trouble, and avoid interfering with their fishing if I can. What I have found is how aggressive people get when I'm near where they put their line in. I can't see it for anything in this world most of the time. Be it in a lake or river. Yes, if I see someone sitting there, looking like they're fishing, I am more attentive and I'll avoid the area. But there are times I can't see the people until I'm right on top of them, literally, and the vulgarities, insults and threats come en masse. Sometimes I can be some distance from their line, when I can see it, and that doesn't seem to change things.

Any suggestions?


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

I think the question to ask yourself is if you are fishing how far would you expect someone to steer clear? If you're in your canoe and see people fishing from the bank, try to guess how far they can cast and then give additional space as a buffer. Guessing how far somebody can cast is the hard part..:smile:

Floating the river is a more difficult situation. You cant always see around the next bend and if you encounter someone, it's usually too late.

I fish primarily from a tube and try to give others plenty of space. As a rule of thumb, if you can cast as far as you can and come close to hitting somebody, then you are too close IMO. I'll give a little extra space in addition to casting distance just to avoid conflict. I'll also avoid casting in the same direction that they are.

If other watercraft are trolling, then you'll want to try to avoid crossing through their wake behind them for awhile. 

It really comes down to some common courtesy and it sounds like your trying to do that. Some will complain just to complain and unfortunately there's nothing you can do about that.


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## pelican (Mar 29, 2012)

Hey its public water.....fishermen think they have a "right" to enter private property because the water belongs to everyone. I guess they need to also accept that not only can you scooch right up next to them, but you can also reach over and snag their ham and cheese sandwich..... I mean after all....private property on public water can't be any different than the public taking from private property right? Wanna bet fishermen say there's a difference?


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## T-Bone (Oct 24, 2013)

I think I'll carry a pair of scissors just in case I meet a few of our "infamous" fish murdering compatriots....


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## smoothie (Nov 21, 2011)

People who are fishing like to have space to do their thing. It's one of the reasons people like to get out into the great outdoors. Lakes, reservoirs, rivers, etc. are big...there's plenty of room if we're all respectful of each other. 

It sounds like this issue (people getting ticked off at you for feeling like you are too close to them while they are fishing) is a fairly common occurrence in your time on the water. If it's happening so often to you, it leads me to believe that you probably just need to give people more space on the water.

It might not logically make sense to you why they feel like they need so much space on the water. Legally, you aren't obligated to give people any space while they fish, but since you asked us this question...that's the answer. Give people more space, and this won't keep happening


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Reminds me of one cold, snowy freaky bad day several years ago at Strawberry. We were fishing Renegade bay in the float tubes. There were no fishermen on the bank because it was just freaky cold and miserable. But there were a couple of campers backed up, in the parking lot just above the lake. Kicking around the bay just trying to keep warm, pretty quick some old dude comes jumping out of the back of the camper cussing up a blue streak at me because I was crossing over his line. The guy slid/fell/tumbled down the hill the 30 yards from his truck to the lake shore, where he picked up a fishing rod and reeled in his line. I guess we were fishing over his line. I kind of figured since he wasn't out actually fishing, and I couldn't even see his rod there, and there was no one on the shore, I didn't see that I was in the wrong. But everyone has their perceptions I guess. The fish certainly weren't biting, and we were worn out fighting the sideways snow and wind so we kicked back in and headed home. For the life of me, I'm not sure how a guy fishes from inside his camper, but I guess there are stranger things. Road hunting I can kind of see, but road fishing? 

When I used to fish the Provo River a bunch, especially on Saturdays, there were always groups of college students floating down on everything from rubber rafts, to tubes, to air mattresses. They were out having fun, enjoying the river in their own way, and I never let it upset me. I'd pull in my line to make sure they didn't drag me down river, usually tell them to be safe and have fun, and even if they put the fish down, it was never for more than a few minutes and the fish were back at whatever hatch they were keying on. I just chose to not let it bother me.

This past summer, I was with my family in canoes on the Buffalo River in Island Park. We could see a fisherman downstream from us. So I told the kids to back paddle while he fought the trout he'd just hooked. Then once he had it to the net, we forward paddled so we got past him a bit quicker. I asked what fly he was using, he held up the fish, and we exchanged a quick cheer and I apologized for floating over his hole. He said no problem, and could tell we had moved to the side of the seam he'd been fishing. After we passed him, he caught another fish to which we cheered him on. 

I guess my point - as a fisherman, I certainly canoe differently, to minimize any negative impacts. And I do my best to understand the boater guys - they aren't there to make my life suck, they are just trying to enjoy the water as well. Life is just too dang short and the time on the water just too valuable to get upset over others. It only ruins it for you if you do.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

T-Bone said:


> I rarely fish. But I do canoe and I also have a small electric trolling motor for my canoe. I don't go out looking for trouble, and avoid interfering with their fishing if I can. What I have found is how aggressive people get when I'm near where they put their line in. I can't see it for anything in this world most of the time. Be it in a lake or river. Yes, if I see someone sitting there, looking like they're fishing, I am more attentive and I'll avoid the area. But there are times I can't see the people until I'm right on top of them, literally, and the vulgarities, insults and threats come en masse. Sometimes I can be some distance from their line, when I can see it, and that doesn't seem to change things.
> 
> Any suggestions?


I think Sawsman gave you some very good advice. Where reasonable, give anglers a wide berth. Estimate how far out they may be able to cast, then give a little more -- where reasonable. Nobody likes any watercraft to float directly over where their lines might be. But, again, it must be reasonable. There would be obvious differences on a large lake vs a stream, and most anglers can recognize this. But not all.

I don't know where this happened to you, how many times, what kind of fisherman, or anything else. Sadly, none of that matters: something happened. That something gave anglers in general a bad name, and that's not good.

I have two suggestion for you:

1. Try to learn from your bad experience. Whether you were in the right or the wrong shouldn't matter. There still is something to learn -- which is (I believe) the whole purpose of your thread.

2. Please understand that not all of us anglers are slobs that are out looking to pick a fight with anyone that comes into "our area". Some of us are very nice people that are willing to share. What's the old saying about a bad apple? Something to do with gold and how you want to be treated, or ****ting in one hand and wishing in the other......hell....I don't remember....


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## T-Bone (Oct 24, 2013)

PBH said:


> I think Sawsman gave you some very good advice. Where reasonable, give anglers a wide berth. Estimate how far out they may be able to cast, then give a little more -- where reasonable. Nobody likes any watercraft to float directly over where their lines might be. But, again, it must be reasonable. There would be obvious differences on a large lake vs a stream, and most anglers can recognize this. But not all.
> 
> I don't know where this happened to you, how many times, what kind of fisherman, or anything else. Sadly, none of that matters: something happened. That something gave anglers in general a bad name, and that's not good.


I don't think all anglers are bad. I'd have to say that Gary sums it up very well, seems like he's had the same run of luck.

Hopefully this spring & summer will be different.


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