On the water angler ethics

[JRedig]

I'm curious, how did you know the people pulling up at night were part of the outing? Or during the day for that matter?

I've seen plenty of bass groups have misunderstandings such as this and those guys fish together week in and week out and all have very identifiable boats and still call out the wrong group/club/outing for doing the same thing. I've read about it on this site repeatedly.

[thrax]

Not too tough to figure it out/identify boats when they are there for a week. We're located a stones throw away from the place it was held. Of course there are plenty of other people behaving poorly on any lake at any time that have nothing to do with any outing or group. I did mention that it was not all of them, just enough of them. I personally support the group that held the outing and finally voiced a concern as I believe muskie anglers and their groups can/should band together and be like brothers and sisters. Regardless of where they are, whether they've traveled to get there or not, our sport would be better served if the leadership and that includes each of us in our own way spent the time to teach etiquette and ethics as well as the other muskie fishing stuff we seem to share so readily most of the time.

[Esox_Magnum]

I was part of the outing and would like to know who it was that was acting out of line. I know it wasn't me only boats we fished near were guys we knew and were fishing with. Lots of room out there and fish eveywhere no need to crowd.

[bronzeback]

So a guy is fishing a 1000 yard stretch of shoreline, no one is allowed to fish in front of that person?

That guy has first rights to the entire stretch of shoreline?

You're missing the point, and you're getting a little crazy with your numbers now.

If i'm fishing a shoreline over a half a mile long I'm not going to fret when someone plops on the line 200, 300, 400 yards in front of me. Seems like you're stirring the pot just to stir it, or you've got some sort of misinformed agenda that you're trying to get across.

[john skarie]

Brian Johnson, aka Thrax, short for Anthrax.

Should have remembered that one!!

You're in the Turtle River area? Your folks got a place on Vermillion right?

Crazy. You working in Bemidji area? I may be running around up there this fall some.

JS

[cheddar 86]

Couldn't agree more...talk about trying to stir the pot. If this guy is for real then he obviously doesn't have good judgement. It's funny how common courtesy and common sense are true oxymorons.

[thrax]

Great John. Hope you have a good time if you get up here. You should try to look me up. Spend a little time wetting some baits and talking about muskies and some more of the good ole days together. Who knows, maybe even Tufto would come out, although muskies are not really his thing.

Far as the ethics thing goes, I am not calling out individuals (whom I don't know) or trying to describe boats or anything. Maybe our experience was isolated and as a rule no one was doing anything wrong or rude. Just not our experience. I hope everyone had a great time and I'm hopping off this topic for good. I have plenty of problems everywhere I go, outing or not, small lake or large, home or away. But still think like many aspects of our rapidly growing sport that this is an area where influential groups and leaders can make a difference.

I was not trying to upset anyone and now wish I had remained silent. Please just support one another and lets not fight, but teach and learn and be the bigger men or women and not always have muskie people be the "bad guys."

[RumRiverRat]

Quote:

We had a similar situation -sort of.

We fished a spot on Tonka 2 weeks ago, the morning after a cold front. We had a short fish on one spot and then hopped over to where I had spotted a good fish a couple days earlier. I thought we covered it well and moved to an adjacent reef.

I lone fisherman moved onto the spot we fished 10 minutes earlier-and nailed what appeared to be about a 50".

So what is wrong with that?

[muskydeceiver]

Nothing!!! I believe his point is that it doesn't matter if someone is 12 feet in front of you running the boat....or 100 yards in front of you. These fish are stupid and ignore one bait.....ignore two baits.....ignore the third and the fourth and ohhhh that's shiny...I think I'll eat that one.....

[PEATMOSS]

I'm amused to see that you folks irritate each other as much as you do the rest of us.

There is just nothing like anchoring out on the edge of a rock pile on Moose Lk. with a slip bobber on a nice calm evening, just waiting for the walleyes to come in. Next thing you know a pair of you guys are toddling by throwing baseball bats with hooks in them 10 ft from my bobber.

[TomWehler]

Muskiedeceiver...to true!

Fun junk.

People show me there $700 rod an reel ask me if it will do the job...

I say...guess so...sure is shiny!

Peatmoss...to true.

Fun there also.

I was fishen wallys with me four hounds yesterday morning by a reef island saddle....two diferent boats saw me an came over an ask me: Hows the muskie bite been round here?

DA!

I'm jiggen for lunch dues?

LOL

Nice guys..mean well but made me laugh..

A wave is cool...unless yoo got some beef...come on over.

LOL

One year I was casten Bellyflop......tooka beark ate a samwich....big 8 inch reef hawg hangen over edge of boat...two hound watch it, one watch me an samwhich.

Two big boyz in casten boat zoom up, start fireing lures at can / reef...cut me off as I sit eating my fantastic ham, turkey, swiss, cuckes, mustard luttuce on 9 grain...Mmmmm.

Hows the walleye bite one asks as his buddy fires away.....I smile like Eastwood in Joe Kidd and smile at lure.

I'm not wally fishen, having me some samwich...<MMMM

Dude turns white.....turns up trolling motor an says OH!

Sorry man..guess we is messen you up.

I just smile....NO HARM...this is good smawich..want some.

They just sort a hurry off an roar off.

Hounds giving thm a good statr.

Be nice out there...its easy.

Do on to others an all that...kind a works.

Easy if you try.

Tommy

[Shawn Kellett]

That is why you are the Muskie Zen Master Tommy.

[50inchpig]

was running a shallow spot, started cruising out to the deep edge, appeared to be a boat coming down the edge but real slow, not sure what they're fishing for. i cut the motor and yelled over, asked if they were working down the edge, they said yes, but real slow, i says i didn't want to cut them off, they says i was ok so we went about it, boated a fish a short time later.

didn't seem to hard to ask, might have to try it again. karma can be a B but i find it usually works in my favor

[HugoBox]

I was fishing a long rock pile this weekend and met another guy working the same one from the other direction - I made a VERY wide turn around the old feller and asked how his morning was. We chit chatted a bit and I noticed he was throwing something the size of a mailbox out but I recognized it from the wall at Blue Ribbon so I asked him to toss it past the boat so I could see it in action. After a bit more chit chatting he goes his way and I go mine. A bit later he comes trolling back up the lake REALLY CLOSE to me - seemed a bit odd until he tossed me one of his homemade lures and wished me luck. I sure hope I catch a fish on it, but regardless it was a nice way to top off a decent morning.

He had a good looking hound with him also Tom!

[cbrooks]

Nice to hear some fellow fishermen having respect for each other out there. Last weekend I hook into a fish where some guys were walleye fishing. One boat came by to see the fish. He ask a bunch of questions saw what I was using. The next day I went to the same spot a little while later the same guy I saw the other evening motor right up to where I could cast right in his boat. He gets up gives me the thumbs up starts casting. I thought about saying something but he was with his two kids. I just wave back and motor to the other part of the reef. A little while later he comes right behind me. At that point I just pull up and went to a different spot. I'm not saying he doesn't have a right to fish that spot but he pulled right up in front of me and it seem like he follow how I was fishing this spot. I didn't like it and I don't think he saw a problem with it. I hope everybody has the best luck fishing ,even the gentleman with his two kids, but you have to give other fisherman there space.