cut offs lilinline

[Kodiak]

I show respect to other muskie fisherman that are working a line but last night I got cut off over 3 times and two times by the same boat. I know it is a public lake but not powerboat right in front of other boats and start throwing bucks in their line that is just plain rude

[cbrooks]

I agree. I have a feeling its just gonna get wrost as more people take up muskie fishing with only so many lakes with muskies in them. I get cutoff all the time.

[Kodiak]

haha i dont know what lilinline means on my post title..i did it on my phone....

but yeah, still i think it should be common ettiquite not to cut people off, bass fisherman, walleye fisherman know not to do this.... tonka is the WORST for cutoffs. i dont know how to handle the situation. do you say something? throw a fit and act like a baby? i dont know how to handle it but it sure makes my blood boil when i am working some structure and some [PoorWordUsage] flies up right in front of me 50yds or so.

dumb dumb dumb...

[Mike Wallace]

I actually had the opposite happen a couple weeks ago.

I was fishing the weedline on Casco Pt. and here comes a boat with two guys in it. In my head I was saying, "Don't do it, don't cut in front of me" and what do you know, they went right around me and followed me down the weedline. I was happily surprised and when they got close enough, I thanked them for not cutting me off.

Funny thing is that they were about 50 yards behind me, fishing water I had just fished and THEY hooked up. Being first isn't always the best, I guess.

[cbrooks]

I don't ever say or start anything. I just continue to work the structure or move to the next spot. Whats it gonna solve if you lose your cool.

If they do it a couple of times and you decide to say something do it in a settle friendly way. It might be easier said than done.

[Esox_Magnum]

Pick up the pace and fish hot on their tails, I hate being cut off, I do my best to give everyone else room I expect the same. Don't whine when my bulldawg scratches your gel coat on your $50K Ranger.....

[NCLaker]

In and effort to ensure I practice reasonable courtesy, looking for some clarification.

(1) Is someone is working a big point, and is just starting on one side, is it reasonable to start fishing the opposite side?

(2) If someone is starting to work a shore line that is a few hundred yards long, How far can you jump ahead of him without considering cutting him off?

(3) Same as item 2, but one is just starting one end of the shore line, is it okay to start at the opposite end and work towards each other? Who has the right of way if starting at the same time?

I'm sure there are a number of other scenarios I could come up with. I guess point being that there are situation that would be obvious, but probably many other that would not IMHO. Especially on smaller bodies of water, and if the boat in question is working the structure very slow. Any clarification would be helpful. Better yet anyone know of an article we can reference on this topic?

[Kodiak]

just like the guys on wallace's post,,,get to back of the line and follow the boat that was there first.

[brmuskie]

I still get a little hot when this happens but am starting to let it not bother me anymore. Last week, I had a ranger with 3 kids (maybe in their early twenties but acting like kids) cut me off bad right at primetime. I then proceeded to catch a nice fish right there while they were watching. It doesn't pay to change the way you are fishing because someone cut you off. It still bugs the heck out of me and I want to go say something but i am learning to just shut up and fish.

[mainbutter]

I hate it when it happens. The tricky thing is the question of 'how much space/distance of a piece of structure can a person claim?'

For me it's all about fisherman density and structure availability. If a structure is 'big enough', I have no problem fishing the same structure but start far enough away from someone already there.

Luckily for the other fishermen out there, I'm pretty darn courteous and my personal definition of "big enough" is fairly large on most lakes.

[Nick Kuhn]

If I see a lot of boats crowding around the obvious spots I just avoid them. That's when I start fishing less than prime spots. I feel sometimes you learn more about the fishing by doing so. On a prime spot, if you ask why was that fish here, you'll have several factors in the answer. On a secondary spot there will only be one or two factors, helping you create a pattern a little faster.

[NCLaker]

just like the guys on wallace's post,,,get to back of the line and follow the boat that was there first.

So if I get to a shore line structure a few hundred yards+ long, I should consider anyone else fishing it the entire stretch after I get there as "cutting me off". Seems a little unreasonable on a lake smaller than say 1500+ acres in size or less. Same is true of a large point that may be 100+ yards of shore line on each side. This assume the people are casting, as it may take a while to work the large area in question. I guess Trolling would be somewhat different as you can cover that area very fast.

I don't get out a bunch, but when I am, I try to work structure that is not already being targeted by someone else. If most/all are being fished, then I would think going ahead of someone ~200 yards would be reasonable (again on smaller lakes) and try to keep that distance ahead of the other boat. Distance may very depending on how quickly the boat already there appears to be moving along the structure.

Again, seems a little unreasonable to have a number of boats fishing in tight succession, and have hundreds of yards ahead of them wide open. I'm just trying to understand to what extreme can people reasonably claim an area ahead of them as theirs until they fish through it.

[Quackaddict9]

I would start in front in a reasonable distance and start fishing the stretch...not gonna "stand in line"...although I could catch a fish when the boat in front of me did not. That's just me though.

[urban cowboy]

Instead of pulling up "ahead of them" pull up behind them and fall into line and you wont have to worry about it.

[10,000 Casts]

There is more than 1 way to fish a spot. I know it sucks and I have too thought about putting a bulldawg in their boat and there has been a few times when I have yelled hey and shrugged my arms and pointed down the line of the structure but it's really not worth getting upset about because nothing will come of it, instead, fish 30 yds outside the area or the inside edge or if they are throwing DCG's, throw a glider or a topwater and do something different.

If it is a popular spot, your probably the 6th boat that has fished that line in the past couple hours anyway.

[grate8]

you can politely mention or gesture otherwise people will never learn whats up

just get peoples attention and wave them off half the time they'll move and maybe ask for more information when u pass

[ole matty]

Wow esox magnum that's lil rough. Don't think I want to Be in your boat when you scratch some anger problem guy's 50k ranger.

[Esox_Magnum]

They don't get near as upset as the wakeboarders in their $150K fancy boats do..........

[propster]

All reasonable ideals, but you can almost throw a lot of them out the window on crowded metro lakes. If not them, someone else will. We try to head north:)

[ole matty]

I hope they gave you some good ol a$$ whupping if u do that. I know I would if you scratch my $800 gruumann. LOL

[HugoBox]

All reasonable ideals, but you can almost throw a lot of them out the window on crowded metro lakes. If not them, someone else will. We try to head north:)

I think Prop is right. Its crappy and rude to cut someone off but part of the price of admission at least to the metro lakes is other boats so if you let you blood boil over every stupid chithead out there you won't enjoy fishing at all. That said, I give people plenty of space cause I just plain don't like being around other boats. One thing that may sound nuts thought and I've done it a few times is to pull up to a guy fishing a spot and find out which way he's going and then let him know you'll do the opposite. He may not be happy to see you pull up in the first place but unless he's a total a-hole he'll appreciate the courtesy.

[Esox_Magnum]

Matty, it only comes to that after a fair warning, also help the DNR mostly backs us due to the fact if we can hit them with a mag dawg they are clearly violating distance laws and they get the ticket or at least a hard lashing from the Lake Patrol. We get chewed a little in front of them to, but just for show most of the time. Theres a fine line between defence and harrasement....

[Kodiak]

Matty, it only comes to that after a fair warning, also help the DNR mostly backs us due to the fact if we can hit them with a mag dawg they are clearly violating distance laws and they get the ticket or at least a hard lashing from the Lake Patrol. We get chewed a little in front of them to, but just for show most of the time. Theres a fine line between defence and harrasement....

lol

[HugoBox]

I don't want to hijack the thread but figured I'd share this with you - a quote from a buddy who emailed me today.

"Do most musky fisherman cut right in front of a guy trolling for walleyes in 20 feet of water on Bald Eagle? I had four different boat stop within 100’ of me right on the line I was trolling last Saturday. One boat stopped within 50’ of me and looked [PoorWordUsage] when I continued trolling within 10’ of them."

Do you guys treat non-musky fisherman any different? In my mind the same courtesy should be given to another boat regardless of what type of fish they are chasing. It seems like musky fisherman can be perceived by the rest of the world as very aggressive so I figured I'd share this with the rest of you. That said, I've had probably more close encounters with bass guys so I'm not pointing any fingers. Without jumping too high onto a soapbox I figured at least toss out the idea that we're all responsible for the perception we give to other anglers.

[JRedig]

Box brings up a good point, I try to treat other fisherman with equal respect. The other night on a metro lake though, I think my boat irritated a guy eye fishing.

We pulled up to a submerged point and started probably 5 casts out from where I wanted to be. He was up there on the point back trolling and going in circles or so it appeared. We were drifting with the wind and he was going all over the place seemingly at random...one member of my boat started casting in his specific direction, politely asked them not too. So when it became evident that he was hovering over the tip, I proceeded to move off down the weed edge...when we got about 50 yards away, all the sudden he pulls up his line, drives within about a 1/2 cast of us and goes 50 yards the way we were heading and starts doing his back trolling/spinning in circles coming at us. We just kept fishing, but just what the hell was this guy doing? Sometimes you just have to go fishing and blow it off.

Bottom line, treat others as you'd like to be treated.