Fishing off a boat landing dock

[bigrog]

I'm all for those who don't have boats to fish from shore or piers. But isn't there a regulation concerning fishing from a dock at a boat landing. It's kind of frustrating when you pull up to the dock to pull off the lake and there are 5 or 6 people all huddled at the end of the dock fishing. They have coolers, buckets, tackle boxes and five lines out. It's even worse when it's small dock with only enough room for one boat per side. They act like you are supposed to stay out of their way. Just had to vent.

[Northlander]

One of my many pet peeves and many docks are posted "No Fishing". I hate it when dock fisher people make me feel like a bad guy for asking them to get out of the way.

Im actually ok with it if there are no boats around. I have had some of them dock fisherman be real cool and offer to hold my boat while I got the truck. Not all dock fisherman are bad aplles. I will do the dock fishing thing when fall comes and the crappies move into some of the landing areas. Good thing is in the fall there are no boats around.

[Ed Carlson]

A Fishing Pier and a Boat Launch are two separate deals and have separate rights and responsibilities.

A Boat launch is for boating and all boats have the right of way and they may be posted as restricted Non Fishing Areas.

A Fishing Pier is for fishing and may in turn be posted as boating restricted.

Posted or not, people need to know what the rights and responsibilities are for the users of the area.

Personally I have no big issue with people fishing from a boat launch as long as they pay attention to the boaters needs and do not pose a hindrance, nuisance, or a hazard to the boaters or to themselves.

[griff321]

I understand your frustrations, but I also remember a time when I first got my drivers license and raced around finding spots for shore fishing and found that often times a launch was the only place I could get access to fish. Homeowners will not let a person use their land in fear of someone getting hurt and being held liable.

I would bring a minimum of gear(backpack and a pole) and stay out of the way of people trying to get in/out with boats and they still just treated me with a sense of entitlement and disgust. I hated that arrogance so much. My feeling was that here I had a little sliver to fish from while they can go all over the lake and they'd rather push me out of their way instead of just saying, "excuse me please" if I was in the way. I just could never wrap my mind around the anger displayed at being inconvenienced for a matter of seconds.

Of course not all people are the same and views can be skewed by a handful of bad experiences, but I've always marveled at the disdain some boat owners show towards shorefishermen. We're all trying to attain the same thing and fish are secondary.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Any way you look at it, some people are jerks others are not. I too have had them hold my boat. Maybe offer to take a couple in the boat sometime.

[mainbutter]

I used to be a regular launch-dock fisherman, before I got my canoe. Fishing piers are nice, but I find that they tend to be VERY poorly placed in terms of good fishing habitat. Strangely, just about every boat launch on a small lake I've been at recently has had surprisingly good fishing nearby, and would be easy for someone fishing from the dock to take advantage of. Much of this probably has to do with the fact that it just seems that the lakes without much public shoreline tend to be less busy than the ones entirely encompassed by a public park, and park lakes are generally the ones with fishing piers.

That said, I always assumed boats had priority at the "BOAT launch". Someone is putting in/leaving? Reel your line up, wave, say hi, chat about the day's catch.

Boaters can be jerks too, I certainly hate the couple of bass fishermen I've seen nail the fishing pier (or on one occasion, some poor kid fishing next to me) with a 1/4 oz jig on very poor casts. There are also plenty of guys going around the shoreline with their trolling motors, and absolutely ignore the fact that half a dozen people at the fishing pier have lines and bobbers out.. you've gotta reel up or get snagged in their motor.

[harvey lee]

At a lake one day and a guy and gal were at the end of the dock drinking beer and making out. I tried to get my boat to the dock without bothering them as they saw I was coming but didn't bother to move.

I ended up putting a small dent in my boat as I had such a hard time working around them.

I wanted to say soemthing or just push them into the water but I kept my mouth shut and worked around them. If it had not been so windy, it may have been less than an issue.

Why they could not have moved up to the weeds is beyond me.

I do not mind people on the dock fishing but c,mon, please move out of the way when someone is using the landing dock for what it was built for.

I guess that is just the way it is no days. There is very little common courtesy any more.

[DTro]

I see both sides to this, but clearly the launch docks are not designed for shore fishermen to use. I was just as guilty as everyone else before i had a boat and needed somewhere to fish, but I made darn sure that I cleared the area when a boat was putting in or taking out (all gear and bodies vacate). It usually made a good opportunity to strike up a conversation about the bite and offer to help out if I could. I got a few free trips in a boat doing that.

What makes people upset are the folks that don't understand that you really aren't supposed to be fishing there don't respect the fact that it is a tool for launching the boat. I bet in some cases they don't even know and maybe a polite reminder should be given to them.

[reinhard1]

sorry about the dent, but i had to chuckle at that episode with the couple. guess i would of stepped over them if i had to or ask them to move for a minute. after all the dock belongs to all. courtesy is tought at childhood and this couple seemed to lack that and the need for privacy.

as for fishing, i have had some great luck in the past off docks up north. good day time action in stained lakes. the occational person using the docks dont seem to bother the fish too much. good luck.

[Northlander]

I have done this a few times. Problem is they are usually kids and I have found its not a good idea to do anything with kids without parents ok.

[harvey lee]

I would have asked them to move but they were drunk and if they did not have the common sense to move, I doubt that they would have if I asked.

[slipperybob]

I don't mind the boat launch shore fishing folks, but when they pretend that they don't see any boats, it just irritates me. I don't want fishing line caught in my prop any more than they don't want their line cut by my prop.

[FM_Mike]

Memorial Day W/E ( Yeah I know it will be busy) 2 old motor homes and 11 kids, half on the landing. Bonn fire going in the middle of the parking area, it was a cold day. 8 lawn chairs around the fire. Kids not on the dock were picking up branches for the fire. Good old family reunion going on. Plates on the motor homes were Minn. 7 kids on the single dock while boats were trying to load and unload. Everyone was nice and cordial but come on, camping in the boat parking area?? I just ignored them as much as possible and they were only there Sat and Sun but there has to be better places to hold the family reunion than a boat landing. They could have at least offered a beer to the boater they were unconvincing

Mike

[itchmesir]

I was unloading my pontoon out of the back of my car one day... had my car parked off to the side of the ramp and some a-hole comes with his boat... whips in and starts backing up without lining up first.. good thing i jumped in my car and moved it quickly.. he would have backed right into my car.. i made sure to let him know i was no happy with his moronic behavior..