Playing bumper boats on Opener

[slick814]

I am just curious on this.
What exactly is the mentality that goes behind the floating armadas that we'll all see on the lakes on opening weekend?
I guess it never made a lot of sense to me to fish where there are 20 other boats.
I try to give others plenty of space on the lake, especially on such huge bodies of water like Mille Lacs, Vermilion, Minnetonka, Red, Etc... and I find that I catch more and bigger fish away from the crowd.
SO, is it that someone sees another boat, notices that they're catching fish and has to see if they can too?
Or is it more the structure, etc. which makes for the "fishing as a pack" mentality?

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Fishin' is life
The rest is just details

[Mayfly]

I think it is a little of both. The average fisherman buys a map and a GPS and they have the same spots marked as the next person who bought a GPS and a map. They see the different areas and one may have more boats at it then the next so they choose that spot thinking that he fish must be on. You see this every weekend on Mille Lacs. There are just 100x's more boats on the opener. I never saw one boat on my most productive spot last year....I wasn't up for the opener last year and I didn't know of this spot the year before so it will be interesting to see if anyone will be on it?? I doubt it. I know I won't be on it.

[Fisher Dave]

That was a problem at Millacs long before there were gps and modern electronics... If a bunch of boats are fishing that spot *it must be a good spot*

You can stop anywhere on that lake and before long you will have someone fishing near you... once 2 boats are at that spot .. forget it.. its a hot-spot for desperate fishermen.

Most the time, most anglers will at least have some success on the opener at Millacs .. but if one wants a *quality* fishing experience .. I would go elsewhere.

[slick814]

Only one of the reasons I avoid Mille Lacs like the plague early in the season. I normally fish Vermilion for most of May, mainly because I grew up there, and the family has a cabin. It can be the same there as Mille Lacs, though. I was just wondering if there was any explanation other than, "Hey, he caught one. Fish must be biting there"...
Guess not, huh?

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Fishin' is life
The rest is just details

[fishin5]

That's why I always carry my muskie rod with the biggest suick they make! Bounce something with 3 trebles off their hull and they usually get the picture!
Yes the Iowa Fish Finders (Binoculars) have ruined many a fishing trip. It's the same mentality in the winter too. I don't get it. I'd rather fish away from the crowd esp on big water.

[fishin789]

I have a funny story about people crowding you while fishing.
we were out fishing a lake and it was kinda windy. we were drift fishing and catching fish. we wanted to get out of the wind to eat lunch so we went into a shallow wind protected bay so we could eat out of the wind. threw our lines out just for the heck of it. by the time we got done eating we had 6 boats around us all within casting distance to our boat. we kept laughing everytime another boat would show up. and anchor. when we got done eating we went back out to where we were catching fish and continued to catch fish. spent the rest of the day laughing about the boats that anchored by us thinking we were on to something.them other boats sat in that bay for at least another hour before they moved on.

[wallyH]

I think most people that go out fishing for walleye dont' make much more of a plan than find a spot with boats and squeeze in. I usually pick a few spots that I want to fish and go out and try them. If there are people fishing a spot, I usually skip it. On the flip side, I usually don't mind people fishing near me as long as their respectfull. Heck, last year I waved a guy into my drift. If you were 10 feet one way or the other you'd get nothing, if you drifted just right you'd get bit every time.

Wally H

[CMWINTER]

A few years ago I brought my wife up there for the first time and was telling her about how if you drop a marker that every boat around will be fish around it. So on our way out she dropped one just to see. I thnk over the few hours that we were out there 30+ boats fished it and didn't get a thing.

[slick814]

People keeping a respectful distance is fine with me, too. It just gets a bit annoying when you're fishing by yourself and suddenly there's an armada heading your way.
Best part of that happening to me was about 3 years ago. I was fishing Smallies on Mille Lacs and hitting quite a few. My buddy's kids ekpt whopping and hollering whenever one of us pulled in a decent sized one.
Suddenly, there were 5 or 6 boats circling us, trolling. Looking for Walleye. They gave up after about half an hour, and moved out as a pack... I couldn't help but laugh.

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Fishin' is life
The rest is just details