# Water etiquette



## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Tell me your horror stories on the water with other boats jet skis kayakers. Here's a couple of mine about 10 years ago I was poling a mangrove shoreline in pine island for around 20 minutes and along come a bay boat 250 on the back with a jackplate blows right between me and the shoreline. If you still live in Ft Myers your a dick sir. Second encounter poling the skiff across a flat and 6 jetskiers blow right by me. So let's here yours I am sure it will be entertaining.


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## tbnolefan (Feb 2, 2017)

Too many to recall or list. I stopped fishing weekends and try to avoid the squid hotspots which helps but there still are and always will be "those people".


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## GullsGoneWild (Dec 16, 2014)

Poling a flat and we hear an air boat turning towards us. The airboat is a swamp tour type thing and they get to within 50 yards of us and stop so the tourist can take pictures of us. I like to think there is a framed 8x10 glossy of me flipping the bird on some Yankees wall!


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

GullsGoneWild said:


> Poling a flat and we hear an air boat turning towards us. The airboat is a swamp tour type thing and they get to within 50 yards of us and stop so the tourist can take pictures of us. I like to think there is a framed 8x10 glossy of me flipping the bird on some Yankees wall!


In the land of hurt fellioma we must refer to them as tourist or northerners I already made that mistake once.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

About 20 years ago I was fishing some trees in Matlacha Pass with my kids. We were tossing shiners and catching huge snook just about every cast. An older guy in a 14' V hull aluminum boat with out of state registration keep getting closer and closer throwing plugs till he was casting at the same tree, after he didn't catch anything and we were still bailing the fish, he cranked up his motor and ran between my boat and the trees on a full plane. He was lucky my kids were in the boat.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

Too many to list...in our home waters we get a mixture of air boats, tower boats, jet skis, and paddle craft that show zero etiquette. Its not even really entertaining to tell the stories anymore.

That said...by far, my "favorites" are the bait chuckers who show up and start chumming the mangroves when they see guys throwing fly against an edge. They see you working a section of mangrove...assume you found fish...troll or idle on top of you noisy as hell...pull out the red bat...and start trying to tease out the fish they think you are looking at. Lazy bastards...


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

This fall I had some asshat pull up to within 30 feet of me at my super secret sheepshead/snook spot. So I cut donuts at 3/4 throttle all around the structure until he flipped me off and left. I had to talk my wife out of shooting at him.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

SomaliPirate said:


> This fall I had some asshat pull up to within 30 feet of me at my super secret sheepshead/snook spot. So I cut donuts at 3/4 throttle all around the structure until he flipped me off and left. I had to talk my wife out of shooting at him.


Sounds like it's not a good idea to piss off your wife


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

Backcountry 16 said:


> Sounds like it's not a good idea to piss off your wife


She's not one to f around with, that's for sure. Ties a better Albright special than me and always packs a Glock. I think I picked a good one.


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## flytyn (Aug 21, 2012)

SomaliPirate said:


> This fall I had some asshat pull up to within 30 feet of me at my super secret sheepshead/snook spot. So I cut donuts at 3/4 throttle all around the structure until he flipped me off and left. I had to talk my wife out of shooting at him.


That was you? 

Many years ago we're wade fishing a great incoming tide snook spot during a tournament. We're hooking one small fish after another then my buddy loses a bruiser to the roots. Chit! Then a googan with a buddy actually wades right up to us and starts casting his white bait along with us. WTF? I loaded up my crew, pulled the maverick master angler with a 175 Merc into the swash and blew outa'dere.


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## shallowfish1 (Feb 25, 2011)

Too many to list also. Here's one: many years back when I was a rip-ass I was fishing a quiet shoreline in Estero Bay with no other boats around when two tatted-up guys in a big center console thundered up, cut their motor, glided within 15 feet of my skiff and dropped anchor. Their wake literally sent my little skiff into the mangroves. I asked the driver what the hell he were thinking, he called me a name, and I ran my trolling motor over to their boat and hopped on board. The smaller guy grabbed his cell phone and said he was calling the cops, and as I approached the bigger meathead he grabbed a gaff and started waving it around. I chased meat-tat around the console three times while his buddy stood on the bow yelling into his phone before I realized it was in a bad situation. I hopped back on my skiff and left. Surreal stuff. 

Nowadays I just shake my head at morons on the water, a clear sign of declining testosterone levels. I mean wisdom.  Honestly, though, I consider a lot of my old stomping grounds abandoned territory now. I just don't have the time or patience to deal with yahoos and I'm spoiled by the memory of the way many popular spots looked and fished before development and population explosion. As feared, I'm becoming a cranky old fart who rambles on about the good ole days.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

SomaliPirate said:


> She's not one to f around with, that's for sure. Ties a better Albright special than me and always packs a Glock. I think I picked a good one.


Sounds like it. Mine also carries a Glock me on the other hand leave mine at home as I would likely fill a northerners car full of lead since they have a problem driving


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## MooreMiller (Sep 10, 2016)

I was anchored up near Islamorada a few years ago. There were tarpon rolling everywhere. Two Mexican parents and their daughter were plowing in a jet ski around us for 30 mins. There was nothing for half a mile but they kept hauling around us. Several times they were close enough to where I could lob a beer bottle at them if I wanted. 
Then they started idling over to us and asking us questions in Spanish. Then the daughter yelled "Are those sharks?" The dad is still idling the jet ski over and doesn't stop or turn away. He manages to send the ski into the side of my boat at a few knots. I was in shock and amazingly decided not to curse out the mexican family on the rental jet ski. 
Instead I yelled, "Yeah those are sharks, they will eat ya!" to the 9ish year old daughter. 
Luckily, all the ski did was leave a black rub rail mark on the gelcoat. 

There is nothing I love more than going fishing all day and not having another boat get with in a mile of me.


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## KnotHome (Jul 21, 2009)

My favorite of many:
Fishing with my uncle when a brand new deck boat comes plowing by, only to come off the throttle completely, no more than 20 yards away. The driver asks if they're biting to which my uncle responds, "Nah!... Nice new boat!" The other operator barely had time to smile before my uncle added, "First F#$% time driving it?!" The deckboater quickly turned and left.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Been chased out of ponds more times than I can count. Had someone follow us to the ramp wanting to fight, my friend obliged him. I think the horrific leg kick he dropped on that poor soul cost him about $8k between court and attorney fees


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Every single trip in Texas...
Today myself and another guy were fishing a back lake leapfrogging our drifts (I'm waiting on a poling platform to be fabbed) and keeping our distance like a couple of good ol' boys do. We had countless tower boats and skinny flats boats run between us and burn the entire shoreline around the perimeter of this back lake as far as we could see and also cut off our drift. I don't understand why guys just run around as far as you can watch them and not stop and fish? I caught 7 reds and 6 trout in the area they kept running past. I would have caught five times that if the fish were not scared silly from being run over all morning. I try to avoid Friday-Sunday for just this reason but can't help it some weeks.


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## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

jmrodandgun said:


> Been chased out of ponds more times than I can count. Had someone follow us to the ramp wanting to fight, my friend obliged him. I think the horrific leg kick he dropped on that poor soul cost him about $8k between court and attorney fees


Now a days one could post the fight on u tube and get a go fund me page and make a fortune!!!!!!!!!!!


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Unfortunately, or more like thankfully, it wasn't much of a fight. The "victim" ended up with some medical complications from the kick. Pulled the muscle from the pelvic bone and it bled like crazy. The dudes leg swole up to the point his cargo jorts were taught from the giant knotted up muscle tissue. It looked like a softball was buried under the skin just above the back of the knee.


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## Gordon Johnson (Jan 13, 2017)

Recently polling in slippery creek. Quite morning calm with tailing reds at 12:00 10 yards ahead and my brother about to cast, when a boat screams up around the corner directly into the school. That tool nearly got a back full of hook.


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## cptsdr (Aug 20, 2015)

Almost twenty years ago, I was poling a couple of customers around a flat in "Downtown" Islamorada.
Very few bonefish were sighted, but they were safe from these folks' casts anyway.
As we came almost in range of one tailing fish, two guys on jet skis came flying across the flat and hard turned just on my port side, running off every fish in the county.
I had had a hard day already, and said to my people, I will take you back now, and we will finish this trip tomorrow morning. I poled off the edge of the flat, watching the jet skiers cutting donuts, and raced for Papa Joes, where I dropped my people and told them they could pay tomorrow.
No sooner had they stepped off the skiff, I full throttled away from the face dock and headed for the jet skis.
When I was about a hundred yards from them, they looked at me like I was not going to turn out of their way.
They were right!
I grabbed my push pole out of the holders and held it jousting style and headed right for the closest one.
The look on these guys face was priceless!
They took off and pulled evasive maneuvers across the flat. I stuck to the channels and chased them with that push pole in my arm, but they kept cutting flats to escape.
I came around by Lignumvitae channel, headed toward the bridge, and they cut the flat and headed right to the ramp at Indian Key.
These guys beached their skis and hauled butt, yelling at me in Spanish as I idled by.
If I was thinking more clearly, I would have towed their skis out into the bay, but I figured I had made my point.
The other people at the ramp were mostly just laughing at me, and when I got back to Papa Joes, someone bought me a coke!
Every now and then, someone brings up the story, when they find out I was the guy in the black flats boat!
Sure wish I could've run those guys down and at least got a chance to "un horse" one of them.


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## Roninrus1 (Mar 9, 2016)

I can relate to most of the previous posts. But this should take the cake. Back in the 60's/70's, it was legal to net trout and redfish. Trucks with a skiff, nets and 6 to 10 guys would drive Texas beaches watching wade fisherman for bent rods. Once they found a wader on fish they would launch the skiff and run a gill net from the beach, around the wader and back to the beach. Then they would pull the net in and the wader had to get out of the water or get tangled in the net. Many times words were exchanged but the odds were well against the waders. I wish I had a dollar for every time this happened.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Backcountry 16 said:


> In the land of hurt fellioma we must refer to them as tourist or northerners I already made that mistake once.


I guess you know what a damn yankee is


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

cptsdr said:


> Sure wish I could've run those guys down and at least got a chance to "un horse" one of them.


I would have paid good money to watch that go down!


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## jboriol (Jan 2, 2010)

Wade fishing burnt store flat off Cape Coral years ago. Just me and another fly guy, amazing morning. At the edge of the bar a go fast lake and bay, rooster tail and all buzzes by 30 yards from us. The other fly guy salutes him with the bird and the lake and bay prick decides to do donuts around this fly fisherman in a ft of water with grass and mud going everywhere. What a jackass!


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Right outside the Port O'Connor jetties a couple summers ago. 

There were a ton of boats out there but they were all anchored up and soaking bait but my partner and I were chunking flies at blitzing albies. They'd pop up for a bit, we'd catch a couple and then they'd go down again and pop up 100 yards away. We just used the trolling motor and go after every the but we were never within 100 yards of another boat. Suddenly some dude comes tear-assin' down the line of boats, weaving in & out like a slalom course. Close enough that he runs across my buddy's fly line and his fly catches on a trim tab and he spools my buddy in short order. The drag on a Hatch 7+ will not stop a Haynie flats boat at WOT. Fortunately he made a turn and the fly came unhooked from the trim tab. Then the jackass running through everybody proceeds to do donuts around another boat about 150 yards from us about 3-4 times, then flips the bird and hauls ass.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Right outside the Port O'Connor jetties a couple summers ago.
> 
> There were a ton of boats out there but they were all anchored up and soaking bait but my partner and I were chunking flies at blitzing albies. They'd pop up for a bit, we'd catch a couple and then they'd go down again and pop up 100 yards away. We just used the trolling motor and go after every the but we were never within 100 yards of another boat. Suddenly some dude comes tear-assin' down the line of boats, weaving in & out like a slalom course. Close enough that he runs across my buddy's fly line and his fly catches on a trim tab and he spools my buddy in short order. The drag on a Hatch 7+ will not stop a Haynie flats boat at WOT. Fortunately he made a turn and the fly came unhooked from the trim tab. Then the jackass running through everybody proceeds to do donuts around another boat about 150 yards from us about 3-4 times, then flips the bird and hauls ass.


I love where I fish but hate the idiots and the amount of boat traffic.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I love where I fish but hate the idiots and the amount of boat traffic.


Yeah, I pretty well refuse to fish POC these days unless it's the middle of the week.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

permitchaser said:


> I guess you know what a damn yankee is


10 4 on that I fight them every day in traffic


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

cptsdr said:


> Almost twenty years ago, I was poling a couple of customers around a flat in "Downtown" Islamorada.
> Very few bonefish were sighted, but they were safe from these folks' casts anyway.
> As we came almost in range of one tailing fish, two guys on jet skis came flying across the flat and hard turned just on my port side, running off every fish in the county.
> I had had a hard day already, and said to my people, I will take you back now, and we will finish this trip tomorrow morning. I poled off the edge of the flat, watching the jet skiers cutting donuts, and raced for Papa Joes, where I dropped my people and told them they could pay tomorrow.
> ...


This is by far the best thing I have read on the internet in a very long time.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

cptsdr said:


> Almost twenty years ago, I was poling a couple of customers around a flat in "Downtown" Islamorada.
> Very few bonefish were sighted, but they were safe from these folks' casts anyway.
> As we came almost in range of one tailing fish, two guys on jet skis came flying across the flat and hard turned just on my port side, running off every fish in the county.
> I had had a hard day already, and said to my people, I will take you back now, and we will finish this trip tomorrow morning. I poled off the edge of the flat, watching the jet skiers cutting donuts, and raced for Papa Joes, where I dropped my people and told them they could pay tomorrow.
> ...


The mental image is hilarious. Now you may get me in trouble giving me ideas like that...


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

How bout 10 kayakers launching at a boat ramp and then paddling down the middle of a 400 yard channel when they could easily slide on to the flat and get out of the way cause they can float in that shallow of water. They are keeping 4 boats from getting on plane and getting out of the channel. So I lead the pack and we all blow right by them at about 20 ft. Good stuff. Just smile and wave boys.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

DeepSouthFly said:


> How bout 10 kayakers launching at a boat ramp and then paddling down the middle of a 400 yard channel when they could easily slide on to the flat and get out of the way cause they can float in that shallow of water. They are keeping 4 boats from getting on plane and getting out of the channel. So I lead the pack and we all blow right by them at about 20 ft. Good stuff. Just smile and wave boys.


Ignorance comes in all shapes and sizes!


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## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

DeepSouthFly said:


> How bout 10 kayakers launching at a boat ramp and then paddling down the middle of a 400 yard channel when they could easily slide on to the flat and get out of the way cause they can float in that shallow of water. They are keeping 4 boats from getting on plane and getting out of the channel. So I lead the pack and we all blow right by them at about 20 ft. Good stuff. Just smile and wave boys.


If that's the worst of your problems then count your blessings.


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## mtoddsolomon (Mar 25, 2015)

Man, Kayaks and paddle boarders make Shem Creek intolerable during the spring and summer months.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

I know I'm a lucky guy.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Gordon Johnson said:


> Recently polling in slippery creek. Quite morning calm with tailing reds at 12:00 10 yards ahead and my brother about to cast, when a boat screams up around the corner directly into the school. That tool nearly got a back full of hook.


Why would you pole there and then complain about boats running near you? It's only 100 yds wide and has constant boat traffic.


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## Gordon Johnson (Jan 13, 2017)

el9surf said:


> Why would you pole there and then complain about boats running near you? It's only 100 yds wide and has constant boat traffic.


It was a side creek leading to a dead end.


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## Cam (Apr 5, 2017)

Around Pine Island, we routinely get blasted while on the flats cast netting. We often don't even try to cast next on the flats during tournament weekends. 

The worst offender blew by us late last year within 20' which is a no-no in general much less on a flat. It was all I could do to get my fishing partner to let it go.

Another issue is fishing before sunrise. We typically get to the flats just before sunrise so while we are running we often get blinded by some big boat in the channel that is using their spotlight inappropriately.

Recreational kayakers are clueless around here and often run over our lines without care. We have had some try to pull up next to the boat while we are fishing to have a chat.


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

Wow, I only fish on weekdays now since retiring. Tooooo many a#holes during the weekends for my taste. Towerboat tournaments, Guides, gladly no jetski to deal with so far as the marsh mud is too much for them to deal with. I feel lucky listing to you guys issues....


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## GullsGoneWild (Dec 16, 2014)

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I taught this guy a lesson last Friday
As I am poling down a narrow channel which leads to a flat in a pond I look behind me and see this bay boat is coming in hot with his TM. Thinking he was going to fish the entrance I paid him no attention. About 2 mins later I heard voices and look behind me and he almost even with me! He turns to me and says "I don't know if this is stupid or not, maybe we should turn around" and I shrug my shoulders and say "yea probably". He keeps going forward and then he sticks the boat! The guys buddy turn to me and jokingly says "can we borrow your pole" and I just kinda laugh and say " yea you are going to need it" and continued on


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## zthomas (Jan 14, 2014)

Gordon Johnson said:


> It was a side creek leading to a dead end.


I can't help but wonder if it's me you're talking about. I was running from Slippery to the bay on the southwest side of Orange Island a month or six weeks ago and came around a turn to see a couple guys fishing against the left bank.

I stayed on plane and squeezed as far against the opposite bank as I could, but these guys still were waving their arms around and obviously pissed.

If that was you, I'm sorry if I screwed up your setup, but I honestly have to ask what you would have had me do differently.

I could have tried to get turned around on plane in a very shallow, 50-yard-wide creek but I probably would have ended up coming a lot closer to you (or whoever it was) than I did by just continuing past.

Or I could have dropped off plane and idled past with the big motor or used the troller, either of which would have kept me too close for a much longer time and caused a lot more commotion.

Under the circumstances, it seemed pretty clear that the best thing to do was what I did -- move right on past as quickly as possible.

If in fact that was you, it's true that's a dead end creek, but it's also true that there's _a lot_ more fishing _past_ where you were. I'm sure you're aware of this, but it opens up into a bay that's probably a half mile long and 300 yards wide with enough room for several boats to fish comfortably.

Like I said, I really am sorry if I spooked your fish, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect that because you're fishing in the creek that leads back there, no one is going to pass you to get to the bay.

Unfortunately, I think that's just the nature of the beast in that area. With narrow creeks, extremely shallow water, lots of fairly blind turns, and heavy fishing pressure, you're going to eff things up for somebody every once in a while, no matter how hard you try not to. Sorry if I did it to you.


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## Gordon Johnson (Jan 13, 2017)

Nah it was last year but. I've since rethought that and perhaps. It may not have been etiquette issue more of a logical one. Sometimes a person is going so fast to get to a favorite spot that we over look or even run over a school of fish in this case reds that we're enough for two boats to fish. I wasn't angry. But my brother was disappointed. He rarely is able to fish the lagoon, much more see a school like that.


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## zthomas (Jan 14, 2014)

Well, I'm at least glad it wasn't me that screwed it up.


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## Gordon Johnson (Jan 13, 2017)

zthomas said:


> Well, I'm at least glad it wasn't me that screwed it up.


You're right. That is very narrow. With blind corners.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Gordon Johnson said:


> You're right. That is very narrow. With blind corners.


That happens all the time in Pine island Charlotte harbor. Gotta love jetskiers and pleasure boaters.


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## Ben (Dec 21, 2016)

I am aggravated just reading all these posts. A sling shot and a cup holder full of lead sinkers can relieve a lot of stress.........

I had an incident years ago fishing on my brother's boat in Matlacha. We were anchored in a mangrove cut with our lines up near the mangroves probably 25-30 yards away (2 of the 3 lines had big ass popping corks on them). 3 jackass duck hunters in a jon boat come idling out of the back country and drove right over our lines when there was about 75 yards of water behind us. My brother lost his shit but kept it relatively PG since his son was on board. I wanted to let them get in the channel and surprise them with a swamping in the channel but he wasn't game since my nephew was onboard.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Ben said:


> I am aggravated just reading all these posts. A sling shot and a cup holder full of lead sinkers can relieve a lot of stress.........
> 
> I had an incident years ago fishing on my brother's boat in Matlacha. We were anchored in a mangrove cut with our lines up near the mangroves probably 25-30 yards away (2 of the 3 lines had big ass popping corks on them). 3 jackass duck hunters in a jon boat come idling out of the back country and drove right over our lines when there was about 75 yards of water behind us. My brother lost his shit but kept it relatively PG since his son was on board. I wanted to let them get in the channel and surprise them with a swamping in the channel but he wasn't game since my nephew was onboard.


Until you hit someone in the head or knock their eye out just to prove a point. That's an awesome way to let someone running too close to you turn into getting into a fist fight when you could just chill and continue fishing or move. I admit there are times when I feel the same way but it's honestly not worth it. I am more prone to waving them down and explaining what they did and why it was not the best move. Lots of newbies on the water that honestly don't really know any better until someone explains it to them. I really do wish you had to go through a class on water etiquitte and safety before paying for boat registration or even just a fishing license. It's too easy for people to use the excuse "I didn't know".


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## windblows (May 21, 2014)

One clearly stands out as the worst. I was fishing with two buddies in a local charity type tournament in one of the guy's new 18 HPX. We had a couple of good fish and were really just killing time in the afternoon before weigh-in, but decided to fish a small tidal creek at low tide that we've spent a lot of time in (most of the creek is about 30 feet wide and less than 2 feet deep at low tide.) We had worked our way to the back of the creek and were getting close to a few oyster bars that hold fish when we hear a jet ski motor and it's getting closer. Immediately, we're saying out loud "Is that guy in the creek??" Sure enough, about 30 seconds later we see the spout of water coming up on us quick around the creek's turns. When he comes into view we expect that he'll slow down and turn around (we're literally at the end of the creek with only about 100 yards left to go.) But no, he sees us, slows down to a fast idle, passes us and then revs it back up on plane, flies to the end of the creek, spewing mud, then turns around, and slows back to a fast idle to pass us as he is leaving the creek. We're standing there in awe, and one of my buddy's goes "What the hell are you doing, man?" To which he replies "Oh, just looking for new redfish spots. Saw a couple tailing back there." We then tell him thanks for screwing up the spot for us, and at that point, he gets mad and revs the engine trying to throw water all over us and hauls ass out of the creek. All we can do is laugh at that point. I literally think he had no idea that he was completely oblivious and clearly saw no redfish tails.


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

I can look at a jet ski on a trailer and feel myself getting angry.


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## TheFrequentFlier (Feb 17, 2016)

cptsdr said:


> Almost twenty years ago, I was poling a couple of customers around a flat in "Downtown" Islamorada.
> Very few bonefish were sighted, but they were safe from these folks' casts anyway.
> As we came almost in range of one tailing fish, two guys on jet skis came flying across the flat and hard turned just on my port side, running off every fish in the county.
> I had had a hard day already, and said to my people, I will take you back now, and we will finish this trip tomorrow morning. I poled off the edge of the flat, watching the jet skiers cutting donuts, and raced for Papa Joes, where I dropped my people and told them they could pay tomorrow.
> ...


definitely going to borrow this sometime... slightly modified... requesting a second boat to perform a clothesline maneuver with my STIFFY


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

windblows said:


> One clearly stands out as the worst. I was fishing with two buddies in a local charity type tournament in one of the guy's new 18 HPX. We had a couple of good fish and were really just killing time in the afternoon before weigh-in, but decided to fish a small tidal creek at low tide that we've spent a lot of time in (most of the creek is about 30 feet wide and less than 2 feet deep at low tide.) We had worked our way to the back of the creek and were getting close to a few oyster bars that hold fish when we hear a jet ski motor and it's getting closer. Immediately, we're saying out loud "Is that guy in the creek??" Sure enough, about 30 seconds later we see the spout of water coming up on us quick around the creek's turns. When he comes into view we expect that he'll slow down and turn around (we're literally at the end of the creek with only about 100 yards left to go.) But no, he sees us, slows down to a fast idle, passes us and then revs it back up on plane, flies to the end of the creek, spewing mud, then turns around, and slows back to a fast idle to pass us as he is leaving the creek. We're standing there in awe, and one of my buddy's goes "What the hell are you doing, man?" To which he replies "Oh, just looking for new redfish spots. Saw a couple tailing back there." We then tell him thanks for screwing up the spot for us, and at that point, he gets mad and revs the engine trying to throw water all over us and hauls ass out of the creek. All we can do is laugh at that point. I literally think he had no idea that he was completely oblivious and clearly saw no redfish tails.


Wow


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## TheFrequentFlier (Feb 17, 2016)

guys that fish oyster beds...ever had experience with the oyster harvesters overtaking you in a dead-end tiny ass creek, about a foot deep and no more than 15' wide.... their motor bumping bottom the whole way and then they beach right on the oyster bed making the most awful chalkboard screeching sound you've ever heard. Yeah...about that nice school of reds crawling along just ahead...

but I guess I'm out there for pleasure, they're out trying to make a living, so I can't really complain too much...I mean I was fishing on the only oysters in all of SC right?

Poled out of the creek they just motored up through and found another spot.


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## 321nole (Jan 11, 2016)

SomaliPirate said:


> I can look at a jet ski on a trailer and feel myself getting angry.


so much hatred for jet skis on this site...I keep to open water on mine, but I suppose that's because I know how ticked off I'd be if I got buzzed on a flat..

about two years ago, snook season on the east coast, fishing a mangrove shoreline with pops...we're picking off nice little under slots every few casts when a guy and his wife come flying through the no wake zone in their tower boat, cut power to idle and drift right up to about 20 yards behind us. normally this is where I lose my mind, but it's been a good day so far, not going to let it bother me. I point the trolling motor away from the shoreline and get us out 40-50 yards and start moving down to a point about 3-400 yards away...as I'm cutting power to the trolling motor to drift the point, I hear captain ahab's motor fire up, immediately thinking oh good he's leaving...wrong. he proceeds to motor along the shoreline not quite on plane, maybe 20 yards out, gets between me and the shoreline, cuts power and drifts right across the point Im headed for...him and his wife toss two shrimp and immediately have two healthy looking snook in the boat and off they go


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## fsae99 (Apr 8, 2010)

5 Years ago I headed to my best trout #'s between Suwanee and Cedar Key. I get about 200 yards away and realize there is a boat near I want to be. I go out and around and TM my way back about 50 yards to my spot about 70 yrds SW of the other guys. I was casting towards them, but we are both fishing to the NE, so it is not like I intruded in the least. 1st cast I hook up with nice 4lb trout, well 8 casts latter and 5 trout for me. The other guys haul up their anchor and motor to where I was casting (about 20 yrds from me), and start doing donuts. They flip me the bird and left like I was the arse hole.


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## Mark H (Nov 22, 2016)

I know a guy in Galveston Bay who ties on a big sinker and starts bouncing it off the offending boat. Quite a colorful fellow. Great story teller and one of the best fishermen I know but not politically correct at all.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Would never damage someone's boat or initiate a physical confrontation, too much to lose. But donuts and just ridiculous behavior like driving in cicles around them while asking them questions about how they're doing, what're they catching, where'd they get the boat, where they from, have they seen any good schools of ladyfish around, etc. etc. do make me feel better before a jack up the engine, trim it head the other way at WOT.


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## fjmaverick (Sep 18, 2015)

If you can tell what kind of beer Im drinking your to close. Hold my beer while I grab some sinkers.

Jk life is too short to bow up on everyone thats an asshole


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## Mark H (Nov 22, 2016)

Oh there's no anger in it when he does it. It's purely educational and it's usually a pro guide.


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## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

A lot of it is ignorance. I've always thought you should be required to take a mandatory class to get a license before you can drive a boat. It's scary that anyone can just go drive a boat all willy nilly.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

mosquitolaGOON said:


> A lot of it is ignorance. I've always thought you should be required to take a mandatory class to get a license before you can drive a boat. It's scary that anyone can just go drive a boat all willy nilly.


Unfortunately you only have to be able to afford the boat


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## fjmaverick (Sep 18, 2015)

mosquitolaGOON said:


> A lot of it is ignorance. I've always thought you should be required to take a mandatory class to get a license before you can drive a boat. It's scary that anyone can just go drive a boat all willy nilly.


I took a boater safety course 14 years ago. And yes the police did stop and check my license when I was 12.


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## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

It is all in the eye of the beholder...........


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