CAH412

I generally fish the Big Piney and the access I fish is the only one in the area for about 5 miles or so and very near to where I live. Now, the issue with it is, every evening some folks come down in a jetboat. Just above the boat launch is a rapid area so when this jetboat heads upstream, he must first drift downstream some then gun it to get on plane and pass the low rapids. Now, in doing so, he sends waves crashing everywhere right over top of any bank fisherman there (where they're fishing, not the person). The whole river/creek is only maybe 30 feet across at this point. Going downstream isn't an option without wading so basically the only area to fish is then ruined in order for this jetboat to go upstream like they want to do. It's started to frustrate me because I usually give up once they've muddied up the water and whatnot. I'm always tempted to bust out my catfishing gear and do some target practice since further fishing is out of the question. I know that's not the smartest thing to do though... especially considering the culprits live just up the street. I am considering parking my car on the access ramp though... it just seems to me that you should have consideration for those fishing. I generally treat the entire river as first come first serve - Should having a boat be justification to trump that? What's the opinion on here for boater etiquette when bank fisherman are in the area and if that's the only way for them to get upstream without getting out and pulling their boat... does that justify it? I'm fairly new to the area and obviously it's accepted as it happens everynight but that doesn't mean I have to take it. I have also considered going upriver with em and swimming just above them... something to get the idea across. It's so frustrating... but what do others think? Do they rule the river or should I get fair access?

Great article but the fella' who was relieved she was dead so noone else could catch her should be ashamed. He's the kind of guy that makes bass fisherman look like a bunch of snobs. I completely agree with the ones that say it's good she died naturally on the lake rather than going onto a mount though, good way for a good fish to go.

Well I hope your float on the 17th did better than mine. I'm new to the area so my first float ever was Dog's Bluff to Mineral Springs earlier in the week before the storms hit. We went Mineral Springs to Sand Shoals on the 17th and the water was moving. We flipped our boat about halfway through and half our gear along with my prize fishing pole were never to be seen again. We refloated the same area on Wednesday and it was much better. We're almost exclusively using roadrunner heads with large artificial grubs and doing decent on the smallmouth and larger goggle eye. Sounds like smallmouth are closer to largemouth than I previously knew. I'm still learning on the local fishing and coming from the largemouth and catfish worlds so I'm still learning.