Trav's Fishing Report

[Trav]

Put in again at Cape Fair today. The fishing was a bit tougher today but caught them regular enough to keep it interesting. I did twice as much better on Friday so I assume the weekend was full of pressure. Today the ramp was pretty full.

I found fish but I had to focus exclusively where I saw bait surfacing or there was a big nothing. Three of the fish I caught had fresh hook marks in their jaws so I guess some of my day I owe to those who practiced Catch and Release over the weekend. For the record, they fought like they had never been hooked recently. Kudos to that!

A little remark…..

I would like to think I go out of my way to give other fisherman their space. With that said, why do people think it is OK to run wide open only to stop suddenly fifty yards in front of me? Three times I had positioned my boat for a drift with the wind so I can use a little stealth with my approach onto a point only for somebody to run right up in front of me. How rude!

Usually I don’t get fed up by the rude fisherman on Table Rock until late May. Maybe I am getting old.

Haha….Is it already time to find water away from the tourists? In April?

I mean, I know us local guys wouldn’t be so self centered to be this obvious to get a jump on a spot.

I know the shores are being fished like a line at an amusement park but seriously…cutting in line with blatant lack of respect for the other guys who are sharing the water with you?

Tsk Tsk…I guess scruples are quickly lost these days.

[freelancer 11]

That seems to be the way things are now days nobody respects another mans space. Fishing is getting pushed by the mighty dollar or whats left of the dollar. I like to treat them as I want to be treated, with respect.

[Gilly]

Every now and then we make a run up to Slim's Cabins in Canada. We go for exactly the reasons stated above. Although the drive is 23 hours from Omaha once we're there we have 40 miles of the river system pretty much to ourselves. To sit out there and listen to Loons for hours on end, to catch incredible fish, share a few stories with the buddies and then drive those stinking 23 hours back.....well it's worth it.

[T-RockJaws]

Sadly enough, it is not just fishing that the respect factor has been lost from. Try driving, going to sporting events, shopping, etc. etc. etc. Anything that has to do with more and more people is the same thing. We no longer teach respect in our schools or at home for the most part. Shoot, even the old tv shows taught us how to respect one another. That sure isn't the case anymore! With that said, there are still some people out there with good old values that helps to make it tolerable. I still enjoy going out on the lake, fishing and meeting new people. There are still many out there that are very respectful, the ones who are not just seem to get the most attention.

[MstStudent10]

I too am getting fed up with the lack of respect for other fisherman. I have had it happen to me 4 times already this year a guy motors up about 50 yds ahead of me and starts fishing. I'm in a 14 flatbottom with a small trolling motor, and a 10 hp outboard. I don't have a choice but to go down the bank with the wind when bass fishing. And my boat doesn't have the horsepower to just run across the lake to a different spot, when I start fishing a spot I'm committed to it. I'm getting so fed up with it I swear the next time it happens I'm am just going to power up my outboard and just skip right on past them by about 10 yards and start fishing again. I'm tired of being the one that has to get ticked off and bite his tongue. Maybe they'll get the point when I hop right on past them.

[Sam]

People are incredible - but I find it's best just to put up with them and not let it ruin my fishing trips.

A couple of weeks ago I was up James River at Ashercane, fishing for white bass. Toward the top of Ashercane there were, I swear, 50 boats all bunched together close and casting jigs - they could have cast into each other's boats. I guess someone catches a fish or two and everybody else crowds in. I like to find my own fish so I went about 300 yards upstream from them.

A south wind was blowing, and I soon found about a 100 yard stretch of bank where I could motor upwind then drift-fish a jig downwind, picking up a white bass most every pass. I'd been working that same stretch for over an hour when an old feller in a small boat anchored near where I was starting my run each time. I watched him sitting and casting without catching anything, then when I motored upwind again I got close enough to tell him to pull his anchor and just slow-drift his jig from "here" to "there" and he'd catch some fish.

I finished that drift, turned around, and darned if he hadn't moved and ANCHORED right in the middle of the run I'd told him about - so I couldn't drift down it anymore. He was sitting still, casting, and not catching anything again. I went by and told him it'd work better if he'd slow-troll with the wind, as I'd already caught 11 out of that hole. He said, no, he'd rather sit still.

I just shook my head, left, and found my last 4 fish somewhere else. That's what you get for trying to help someone, I guess.

[abkeenan]

Its gotten so bad. I only get to come down to Table Rock but maybe a half dozen times a year so maybe i am not the best authority on the subject but i have never seen the amount of guys/boats fishing TR this year. That could be why there is more run-ins with rudeness. Was down there in Mid march and had 2-3 instances like you guys said cutting you off going down a bank or coming to a point. Was down there just this past weekend and more of the same. My Dad has a short temper and told 2 guys in a blue and silver Stratos that were going to motor between our boat and the bank to just park their boat and get in with us. Might as well since they were so close. They didnt say anything and just kept on going like we weren't even there. Pathetic really. The paintball gun is sounding better and better every time i go out and have crap like this happen. Maybe we can use some orange paintballs on these rude fisherman and their boats they will have the OAF mark of shame. Maybe then they will learn to show a little respect and space.

-Brett

[MOBass]

It's hard to do sometimes but when I get cut off on a bank I just take a deep breath, grab a drink of water/gatorade, maybe put some more sunscreen on and go back to fishing. I'll get a comfortable distance and leave or continue to fish past them into their used water. Nothing sweeter than pulling a fish out from behind a guy that is beating the water to a froth.

[Trav]

That seems to be the way things are now days nobody respects another mans space. Fishing is getting pushed by the mighty dollar or whats left of the dollar. I like to treat them as I want to be treated, with respect.

Not sure what money has to do with general respect.

As a man who has been a guide, in his share of tourneys, and an avid follower of the B.A.S.S., I have never known a pro angler to move in on people without asking if it was OK first. I have myself have asked if it was going to be offensive if I worked an area somebody else was in while I was guiding or doing a tourney.

I have found most bass guys will be more than welcome to accommodate if you stated your reasoning behind it. For example, saying you’re a guide or in a tourney and was hoping to check out the area, especially if you mention you only wanted to revisit a spot you have worked previously.

In the past, if a guy was nice enough to not protest my request I would even tell them what I was catching them on. That is called being courteous.

What I have detest for is those who think they own the lake and think they can just weasel in without even recognizing what they are doing. Those people are usually out there fishing for the sport of it like the rest of us and not for a living. Those are the greater offenders of impropriety. And nine times out of ten they don’t know it is rude. They are mostly tourists, guys who only fish a few times a year, or those who have been burned by this rude behavior themselves and have a bad attitude from those experiences. Giving them the dog eats dog mentality that is so prevalent.

To me, it is just ignorance and my intentions behind these comments are solely to explain there is etiquette while on the water. Much like there is etiquette while at the bowling alley. You respect those who are bowling next to you.

We all can relate to this type of ignorance being displayed, especially if you fish heavily pressured water. I gripe about certain actions here on OAF in hopes people will recognize this in themselves. Use my statements and educate yourselves and others on how to properly behave when forced to deal with it.

If KVD can catch a bag of winning bass with a hundred spectators and helicopters over his head then pressure can be tolerated.

Pro anglers know when to back off and not give their trades a bad name. Sure, you will have some over zealous types in some hillbilly local tourney with the wrong idea but if we can learn how it is done and carry the same ethics as the real pros then things will be less frustrating.

And if you’re a hillbilly with no respect, don’t be surprised if some crazy guy shoots paintballs all over your rig...…Haha. …Might serve you right and teach you a lesson!

I am teasing...…be careful guys...…those hillbillies might have a real gun.…

[Sam]

We moved back home to Missouri in 1990 after many years in Southern California. Looking back on it, I know I crowded some other fishermen on the water here at first - and though I soon learned better, I felt bad about it.

Just sayin' that some tourists and newcomers to this area may be used to lakes that are two miles long with several hundred boats on them every day - a situation where it's rare to not be able to cast and hit a couple of other boats at any time. I never knew about working down a bank out there either, the banks are shallow and not usually fished.

We're privileged to live in a place with big lakes where you can often fish without another boat anywhere near. I'm sure some fishermen from lots of other places aren't used to that and don't know to not cut another fisherman off, go between a boat and the bank, or get too close.