Having Trouble With Troller Fishermen

[Old plug]

JOHN--- i would not go to that extreme. Your liable for damage and you could be arrested for it. Here on LOZ. A lot of trollers are summer people. They do not do well as fisherman and trolling makes it easy and they can visit and socialize at the same time. I really imagine it is a fun thing to do. But in both cases i was already parked in spot. If i have trouble with them that becomes verbal i am going

to tell them to call the boat patrol and uf they do not shut up i will do it for them. That one guy that told me to leave had a. 275 hp Merk on that pontoon and a very expensive graft. He was really into his graft. Watching it like a hark. Geezzzz. In 8 ft of water full of shad i bet he was so confused.

I am-going over there again this evening. Being Friday evening it should be interesting.

[Feathers and Fins]

OP, Just FYI, I troll as shallow as 6fow very frequently for Walleye, Whites and Stripers, there are several members on this site who have watched me do it and tear up those species. If done right trolling is deadly in very shallow water and if they go in to 4ft I will run a outrigger or planer board in on them. I will give you most people just throw a line out and call it trolling with no thought to what they are doing, but watch guys that have put in years of homework on it and the technique is deadly and very precise. Not sure the type your dealing with but that is food for thought.

[Quillback]

Lots of trollers going for walleye up on the White river section of Table Rock. If they come by me, I'll just wave and ask them if they are doing any good. Plenty of fish to go around, no need to get upset.

Once I was fishing in a friend's boat, we pulled into a spot, BEHIND a couple of guys who were trolling down the bank, and they were a good 200-300 yards away. They immediately turn around and start trolling towards us, no big deal, we start fishing the spot and about 10 minutes later these guys are trolling behind us about 20 feet away. I turn and ask them if they are doing any good, and the older of the two starts screaming at me about how we ruined their spot. I just laughed, which PO'd the guy even more. After this, they pulled in their gear and left. Strange encounter, guy must have forgot to have his morning coffee or his meds.

[bfishn]

A rude troller or two does not a demographic make.

[Quillback]

A rude troller or two does not a demographic make.

Yep, most are good folks.

[rps]

I troll often. Sometimes I am moving .4mph. Sometimes 3mph. I do this even in locations like the flat in front of Eagle Rock park. I often put out a marker or two. My line of insult is setting up within 200 feet in front of my path, cutting across my troll lines, and coming close enough to put water in my boat. I feel these are very reasonable. When someone invades these limits, I try my best not to lose my temper. Many times I succeed. When I pass fishermen I often try to share what I have discovered. It confuses them and often they leave. They must figure I am trying to mislead them.

[Old plug]

I did not cut accross anyone's lines i was there before either if these guys were. They seemed to object to me occpying a 100 ft circle. I have never had troyble with trollers before. Myself i do not care what trolling tactics work are anything else i just know what happens on this point i been looking at for 25 yrs when i drink my morning coffee. Fins you might catch a fish in shallow water with planer boards. But directly in back of the boat 75 ft is not going to get you many on this point.

I did not say i did not troll. I have not trolled in a long time. I have 2 qualty down riggers.

As far as cutting in front of me I could care less. I usually am not fishing a bank I am fishing a short area along that bank.

The thing is nobidy owns the lake. I was kind of shocked this guy telling me to stay out of the path of his trolling thst must have been well over. 200 yards long back and forth.

[J-Doc]

Call me a pacifist but......

If fishing of any method or on any vessel type leads to a fight, damaging someone or their property..........then you need to find a different hobby.

Fishing is a fun sport and something we all want to pass along to our kids and it's something that should be relaxing. We all make mistakes, we all get on each others nerves from time to time. Lord knows I loath some pleasure boaters and jet-skis that have "0" ounces of common sense and no boating law or etiquette knowledge whatsoever. We are all human and as stated earlier, when there is over 10,000 acres of water to look for fish, I say "whoever was there first has the privilege to a selected area". As for how large of an area, that's completely debatable. I say, if you see someone trolling, know they are probably working a shoreline probably within 200yrds long. If you see rods hanging over the side, they are definitely trolling.

Here's a bigger gripe..........if you are on plane and see someone with rods out............STAY OVER 100FT AWAY FROM THE BOAT AT REST!!!!

- Don't cross their lines

- Don't drive by within 100ft or less because it can be DANGEROUS to the boat at rest as YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR WAKE!!

(Sorry..........too many ski boats have done this to me this year)

As a newbie to the trolling game, I still "gear fish" as fishinwrench calls it (being the fly angler he has become). Trolling is by no means "easy" or for anglers that don't know how to fish. On the contrary I believe after learning and trying it a bit myself this summer. I've learned it's quite the opposite and more challenging than "gear fishing". I can troll the entire lake and waste a lot of fuel, time, and lose a lot of money in baits. You have to know what to troll with, what depth range, what type of terrain to look for, where the fish are, what color works better than another color, speed, amount of line behind the boat, depth, etc. It's a plethora of knowledge being applied to a METHOD of fishing.

Methods of fishing (only listing a few to make a point here)

- Casting (done by majority of all anglers from the 4yrd old with a Scooby Doo rod to the Pro Bass anglers)

- Fly fishing (a bit of a minority but many consider to be superior to other types of fishing and can be more productive at times)

- Yo-yo's (now this is a lazy man's method and illegal on some waters)

- Jug lining - (the "all you can eat buffet" approach)

- Trot lines (I think we all know what that is - opinions vary)
- Trolling (what I used to feel as "cheating" or what some feel as "what inexperienced anglers do") This is a very in-depth knowledge based form of fishing and requires a lot of understanding and it can be a lot of work especially when fishing more than one line, using downriggers, planner boards, etc. It can be frustrating too.

With that being said......is it rude and worthy of a fight if:

A) Someone pulls into an area where there are jugs floating around in a cove and you cast around the jugs? (if someone is monitoring their jugs per law....could be considered rude)

Someone has a trot-line set that is clearly marked with hi-vis trail marking tape or some sort of identifier - is it rude to fish their area? Maybe.....maybe not

C) Someone is in a kayak and you come balls-out blazing into the quiet area with your bow trimmed up pushing a massive wake upon them and then you jump in front of them, fish for 10 mins, then leave pushing another wake on the poor angler or non-angling kayaker? YOU'RE DARN RIGHT!!!!

Point is........be courteous to each other, use some common sense and if someone is a jerk.......just ignore it and move on. It's not worth it. Don't let it sweat you, don't let it get under your skin and try to enjoy your time on the water. Lord knows I need to take my own advice as the pleasure boaters are among the most rude of all. Mainly because they don't know any better at all.

Well.......that's my $.2 cents.... $5.78 worth of opinion

(long post so I added inflation, taxes based on current economy and Obama care impacts)

[J-Doc]

Oh and trolling this summer has taught me more about my lake, more about multi-species other than just bass alone and I've even learned a lot more that I can use towards casting. I think it has made me a better all-around angler with more knowledge and understanding.

Dropping a bait behind the boat and dragging it all "random" with no rhyme or reason is the ULTIMATE form of junk fishing. NOT trolling. Think of trolling as a commercial fisherman such as a Louisiana shrimp boat captain, or a lobster boat captain. They must know where to go to find the forage, what to use, depth, seasonal patterns, etc.

Trolling intelligently is much more challenging than dragging a bait behind the boat. It's quite the opposite and I thank Feathers&Fins for being a mentor to a new technique that has opened my eyes to more than just "bass fishing". I love and enjoy all kinds of fishing techniques that I've never tried before or wanted to. I welcome all types and techniques now. It's almost like I'm a kid again as the passion for fishing is very similar to when I picked up a Zebco 33 and a tackle box, rode my bike to a neighbors pond and fished my little heart out for brim and catfish.

There...........that was the added tip to the post above. LOL!

[fishinwrench]

I live to feel the bites. Do y'all hold your rod when your towing crankbaits, or do you stick them in a rod holder, grab a beer and scratch your balls until one starts bobbing up and down?