Fishing Etiquette Rules

[pueter66]

Amigos, I was fishing out wide the other day and I found a new spot and within fifteen minutes I was surrounded by boats going around my mark. One guy anchored so close I could not cast out that side of the boat with a hand line I asked him if he wanted a sandwich as I probably could have passed him one. Another who seemed to know the parisitical guy anchored next to me, actually snagged his troll lure in my anchor rope and he pulled up part of my rope to retrieve his lure. Thats pretty much were I lost it and gave it to them. I was always taught to remain a respectable distance away from other fishermen and if trawling to stay away from anchored boats. I moved to a new location about 2kms away and bingo achored idiot number one comes at me like a torpedo boat and anchors the exact location away as before. Cue explosion number 2. He reckons that he anchored were his mark was. I should have moved my mark, by that reckoning I could have run him over because my GPS said so. I must be behind on the new etiquette rules does somebody have a list of Thou Shall Nots! Cheers Pete

[waterbouy]

Very frustrating. Rude is the key word here.

[pueter66]

Yep they had a hide like a Rhino. You would think after one pasting they would get the hint. I am not one for hogging a spot but there has got to be some rules.
Pete

[robersl]

it happens i fished woody point this morning got onto my spot at 5am about 15 minutes later a fella comes up and asked me if i minded if he dropped his pick as i was near a mark he was going to fish so i said no problems but only because he had the decency to ask other wise i woud of said something, if people ask i don't mind normally its when they barge in like happened to you that gets on my giddy goat

shane

[pueter66]

Yeah good point I think if they have the courtesy to ask it shows that they are aware of some etiquette. Theres one THOU SHALL NOT ANCHOR CLOSELY WITHOUT PERMISSION.

Pete

[Greg001]

Very frustrating. Rude is the key word here.
That happens up my way too but theres more to it than being rude it's just plain arrogance and a severe lack of respect for anyone else.

[Jeremy]

Very rude and poor etiquette. Where about were you? What depth of water you fishing? I reckon about double the depth of water is as close to a general rule of thumb as I can come up with for anchoring near another boat.

[pueter66]

Back of Keppels in Central queensland in about 80 foot of water. I have noticed a general dop in behaviour of the boaty brotherhood over the years but lately its just getting ridiculous. And the boat ramps are a whole new chapter.

[govomg]

Yeah I agree some guys are just plain (excuse the french) @#$&wits, we were 25 meters off a rocky point throwing lures into a school of fish when a guy came along trolling and actually trolled between us and the rocks. Felt like taking pot shots at his boat, man I was pissed, no brains, no thought for anyone but themselves. Cheers Mark

[Squidlet]

I call this act being Seagulled,nothing pisse's me more than this! Most of the times it's gumbes who wouldnt know their ass hole from their elbow,its flat out rude inconsiderate and dam right frustrating.I like the ones who will circle you blatently pining your spot and then have gall just to light up their engines and piss off,"W%$^&#S".>:(
A good topic for geting tha BLOOD PRESSURE pumping!
Cheer's Squid!

[stonecold]

Im a great believer in pain as an educating tool.....25 years ago you weren't game to behave like that because you knew that you would cop a smack in the mouth at some stage.....trouble is these days if "you" chose to educate someone in that manner "you" become the person with an issue.

[kind_cir]

If you think they are too close.... Go one bigger than the sinker you are using and cast it in their direction. If it hits the boat, then they are deemed to be too close. They will spew at you if you hit the boat, so ya just say; If you're not a hemmoroid, then get off my ass.

;D

[samson]

imagine working with that everyday but worse trying to make a living welcome to the world of commercial fishing the rules say no interfering with a commercial operation no matter what the distance but anchoring is a minimum of 50meters its like parking a service station on top of another and expecting the first to make a quid bloody joke and fisheries don't police it.

[Dan5]

Yes it gives me the shits aswell.......a large caliber hand gun would be a good deterent......but then i'd be the one in trouble.

Usually i just pull up and go somewhere else......if it's a really good spot sometimes i just move off before someone gets near me.

Dan

[pueter66]

YEP thats what I did on the day and the A#se#h#l# followed me to another spot.
I thought about the sinker thing or a good round of shot through the engine block would do it. But your right when we burr up all of a sudden were the ones who are wrong. Though its good to see some other fishermen out there have the same standards as me. Cheers Pete

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi
Common courtesy is a thing of the past these days and Respect is something else lost long ago.

Then again some people are just ignorant moorongs who can't help but upset your day.

Hope you have a better trip next time.

lol

Ronnie

[cuzzamundi]

Mate you did well not to lose it. I have had trouble in the past with this sort of crap, and nothing makes me lose my temper quicker! It,s one thing to ask, but another to just throw the pick within metres and say nothing, then follow you around like a lost puppy. Will never understand that mentality. Apart from not having pride in your own ability to find fish, it,s also a matter of courtesy. Hopefully he learnt a lesson tis time round.

Cuzza

[flatzie]

It beats me that more violence doesnt happen as a result of this behavior. I have seen it so bad on the dams and Im surprised someone hasnt been seriously assaulted over it.
I think some of these people are actually so ignorant or stupid that it deosnt even cross their mind that what they do is wrong.
Flatzie

[tunaticer]

I know a guy who's habit when someone anchors right on top of him is to pull his anchor and motor over the other guys anchor line, grapple it up and cut the thing off, setting them adrift. He gets lots of abuse and gives a heap back, but to my knowledge nobody has reported him or pressed charges against him. He reckons that within ten metres offshore is rediculous and sets about doing the deed.

[lifestyle]

Well if people anchor to close to me then they soon learn they wont catch to many fish. With 3 young boys 6 and under the noise is crazy. They tend to move after 5 mins.

[robersl]

down our way i think a lot of the problem at woody point is they made 95 percent of the reef area green zone now if you want to fish a bit of reef you are sitting on top of the person beside you or you are just fishing sand flats and no structure i know this is not the case off shore but here at woody point you have 20 boats trying to fish an area that before the green zone you were lucky to find someone even fishing noe because it is the only spot with structure every one want it.

shane

[Steeler]

I would like to see a thread designated for listing rego numbers of boats and cars who do stupid inconsiderate acts, such as those mentioned above and imbeciles who use the middle of boat ramps where two normal people could launch and retrieve and those woftams who park in trailer parking without a trailer.

I will get off my soapbox now .

[Mike Delisser]

I know of a guy who strips off his clothes and fishes nude when another angler anchors too close. He recons they don't hang around too long when he has his tackle hanging out.

[Steeler]

So how is that all over tan coming along Mike;D.

[nigelr]

I'm suprised people would be stupid enough to hassle commercial operators in this way Samson, especially when your vessel is I'm assuming much larger than theirs.
It would $#!t me to tears as well; I'm suprised you haven't rammed the stupid pr*cks!
Really does make you wonder about the mentality of some people, would rather be bludgers than have a go finding spots for themselves..........

[trymyluck]

It is a pain in the arse alright but in some areas there is not a lot of options, on the arti's you quite often see a lot of boats in close to one another.
Used to find the same thing happening on the beach, find a nice gutter and pull a fish out of it and next thing you would a couple of people fishing beside you. Was never a problem unless they jumped in your spot......but I always found that when they found they had a pillie on a set of gang hooks and 3 onces of lead swinging over there heads they kind of got the message to move back down the beach a bit.

Mark

[pueter66]

Fishing Nude? Ha thats a cracker, though I get sunburnt enough now without being nude and you want to watch out for that line whipping around.
Pete

[stacer525]

Seems to be happening everywhere at the moment. A mate was out off the sunny coast on friday with the great conditions we had, and a boat pulled straight up behind him on his drift line, He had a few choice words to them,
and the reply was its a free country. he decided to head out a little wider,
with in 5 minutes this boat followed him and done the same thing.
after a few more choice words, he started up the boat and circled them every where they went he'd just circle them making rather difficult to fish until they got the message.
there are some really rude people out there.

[Luc]

I've been lucky in that respect, but then I tend to either launch around 2am and be on my way home by 8am or launch around sundown & fish till 10 / 11 pm.

Mind you, trying to retrieve the boat around 8am on the good weather day can get frustrating but the entertainment usually makes up for it!!

My pet one is when I'm trolling a beat on a dam and some idiot decides that it's OK to park there and cast/jig/baitfish. Had one fool try to justify himself cause he was fishing in a comp.

Luc

[wamjam]

My pet one is when I'm trolling a beat on a dam and some idiot decides that it's OK to park there and cast/jig/baitfish. Had one fool try to justify himself cause he was fishing in a comp.

Luc

I don't understand ??...:-?. Is it not OK to not know where you going to troll ?. Sorry maybe I don't get it.

Scott

[johncar]

It doesn't happen too often to me but it does from time to time.
I don't usually say anything because i figure if someone is that much of an ignorant mongrel you don't know what else they are are capable of and I don't want any extra unwanted hassles out at sea.
I will usually pack up and move off and perhaps make a little excess disturbance while picking up my anchor and retrieval at least to shut down any fishing if nothing else.

I think next time it happens I will just quietly take some photos of them and their boat and post them on here.

Maybe we can have a dedicated thread with an appropriate title with photos of these pricks and hey they may even see themselves if they are members or visiting this forum and feel famous.

[johncar]

I don't understand ??...:-?. Is it not OK to not know where you going to troll ?. Sorry maybe I don't get it.

Scott

OK I was thinking the same thing and considered a new thread about this topic but may as well ask the question here..

This is for you guys who troll.

A recent trip a couple of months back out to Hutchies leading up to the full moon.
I hadn't been there for perhaps years and with the snapper ban on thought there would be a better chance of some different species to be caught. Any Snapper could be easily returned.

Anyway there was nobody else out there at about 3.00pm surprisingly other than a couple of boats trolling out wide on the eastern side. I pulled up on the western side and at least 500m away from those two boats.
Dropped anchor and got ready for an evenings fishing.

After a short while the two boats trolling started to circle around towards where I was anchored and eventually cut so close I could have picked up their lures. They were trolling at a fair speed maybe 8 -10 KN but instead of keeping going in a circuit around where they were previously they just kept going back and forth next to me as if to say get out of our way.

Anyway I just ignored them as I was there plenty early enough and I was pulling some nice fish regardless of their antics. I actually pulled that Mackeral in my avatar that afternoon.

So the outer edge of Huthies is a reasonably large area and I think that there is enough territory there for someone to troll and keep clear of one anchored boat that kept clear of them to start with.

Anyway my question to those who Troll is:

Do you think that it is reasonable to assume ownership of any projected route or track that you may have chosen or otherwise previously fished and then when someone such as myself decides to inocently anchor on that chosen track continue to pursue that track when it is now menacing and encroaching unreasonable distances to anchored boats.
By unreasonable I suppose you have to be there to judge but these were two big flash boats with poles and stuff hanging off them probably within 10 - 15m on each pass, causing my little boat to rock around considerably.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Trollers were members on here so I am interested as to why they think that it is OK to do this or if everyone else thinks it is OK.

Did they troll near me because they were annoyed or is it because they thought I was some sort of FAD???

Anyway they ended leaving and then as the evening rolled on a few others turned up and anchored right on to of me so I was over it by then, packed up and went home. Last time I will go to Huthies again for a while I think.
Caught some nice fish though so it was all good.

[pueter66]

Not a bad idea to have a thread with photos to dob in people with bad attitudes and ettiquete providing you dont get people dobbing the guys that were there first. The wrong boats could take photos of the guys that were there first. Maybe accompany the photos with a explanation? I took some photos of the boat who seagulled me, I will find them and post them up as long as I am not breaking any site rules.
Cheers Pete

[Steeler]

Not so much to name and shame but maybe just maybe someone on here might know an offender and be able to politely explain them proper etiquette by firstly giving them the benefit of the doubt of not knowing any better.

[BILLY THE KID]

if you want pics of cars in boat parking spots / nature strip then head down to wello point today ::)


take spare batteries for ya camera as you will need them . at least 2 outta 3 spots have cars without trailers in them as usual on any public holiday .

Any parking inspectors for redlands council out there ??? should fill the months quota in 2 hrs i reckon

[oldboot]

It seems to me that there are plenty of people out there with their own ideas of Etiquette.

The problem is that the vast majority of amateur anglers and boaties are ignorant and very poorly informed on all sorts of matters...at least even the least knoweledgable on this board are trying to educate themselves.

So bunches of blokes get talking to their mates, saying this idiot this and Ill do that..and low and behold we have an entire meat head system of etiquette that a hand full of blokes believe.

These guys think they own marks, have some right to intimidate others and runin their days, and are quite prepared to waste their time wasting others.


I am constantly gob smacked at how unreasonable, selfish and short sighted people can be.

I am constantly stunned how many people think they are more important or smarter than everybody else.

for goodness sake what is the point of pulling up close to another boat......it would have to be a pretty pissy piece of structure to have to be that close to get "on the mark".

I don't think this whole GPS thing is doing any favours......soo many people think..
just being on the given mark is enough.

So there is this published mark...Oh for goodness sake it is only set of figures for a single point, that MAY represent a piece of structure, that may hold fish, that you might be able to catch.


Its never happened to me.... but I recon the best revenge for the seagulls, it to take em to totaly useless spots where they can loose heaps of tackle.

Hell I like the shallows, and i know plenty of places where if they started running rings arround me they would end up scragging their prop or stuck in the mud.

cheers

[Luc]

Originally Posted by wamjam http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?p=1276159#post1276159)
I don't understand ??...http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/Original%20Smilies/undecided.gif. Is it not OK to not know where you going to troll ?. Sorry maybe I don't get it.

Scott


The boat was fishing the shore across from me for a good 1/2 hour and in that time I had done several trolling runs along a short piece of steep bank catching a few bass so they knew what I was doing.

They waited for me to be at the end of a pass then came across and fished right in the middle of where I was trolling. It was done on purpose and IMO was simply not on. Then to get told "we're fishing in a comp" was BS.

Luc

[wayno60]

The Wall Of Shame...

[Flex]

Just spent a week at Hinchinbrook, Was fishing the mouth of a little feeder creek about 3m wide and 10-15m long into mangroves from a bigger system.

I was anchored across it with my 6m boat. Just got busted up by a jack then 2 really old blokes motor up and we have a friendly chat initially then proceed to watch me fish for 10mins. I asked em "Am I in your secret spot" they said yeah. I told em "mate, its hinchinbrook bloody channel with more fishing spots than F@#$ing chinamen in China... They just smiled and kept watching...

They then proceeded to trim the outboard and squeeze over my anchore rope and into the 3m feeder creek, Motor over the snag mr Jack was in and battle mangroves for 10min and tie up not 10m from me... I couldnt believe it...

So I had a few choice words, pulled anchor and left..

Next day fishing Curucoa shoals, some dude with a family of 4 pulls up not 30m from me with noisy kids squeeling..

I go fishing for solitude and peace and quite.. I mean its a freaking shoal more than half a Km across... rediculous..


So the next 2 days I chucked on a massive popper, anyone who comes within 100m of me I start chucking poppers around towards their board. usually makes em anchore a little further away from me...

[NAGG]

i reckon alot of these problems come about because too many fishoes have not served an apprenticeship (fishing) - they just buy a boat & go fishing ....... then because they are clueless , the first thing they do is jump in on the first boat that looks like they know what they are doing.
I certainly have noticed a decline in boating ability over the years - just go to any ramp on the weekend .........Yes - It might be a little bit of a generalisation , but they both go hand in hand

Chris

[pueter66]

Good point! I guess sometimes its easy to bag boaties, we all have to learn the trade at some point and it does take time to build up your skills, I am a 4th generation fisherman and boatie and have been on boats since I could crawl. If you go to the boat shows you see some of the marine enterprises selling boats to people like hotcakes and there is no restriction on size if you have the money. So you get people that have never owned a boat buying the biggest they can afford. Somehow reverse it down a ramp and push off for the wide blue.
No idea on anything away they go. Thats why forums and sites like this are a great idea, as I said I have been on boats all my life and I learn new things every time I log onto this site.
But!!! it still does not excuse lack of ettiquete or respect, thats something we carry with us in or out of a boat.
As for a bunch of meatheads that are making rules on fishing ettiqutte as one person responded, I would rather a rough rule of etiqutte than none at all and I quote my dad. Trust your instinct. If it doesn't feel right then it probably isnt so dont do it.
Keep responding guys Its great to hear all your stories about similar incidents, It makes me feel better knowing that there are other like minded fishos out there somewhere because theres bugger all where I fish.
Cheers Pete

[oldboot]

We come back to boating being far too easy to get into, and it rolls on from there.

Back a couple of decades, you had to be either pretty well off or pretty devoted to get into boating.

These days almost anybody can afford some sort of boat, and getting a boat licence is far too easy.

There is also the view that getting the boat licence is simply a hoop to be jumped thru, and not a genuine learning oportunity.

As I have said before... most people who come on forums, are interested in sharing and inproving their knoweledge and understanding.

But I am convinced there are many out there who expect to do without first learing.... they think they are learing as they go... but in fact they learn very little.

These people will not learn and will not be told.

Untill there is some more serious requirement for boating training and assessment...I doubt much will change.

Its bad enough on the roads, where a great many do not know or chose to disregard not a couple but many road rules and driving principles daily.

As for the whole fishing etiquette thing.....I recon the only hope is to fish week days.

cheers

[johncar]

Possibly modern more reliable boats and engines and probably the worst and best invention of all is the chart plotter with maps have caused much of our grief, although I like mine I have to admit.
Not that we own the ocean but many of us have done our 30 year apprenticeships with an old oil burner of an engine and a compass, while slowly builiding up an assortment of land marks and bearings to find a fishing spot.

This took a lot of observation, many trips to sea and much trial and error. I think these days it's just too easy in a way to, without much if any experience, buy a boat, load the chart map with some marks from friends or published ones, go out and "Oh look! there's a boat out over there, bet he's onto something" They motor over on top of you sound around, mark your hard earned spot, ruin your experience being out there, tell all their other mates "I found a good mark on the weekend" give it to 10 others....arghhh, nooooo!

Bloody frustrating, but yeah hopefully newbies read some of these posts and understand a little better.

I intend to watch the horizon too pretty closely for the sharks and move off any more important (to me) marks that I spend a lot of time, effort and fuel to locate on my own efforts. Can't do much about those mark theives by Radar toys though.

But must remember to take the camera, be ready to be snapped and published!

[SgBFish]

It’s the only good use for Justin Beiber music.

Ear plugs in, speakers pointed at them, then volume max…they’ll move!

[johncar]

It’s the only good use for Justin Beiber music.

Ear plugs in, speakers pointed at them, then volume max…they’ll move!


LOL, just make sure that you have really good earplugs though to avoid self harm.

[Thunderace2]

How about this story from a local forum

"Launched my boat and i had a few fella's asking some questions whilst i was waiting for the rest of the crew to jump aboard.
One from a fella who i watched launch his boat witch was hairy just watchin!
he come over and didnt know what the hell to do, were to go, how to get out my god! i tryied to explain where to go, but didnt quite register http://www.thefishinhub.com.au/forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif http://www.thefishinhub.com.au/forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif
so i said just follow me to the gravel loader and you can have a bash there we were fishin for bait when he came closer and asked if we would drive his boat if the wind picked up, i thought you have to be bladdy KIDDING!! with 3 adults and a child on board it was clear this boat and people should have stayed on dry land. With some quick coaching and explaning to them what to do we pulled the pin and headed to deeper water ""

And you wonder whys there is no Etiquette

[NAGG]

A bloke I was introduced to fairly recently is a prime example of how to do it right ...... he is relatively new to fishing and a novice boater .
A mate got him into fishing a couple of years back & has learnt about boating from him as well as doing a course recently ....... now he has bought a boat & is fitting it out based on the good and bad he has seen from others - at the same time he is crewing for myself & our mutual friend , learning as he goes. he gets the chance to learn about backing a trailer & driving a boat onto the trailer ........ so by the time he hits the water in earnist he will have a fair bit of knowledge & confidence in both the boating and fishing aspect......... 8-)

Chris

[Captain Incredible]

I was at the Deepwater Bend ramp on the Pine very recently when this poor bugagr was trying to float his boat on to his trailer, submerging the arse of his incredibly expensive Mercedes 4WD in the process. I helped him very quickly to get out of his predicament and gave him my card on the quiet, suggesting that if he had a half hour to spare and would slip me a carton of grog, we could launch and retrieve a dozen times so he had the process right forever.

He thanked me for my help. Of course I have never heard from him again.

While I might sound greedy asking for a carton of XXXX, the poor bloke would be inducted forever. Maybe a mob like MARINE QLD or the marine dealerships should be running boat ramp courses to ensure that people who have bought boats actually get to enjoy the experience of owning them.

I just felt so sorry for this bloke, who was by himself with a growing audience of no-helpers, that I had to jump in.

[Almako]

I've had it happen to me to, this guy hammered over towards me stopped about 10metres away and started fishing. Then a second boat did exactly the same.
The thing is i know that both of them were clueless as neither of them bothered to scan around the area looking for the fish on their sounders. Pretty obvious really.

I also went out with this guy once who invited me. When i got to the boat he had this sounder that barely registered the depth let alone any fish, and no gps. I asked him how he finds the fish, and he blatantly told me he just follows other boats. i was pretty pissed off and let him know about it. I've never seen the guy again.

[oldboot]

The barber I used to go to a few years back used to get his sunday morning entertainment by going down the the wello ramp with a folding chair.

Re reconed you could get all the entertainment TV could offer, side splitting comedy, drama, conflict, suspense and terror just watching the boat ramp.

cheers

[johncar]

I'm happy to help any newbies as I am sure we all are. We were all new to it once although I can't remember as I was very young and getting growled at from my dad, but I learnt just the same.
So there are many reasons why boaties do the wrong thing and most things can be forgiven but for the small percentage of people that are just plain rude or dangerous I need a better plan.

[pueter66]

I am back off to the boat ramp this afternoon on labour day. I had been out wide for a couple of days and when I returned to the ramp at rosselyn bay I have never seen so many empty trailers. they have filled every available space and vacant lots. With only 2 boat ramps I am going to pull up a chair have a cold beer and watch, this is going to be good! I am taking the camera to see if I can get some shots. It was hard enough getting in with everyone launching. One bloke in a 14ft tinny had monopolised all three lanes of the ramp. It looked like angle parking.

LOL pete

[fat-buoy]

I was at the Deepwater Bend ramp on the Pine very recently when this poor bugagr was trying to float his boat on to his trailer, submerging the arse of his incredibly expensive Mercedes 4WD in the process. I helped him very quickly to get out of his predicament and gave him my card on the quiet, suggesting that if he had a half hour to spare and would slip me a carton of grog, we could launch and retrieve a dozen times so he had the process right forever.

He thanked me for my help. Of course I have never heard from him again.

While I might sound greedy asking for a carton of XXXX, the poor bloke would be inducted forever. Maybe a mob like MARINE QLD or the marine dealerships should be running boat ramp courses to ensure that people who have bought boats actually get to enjoy the experience of owning them.

I just felt so sorry for this bloke, who was by himself with a growing audience of no-helpers, that I had to jump in.

Not wanting to steal the thread at all but that boat ramp is a pearler for getting it wrong as it is long and the ange is very slight so when the trailer wheels are at axle height you can almost guarantee that the car is also... funniest thing I have seen at that ramp is a guy put his boat trailer in at about 6" of water so his car didn't get too wet and pushes his tinnie off the back of his trailer.. needless to say it was followed by the back of the boat drilling into the concrete and then rolling off the trailer sideways ending upside down next to the trailer with all his fising gear in the water underneat the boat... I felt bad for the guy but still had to laugh (not out too loud though lol)

[Damned67]

Serious question: what's the etiquette when drifting?

I like to drift over particular spots at Harry's. My normal complaint is that people motor over when we're hooked up (God forbid a double hookup!) and drop anchor in the line of our drift. Normally 'down drift' from us.
Anyway, was out there not too long ago and found a boat over one recently productive mark. I got excited when I saw that they too were drifting.
I pulled up in the general vicinity to get sort out the drift direction, waited for the first boat to go around and start their drift again, then queued up behind them giving them planty of distance as a head start (I couldn't have hit their boat with a cast if I gave it my best shot). This is the experience that I've always had, drifting boats in a queue. You finish your drift and motor back to the start point. The next boat is half way along the drift line. No waiting, no worries. Everyone's happy.

Long story short, as this first boat crosses the structure/mark, they fire the engine and back up over the mark again. Towards me. If they want to stay on the mark, just anchor!!! I moved to the side, they followed (on the inside). I went around the other side of the structure. They followed again, and again on the inside. They did everything they could to keep me off that peice of structure, which meant that for a lot of the time, they weren't on it either. After 10 min of this BS, I went to another mark and cleaned up.

But it still got me thinking:
What's the etiquette when two or more boats are drifting the same structure?

Cheers!

[johncar]

Serious question: what's the etiquette when drifting?


But it still got me thinking:
What's the etiquette when two or more boats are drifting the same structure?

Cheers!


Well it's pretty simple and I have often fished in pairs or more of boats with friends usually over the same ground.
We avoid motoring over the ground we are fishing for a start.

Whoever is there first will usually work out the drift pattern and start the first drift with the next boat coming in behind at a decent distance at least 50M and so on.

When you finish your drift, take a wide arc and circle back around behind the last boat or at the start of the drift pattern again. If someone else motored back at the same time I would usually let them go first and benefit from a bit of extra berley trail from them.

I repeat we take a wide circle back to the starting point as to not motor over the fishing ground or disturb whoever is in their drift pattern.

A newby can be forgiven and perhaps some kind advice if they seem open to the help, otherwise say someone who is just a rude w@#&^r ploughs straight back over the ground and parks in spitting distance off you in your drift path. If you have a faster boat, motor over and ask them what they are doing and try and set them straight but if they are rude, take a photo of them to post on here, let them know they will be famous, throw some old rotten squid or something at them, and do a few high speed runs over the ground before leaving, Well maybe not, Otherwise just find some other ground, they are not worth getting your day ruined over.

[thylacene]

I counted 52 boats at Montague when the Kings were running hard, all drifting across and area of about 400m x 150m. Our setup has a hardtop and we had a sea anchor out of the siderail to slow the drift, another guy had an open boat with a sea anchor trailing off the rear cleats, as a result we drifted together quite closely, each of us started motors, apologised and backed away, happened several times with different boats throughout the day with no issues, when there are that many out to play there isn't much that can be done. Everyone just loops back up the drift and has another go.

The same can't be said for one fo the Narooma charter operators who came out, we were the only boat out there on that occasion, and had a bait ball form up under the boat, there were four fo us hooked up and the charter operator parked less than 3m from us. One of our crew actually pushed us away as we delayed starting until the last fish was in. Idled off with a major dose of the $hits until we realised the bait ball had followed staying in the shadow of our boat, the kings followed and the dozen or so on the charter saw very little action, we moved about 200m and the bait travelled with us all the way. Felt a bit smug, picked up another couple of nice sized Kings for the table, decided we had enough so we did a few high speed runs over the bait to disperse them.

As luck would have it, I ran into one of the punters off the charter, they had a shit run, said the Kings went off the bite straight after we left. Had another little inner grin after that. Prob shouldn't the paying fishos suffered coz the charter skipper pee'd me off.

Often we will pull up within shouting range and ask about flatties, quite regularly get told "follow our drift, we been doing OK here", there are still people out there with etiquette, but most seem to be closer to fifty than twenty

[NAGG]

Serious question: what's the etiquette when drifting?

I like to drift over particular spots at Harry's. My normal complaint is that people motor over when we're hooked up (God forbid a double hookup!) and drop anchor in the line of our drift. Normally 'down drift' from us.
Anyway, was out there not too long ago and found a boat over one recently productive mark. I got excited when I saw that they too were drifting.
I pulled up in the general vicinity to get sort out the drift direction, waited for the first boat to go around and start their drift again, then queued up behind them giving them planty of distance as a head start (I couldn't have hit their boat with a cast if I gave it my best shot). This is the experience that I've always had, drifting boats in a queue. You finish your drift and motor back to the start point. The next boat is half way along the drift line. No waiting, no worries. Everyone's happy.

Long story short, as this first boat crosses the structure/mark, they fire the engine and back up over the mark again. Towards me. If they want to stay on the mark, just anchor!!! I moved to the side, they followed (on the inside). I went around the other side of the structure. They followed again, and again on the inside. They did everything they could to keep me off that peice of structure, which meant that for a lot of the time, they weren't on it either. After 10 min of this BS, I went to another mark and cleaned up.

But it still got me thinking:
What's the etiquette when two or more boats are drifting the same structure?

Cheers!


The trouble is with drifring is that a new boat arriving has no idea of what the other boat is doing -
I got abused once by some redneck - who was I reckon 150M from me when I arrived - found my mark ( no bigger than a tennis court) ..... layed back on the anchor & started to fish ( this location I knew well) . Anyhow maybe 15 mins later he drives up to me and gives me a gob full >:( I thought it was going to be on _ I was called every @*%( under the sun. ......... funnily his drift was all over the shop ...... sometimes literally a few meters to 100M plus away

Did I do anything wrong ? - I certainly dont think so ... particularly as it was fairly shallow reef & while my particular location was small (a high peak with a gutter next to it ..... very specific) the reef area was quite large .

I certainly dont think you can claim a location out in the blue when drifting along.
If you are working a bank - I think that is a bit different & certainly rude to jump in ahead ........ You will certainly cop a gob full if you did it on a fly stream where you never jump in ahead of someone fishing a run or pool ......

Chris

[pueter66]

Thanks to everyones posts on this topic. I dont think we have established rules of ettiquette but it would be nice when people are doing there boat licences that a set of do's and donts are handed out as a guideline for good behaviour on the water. I know they include safety topics but nothing on correct behaviours.
But at the end of the day ignorance and arrogance will always be such.
I was on the Keppels on the weekend and a lot of boats were anchored up on the shoreline and one boatie was doing rapid laps with a kid on a tube missing anchored boats by a few meters creating large wave which were smashing boats up onto the beach. This created a fair bit of agro. I was castnetting into a school of hardies heads when some kid about 8 years old rips back and forward through the school in his dads tender with a 5 horse on the back to disperse the school. He thought this was hilarious and his dad just sat there watching on the back of his mustang pleasure cruiser.
So now the idiots are breeding and multiplying. Greatttt!!

[BazzaD]

Excellent and pertinent topic, I hit a boiling pot of spotties in the bay last weekend, after second cast into it 2 boats turned up, "sorry mate, we're joining you - been chasing these all day!" - I had to ask the owner operator to switch his motor off! After 3 second fish they drifted right between me and the boil, had to fire up and move around them! Mind blowing, complete and utter disrespect for everyone else on the water.
And they were not newbies, they knew exactly what they were doing.
I find it hard to not be confrontational - turns a relaxing day into a stress test!

[odes20]

Been a very interesting read so far.

Suprising how many have had such bad experiences. I havent had such a bad run as any of these stories at all but i fish off Cairns so maybe the population base is smaller and on a percentage basis there are fewer clowns.

I did however have a rude shock from a charter operator off cairns one day. No not any of the well known ones!
This boat which only goes out occasionally was anchored at the northern end of a shoal which I would estimate is about 800 metres square. Not an unknown location either. Fortunately for me the mark on this shoal which i like the best is at the south east corner roughly of the patch.

So we go there and anchor up and end up in my view at least 400 metres from this charter. Presently the skipper comes out on the bow of his boat and starts waving his arms at us indicating to us to clear out!

He was so far away you could not here a word he was saying or even any noise from him. Really ticked me off so when we upped anchor later after a couple of nice fish I motored over to them and told him in no uncertain terms to settle down and that i had this mark for 5 years and was by no means encroaching on "his" mark.
I think 400 metres away is etiquette!

Really though these issues are about selfishness in people in general and what they do while boating is mostly what they do in life. Sad really but it is just a picture of the loss of good father figures and mentors for so many these days.

Cheers
JOhn

[pueter66]

Well said!

[Chamelion]

Should try being a kayak and land based fisherman.. Boaties are by and large an arrogant bunch of pricks.

[PADDLES]

i drift almost always and my philosophy with anchored boats is that i am the one under way and so therefore, as annoying as it may be, i crank up the motor and avoid a collision if someone anchors on my drift.

my other rule is to NEVER drive anywhere on the area i am going to drift over, i don't know whether i am just being supersticious, but i don't do it, and i frikkin hate it when someone else does it. it's sometimes difficult if there's a few boats around though.

[fisho64]

Interesting thing with this thread, if you read right thru it, there are quite a few that could have been written from each side of the same incident!
Which kinda goes to show (as with emails especially) that its easy to find fault if you are expecting it/looking for it. Not a criticism at all of anybody.
One persons "500 meters" is anothers "casting distance", one persons "blatantly pulled up on my spot" is anothers "Ive had this mark for years".

Best bet is to just smile and wave-and dont wreck ya day!

[Si]

i agree. a person at anchor is occupying a vary small area of fishing ground whereas a person drifting is technically 'when they say they anchored in my drift or on my mark' claiming a much larger area but they are the ones getting all shirty. there is a standard though and if im going to anchor i always hang back and see which boats are drifting and try and stay out of 'their' fishing ground. i admit i drift for snaps in the bay and get annoyed when someone anchors in a drift im doing but really i dont own or claim any particuler area and i make adjustments to go around. its really a shared thing. granted, it does depend where you are and proximity and comes down to respect and willingness to share but i think some guys take this 'my drift' a bit too far, literally.

[odes20]

Should try being a kayak and land based fisherman.. Boaties are by and large an arrogant bunch of pricks.

What a total exagerated load of bull.
John

[PinHead]

I have 2 rules when I go fishing:
1. Enjoy myself
2. Try not to annoy anyone else.

If someone does annoy me I just move..not going to let them ruin my fishing trip..if they still persist I will give them a gobfull then back to relaxation mode.

[PADDLES]

good stuff, i have the same rules pinhead. it's my recreational passtime and i'm not letting anyone ruin my day even if they buzz around on the bank i'm drifting it's still not worth getting upset over.

[pescados]

I had a boat 25 years ago but can't remember it being anything like today.
Probably more boats but hey the ocean/gulfs are pretty big.
Had I still a boat than a shanghai would certainly be part of the equipment.

[rabbi]

Good manners goes a long way, especially if an when you need assistance from another boatie (probly not from the one you just buzzed)

[GABBA110360]

Only on sat i was anchored just inside the end of the middle wall here at yamba nsw
there was a local fishing club comp on of some description .
i was throwing s/ps at the wall waiting for the tide flow to slow and i had a guy just motor around in front of me while i'm trying to catch a fish or two.
sounding the area i think
i said out pretty loud (you gotta be f******* kidding me a'rnt you ?)

just a arogant a******e i reckon
cheers
ken

[flatzie]

Dont get me started on Jetskis! Miles of ocean or bay, where do they set their course, right over the area your lines are behind the boat. I honestly think they feel so great about their machine so they just have to come right past you so you can see it. Beggars belief.
I think a lot of this highlights the fact that our waterways are getting increasingly crowded, and the ease of getting into boating as mentioned earlier.
I remember some time back there was a push by fishos at Awoonga Dam to come up with a sign at the ramp and a sticker to be placed on boats/utes etc. There must be some way of getting this issue more into the minds of people so it becomes more of a rule.
Maybe it should be a key matter dealt with in getting a Boat Licence?
Maybe on the drift issue, it should be the same as the at anchor issue. If someone is there first, in the vicinity, just dont go there, drifting or otherwise. If a person is trolling an area, dont go in and anchor up, simple.
Most blokes are pretty determined, I think if we get to our spot and someone else is there, it just needs a deep breath and go and fish elsewhere.
Anyone have a recommended anchoring distance that would be etiquette?
I have worked something out tho, if you fish very early. or late arvo, you get a lot more peace and quiet.
Plan to arrive when others are leaving, and to be leaving when others are arriving. Much better fishing hours and peace and quiet.
Flatzie

[D river]

Was out about a week ago off to a very special redy hole that a certain charter bloke has been chasing off my mate alot of late only to find him in it right to the meter with customers hooked up on good fish. He gave a drive by a couple of months earlier with a radar on top. Since then instead of the ussual travelly and macs in his pics its now full of reds. The charter bloke used to own my mates boat so it was no accident that he done the drive by. In 15yrs we have never seen another boat near this spot and we never anchor and as soon as we sight another boat we move to protect it. It was always providing around 15-20 good fish in about 20 mins and then we'd move. Needless to say the day after when we got to it we got only 1 just legal nani in hour and half, My mate is a little more liberal than me as I was keen to board his boat and throw him and his gps and radar in the drink as who would here his screams 80kms out to sea.

[Pazz01]

Hey D River, I bet that gave you guys the sh*ts. Usually its the charter operator trying to stop us rec fishes from getting their marks. It's a pitty that they go and flog the pants off a place. The reds move off after a while and sometimes don't come back.

Pazz

[fisho8]

Had a guy in a tinny come across the back of me as I was reversing at the Redcliffe Coast Guard Boat ramp he could see I was coming back but yet still proceeded to come across the back of me as I was coming back to line the boat up with the trailer all I can say is I raised the motor up so the tip of the prop was just on top of the water wacked in drive and gave it a rev all I can say is he got wet 175 opti props throw out a got bit of spray haha bloke shit his pants. I just said sorry mate did not see you there and proceed to drive forward. I pulled the boat into the rigging area and was there with the missus and my daughter. I could tell he wanted to say something but did not want to cause a scene as he drove off I looked up at him and waived and smiled he gave me the finger and shook his head I mean really I get the finger because he could not wait 1 minute and stop haha. Gotta love boat ramps aswell that is when you really see the selfish side of people everyone wants to get out at once and when you have only 1 pontoon it makes for interesting viewing.:)

[D river]

Yeah pazz gave us the S**ts proper good I've rang the bloke and had a go at him too but he swares he found it on his own but we know thats a load of crap. Will be a long time till we find a spot like that again, if we ever do.

[Shawn 66]

Bloody hell , after reading all these horror stories , now I know why I only fish freshwater away from everyone else . Might reduce my catch to a certain degree , however it makes the day a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
Shawn

[Gon Fishun]

Shouldn't one give way to all other traffic whilst reversing and sustain from injuring people:-X

[fisho8]

Yeah maybe one should but when one is committed in a 6.4 mtr boat coming backwards it is a little hard to pull up instantly for someone who cannot wait 30 seconds for me to get out of the way pure and simple he was impaitient and he got wet. Bit like when I was putting the boat in and a charter boat decided he wanted to take up the whole pontoon in his 7mtr centre cab for about 15mins to load his clients on and have a talk to them before they went out I didn't try and pull up behind him to get my wife and daughter off the pontoon I was paitient and waited people need to wait their turn as far as I am concerned and there will be no dramas.:)

[wags on the water]

This is a case where everyone actually got on ok. Don't get me wrong though - blowflies really sh!t me. No secret spots here, just because 1 boat picked up a trophy fish on day 1 of the Barra Nats 2011
69040

[ShaneC]

What Pazz is saying is my biggest grumble. I'll give an example of something that happened to me at Agnes a couple of weeks ago. I had found a very small pinnacle that was loaded and fishing well when out of the blue a bloke in a large cat with a radar came within 20m of us and started drifting. I KNOW this spot is not well known due to where it is and how it fishes. As luck would have it, they did a drift and caught nothing and took off, but in the process saw us load a few on. I'll lay money that he goes straight there next time, gets a few and it becomes a honey hole for him. Now one extra boat will not kill the spot off, especially if it only gets fished irregularly, but its just RUDE. There was no communication between the boats because I didnt want to give away that the place fished well, if he simply noted the depth we were fishing and looked around, he would have found fish and I have no dramas with that.

Why should I find the fish for him???

[oldboot]

Shouldn't one give way to all other traffic whilst reversing and sustain from injuring people:-X

From memory, unlike on the road there is no distinction as to the direction of travel of a boat in the colregs...forward or backward the rules are the same and there is no such thing as giving way on the water, all parties are obliged keep a proper look out and to avoid collision.

A party loading a boat on a trailer or slip cradle could easily be argued to be in a situation of restricted manovering capability, and at definite risk of comming backward under minimal control. A prudent person would steer clear and keep clear untill the vessel is secured or safely cleared.

The single biggest failure in understanding of the international colision regulations that have stood for nearly 200 years in the current form is that they are bassed on consideration of others......no I'll go further your obligation to all others.....where our road rules seem to be framed arround your rights in relation to the other vehicle.

cheers

[Si]

I thought there is general giveway rules on the water, give way to vessels restricted in their ability to move such as sail boats, give way to your starboard side i.e turn to starboard. they might not say 'giveway' but thats what i infer. am i wrong? maybe i need a refresher....

[oldboot]

Yeh I know it is nit picky, but just using the words "give way" produces the wrong impression.

the words "give way" and "right of way" belong on the road and give people the wrong idea.

The concept is "collision avoidance" and except under exceptional circumstances any two vessels that colide will both be found partly at fault regardless of the detail in colision regs.

I know the paraphrased driving guides use the words "give way", but I do not believe it should be taken in the same way as on the road....in that you "give way", but there is no "right of way"...more accurately..you "stay out of the way".

and in the boat ramp case above, that is what should have happened, the impatient bloke should have "stayed out of the way".

We do take it for granted, but "stay out of the way" is a proper nautical term in origin and very deep in meaning.

AND a very pertinent concept in the original discussion in this thread..if we all "stayed out of each others way", there would be very little to winge about in this thread.

Just to give an example of manners.
I was monitoring the port frequency one day and heard a FBS (ing big ship) hail a small sail yacht comming the other way on the VHF.

Unknown sailing craft........... this is the captain of................various pleasntries......I propose to pass you port to port in the channel approximately...........this is the skipper of..... agreed port to port......good afternoon........good afternoon.

The captain ( a real one) of a ship who's smallest anchor would weigh many times the smaller craft, treating the smaller craft with respect and courtesy...why should it be any other way.

cheers

[pueter66]

That makes two of us. I have always thought power gives way to sail and to give way to starboard.

[fisho8]

Just want to update this thread from my fishing exploits today. Went over to Mud this moring had a great morning fishing bringing about 30 or more sqiure Kept about 8 as they were legal size had a great run back the Scarbrough no dramas was feeling really good about the day I have just had. Got back to the boat ramp at the Redcliffe coast guard on coming into the pontoon there were people fishing off the middle section of the pontoon where boats of all sizes are coming in every half hour or so. As I was apporoaching you would think this long haired moron would have pulled his and his sons fishing lines up but hey being the simple dipshit he was decided to leave them in forcing me to manouver my 6.4mtr boat to the far end of the pontoon.....not get my engine tangled or anything in their lines which his line did anyway.There was no way I could have got around them....now you would think someone would say sorry about that mate but this clown said hey mate did you not see my line in the water there ....I really did not know how to respond as part of me was wanting to drown this moron and just put him out of his misery. But I held my tounge gave him a look that would have frozen over the depths of hell and him and his hill billy family moved off the pontoon and over to the marina inlet where they should have been in the first place. Hopefully I will have no more drama at this ramp the third time around But I mean really is it me or I am I expecting too much of people to just use common sence and say hey look there is a boat coming into the pontoon here lets just get our lines in so this guy and use the pontoon for about 5 mins to go and and get his trailer to put his boat on....Please tell me am I making too much out of this.

[pueter66]

No fisho8 I dont think you are I live in a small coastal town in queensland were most of us a fisho's but we are cursed with beach ramps which are only really only suitable for bigger boats at high tide. there are rocks on either side with small patches of sand. I came in early this year and a punter and his wife on the boat ramp refused to move. so i had to anchor off and swim in. I asked the bloke why he didnt move and he stated that he was there first. I said mate this is a boat ramp its alright to fish on them but move when a boat comes in. He said he didnt own a boat and that was my problem. So i went and got into my car wet and reversed my trailer down the ramp and he still didnt move. So i kept reversing and run over his fold up chair. He got upset with that and i said thats not my chair thats not my problem. So he storms off with his wife raining insults on me as he left. I am not an agro person and i believe in giving everyone a fair go. But it seems that there are people out there that will just go out of their way to be difficult. This bloke was not a local but retired and travelling through you would think he would have had more sense. It was actually lucky that he encountered me first because some of the other locals would not have been so nice. I think the point I am trying to make is regardless of what your fishing out of or just standing on the beach. That our behaviours have a big impact on the quality of the day for our fellow fisherman. Do the right thing.

[Defore]

Interesting that fishos on boat ramps and pontoons think they have rights over the boats.
There is a public pontoon down the Gold Coast behind Tiki that allows 20 minute for private boats.
It has a sign saying that people fishing have to give way to boats. They are not stopping fishing off it, they are just clarifying to stop hassles.
I thought it would be common sense that a pontoon installed for boats would give boats priority, but I guess a lot of people just don't have any common sense (some even look brain dead)

[NAGG]

Like the dill at white Is yesterday ....... I'm lined up to reverse my boat into the centre lane & he drives in ..... jumps out to go get the car while his missus holds the boat on the ramp . ...... totally clueless
Then the drips that fished so close to me yesterday that my anchor would have nearly been under their boat .......... they totally stuffed my oftion of casting up tide & drifting my placcies back. I mean hell its a big river ....... why do you need to sit 15M away from another boat

Chris

[fisho8]

Yeah that is it guys common sence on the water respecting ones fishing space when you are fishing in a huge area and showing courtesy at boatramps and giving everyone a chance to load and unload their boat safely it is not asking too much. It is the odd few that just do not think and just want to get in or get out of the water as quick as they can or just want to fish on top of you when they have the whole river,bay,ocean to fish in I picked up a good tip in this months Bush and beach mag this month which is more than likely common knowlege to most people here and that is to not cross the rear of a boat at close quarters as you can disrupt that boats berley trail and spook whatever fish have come onto it something I did not think of and will be mindful of when out on the water also.

[PNG1M]

Etiquitte...yep agree its important (applies to driving too) but there always seems to be enough numbskulls around who don't think enough about 'other people' and/or expected protocol etc. In other words, they have "tunnel vision" that mostly encompasses 'me, myself and I'.

I've seen potential flare-ups before like on the Broadwater (Gold Coast) when the current is flowing fairly fast and one boat is anchored and another is drifting not too far from shore and when they cross paths within 3 metres or so of each other there are moans and groans and winges from both boat crews about who should give way or be getting their lines out of the water or to "pi## off" etc.

Even on Fraser Island when the tailor are on the bite and I'm driving down the beach and see ten or twenty people already fishing the same area - shoulder to shoulder, I think like I'm intruding by joining in (even though the blokes there mostly likely don't even know each other in the first place).

Anyway, I totally agree that fishing etiquitte is very important (as is etiquitte elsewhere). Deciding factors include personality, awareness, background, purpose, attitude and common sense of the everyday people who are accessing the same place as others.

[GABBA110360]

I've seen potential flare-ups before like on the Broadwater (Gold Coast) when the current is flowing fairly fast and one boat is anchored and another is drifting not too far from shore and when they cross paths within 3 metres or so of each other there are moans and groans and winges from both boat crews about who should give way or be getting their lines out of the water or to "pi## off" etc.

just a point when i was reading your post PNG1M
I'M FAIRLY SURE that a vessel that is drifting is deemed to be underway.
in that case it must giveway or show clearance to the vessel at anchor.
probably would be different if they were anchored in a navigation channel and we have a vessel restricted by draft or manouverability

i know of a case of a 50 ton trawler colliding with a tinny drifting across its path
worth thinking about because that incident ended with overturned manslaughter charges
regards
ken

[pueter66]

Thanks for all the stories so far it has been a great read. Its amazing how things are getting out there.

[Hornblower]

The rule of sinkers was what I was told by an old fisherman. If you can tie a decent sinker to the end of your line and cast it and hit the other's boat then they are too close. If they complain they are simply told - "Just checking if you are too close and yep - you are!"

I guess the point is the idiots you encountered had to work very hard to become THAT rude!

[timddo]

I was fishing on the Goldcoast on the weekend about 6 or so meters from the rock wall. Naturally i was casting towards the rocks and a boat rocks up 2 meters from me( thats between me and the rock wall). Shinning a bright torch at the rock wall . Asking Is there any Fish. My reply was not any more, you ran over my fishing lines >:(. He then called me a Smart Ass and made a comment about me moving my anchor line so he can drift the full rock wall. I told him to piss off and couldn't be buggered to say anything anymore and just kept throwing my lines towards his boat.

About 2 hours later another boat rocks up and does the same thing, at at 1am another boat comes. WTF i had enough and went home.

This was just the north wall at wavebreak too.

[oldboot]

The reality is that self centred people do not and can not grasp the concept of courtesy, and etiquite is far more complicated than that.

If you tell some one off that is doing the wrong thing, they will call you rude.

To them courtesy is a one way thing, going their way.

Unfortunately courtesy is not all that common these days.

Of course all of these incidents display a lack of inteligence and vast ignorance of the fishing craft.

But ya gat that these days.

cheers

[blueline]

good thread guys, im a big pusher for a ramp etiquette.
up here in innisfail we have a two lane ramp no pontoon, when i come in i look at the last boat in the line and go in behind him and wait my turn, but you get these people who must be better then the rest of us , they drop off people on the rocks up stream, so you have three boats on the ramp 4 boats in a line and 10 drifting around their car backs down and stuffs up the flow, these people say they want to avoid the caos but they make it, the best one is when they push in then their electric winch wont work, then were down to one lane and theirs now 20 boats waiting. i will all ways wait my turn and when its my turn i go strait in regardless.

[pueter66]

We just returned from the Keppels after being over there for two weeks ( thanks to Spaniard King for getting me a new O2 sensor Asap) and during that time I anchored my boat off shore. I have had the habit for years of throwing over two anchors at night as insurance. This came in handy because some day trippers came across in a bow rider and took the kids tubing. I watched as they missed my boat and other anchored boats by mere feet. Sure enough the prop got caught stopped his boat I watched my first anchor rope go slack and the second one take up. I rowed out went for a swim and retrieved my anchor which was only in about 8ft of water. Still those anchors are hard to swim with. Guy came over and apologised. I guess rules still aint rules. Hopefully he learnt from his mistakes. The two anchor rule while in port certainly has saved my hide a couple of times over the years. pete

[Micadogs]

I have some good and bad experiences. I will share a good experience I had a few months ago at the Sevens - east of Nth Straddie. My boat was bottom bashing on the reef. Two boats came and joined us. They both intended trolling around the sevens. They asked what style of fishing we were doing and which way we were drifting. They told me their intention of trolling. They did so around my boat at a good and safe distance. They had a triple hook up of mack tuna aorund 6kg. Not being good eating fish, they offered us one as bait for the bottom bashing. We caught heaps more fish bottom bashing with the new bait. they continued to catch more fish trolling around.

some very simple communication, some common sense and all done safely. All of us had a good day sharing the one area.

Regards Adam

[pueter66]

I year on my secret fishing spot is now more populated than a bangkok bar, damn the GPS

[theangryangler]

I was out off moreton last week chasin up a school of tuna when a few other boats saw me chucking slugs to the school came over to have a sus... fair enough till one of them just charged str8 thru the school and after gettin thru the school his mate with rod waiting cast behind their boat expecting the school to still be feeding after they drove thru it at a high rate of knots!! NO IDEA!!! and the near anchoring is shocking i have had guys anchor up current from me and cast their rigs down either side of my boat as they were only 10 to 15m in front of me when anchor set!! i just start up and make a lot of noise then leave hopefully leaving the fish too scared to bite....

[pueter66]

I was out off moreton last week chasin up a school of tuna when a few other boats saw me chucking slugs to the school came over to have a sus... fair enough till one of them just charged str8 thru the school and after gettin thru the school his mate with rod waiting cast behind their boat expecting the school to still be feeding after they drove thru it at a high rate of knots!! NO IDEA!!! and the near anchoring is shocking i have had guys anchor up current from me and cast their rigs down either side of my boat as they were only 10 to 15m in front of me when anchor set!! i just start up and make a lot of noise then leave hopefully leaving the fish too scared to bite....

Yeah I guess it is probably even worst down there in the south east corner with the larger population it must be hell to try and fish alone. Cheers Pete

[Lancair]

Re drifting etiquette, I was recently difring over a patch in 105m, with approx 8-10 boats drifting over the same area. Some had sea anchors out, some (inc us) were using reverse at idle to slow the wind drift and others were drifting switched off, no sea anchor. You can imagine the chaos that ensued. We had two tangles with other lines and saw at least 3 other boats involved in tangled lines.
What surprised me most was that most skippers involved were paying absolutely NO attention to their boats course or proximity to other boats, once they'd dropped their lines they were fishing! And NOT skippering and fishing. At least twice I had to yell out to boats drifting very close to me and somewhat quicker. We're all technically underway so ALL need to look out for each other. I also had to manouver my boat out of others way when they backing up harder on a good fish. A skippers responsibility doesnt end once your fishing or at anchor fishing for that matter.

[Crunchy]

Pulled in to scarby pontoon a couple of hours ago, smallish tinny smack in the middle, watched me tie up half on half off the pontoon, didn't bother to say, "want us to move forward/ backwards a couple of metres?"

Ah well....

[caravellerob]

It happens everywhere we were sitting about 50 metres from another boat off Slade Rock in Mackay a couple of weekends ago well away from the marker and old mate comes straight between us doing about 30 knots and gives us a wave. He could have gone on the western side of the rock (where I go when coming from the same direction as old mate) or he could have passed nearer to the marker (keep in mind we were about 100+ metres from the marker). We often joke when coming back from out wide when we see 2 boats anchored near each other '"we should go between them so we can be like the locals"

[Soliak]

Went out Saturday with two mates and launched off Coochin Creek. Tried a few different spots and had just got to a new one, anchored up, threw our lines in and were sitting having a beer when this group of young fishos (I am young too - 24) screamed past us in 2 different fishing boats in a channel probably 30M wide. These guys ran right over our lines at full speed and then had the tenacity to give me the finger whilst we were death staring them.

Luckily guys like that have cars easily identifiable at the boat ramp.

[finga]

Went out Saturday with two mates and launched off Coochin Creek. Tried a few different spots and had just got to a new one, anchored up, threw our lines in and were sitting having a beer when this group of young fishos (I am young too - 24) screamed past us in 2 different fishing boats in a channel probably 30M wide. These guys ran right over our lines at full speed and then had the tenacity to give me the finger whilst we were death staring them.

Luckily guys like that have cars easily identifiable at the boat ramp.
Was one of them young fella's you Muddy Dude Dan???

[Fed]

When I see people anchored & fishing in the channel I keep to about 8 Knots to create maximum wash & increase the chances of hooking their lines with my prop. Death stares and snapper heads are easily warded off by waving as I go past.

[Soliak]

When I see people anchored & fishing in the channel I keep to about 8 Knots to create maximum wash & increase the chances of hooking their lines with my prop. Death stares and snapper heads are easily warded off by waving as I go past.

If only we could all be like you, our estuaries could be washing machines and the fish would all float to the top!