Educate us please

[Bows Up]

When approaching a pack of boats fishing, keep your distance and suss out what's going on. Direction, speed etc.
Wait for a spot in the parade and away you go.
Used to fish the Cap where crowded conditions were the fall norm. If everyone followed the pattern, you could fish a lot of boats.

 

[fish brain]

1) Dont roar trough the pack at full speed, or even half speed chucking a big wake behind you stay at least 200 meters way when passing the pack.
2) Dont race into the pack throwing a big wake. Then stop in the middle of everything and start setting up your gear. Stop 200 yards out, set up, then troll in using the same tack as everyone else.

 

[fishin solo]

1) Dont roar trough the pack at full speed, or even half speed chucking a big wake behind you stay at least 200 meters way when passing the pack.
2) Dont race into the pack throwing a big wake. Then stop in the middle of everything and start setting up your gear. Stop 200 yards out, set up, then troll in using the same tack as everyone else.

Gotta say this pisses me off the most and gets worse every year it seems

 

[RiverBoy]

I think this is a great etiquette opportunity, but from the other direction. How to be in the right: most people are terrible at this, and come across angry insulting and condescending.

If somebody is doing something stupid, go up to him and offer some kind polite advice. I guarantee he's so worried about his boat and gear that he never stopped to think about other people, and will be embarrassed and remorseful if he finds out he's being impolite.
He's fishing, his primary recreational investment is a boat just like you, you probably have more in common than you think.
If he's inexperienced, help him learn rather than proving to him that the other guys at the ramp are a bunch of jerks.

Totally agree with you; if that person is willing to accept a little friendly advice....the last time i tried this the guy told me to go eff myself.
I often help people retrieve their boats or help launch. Had a couple guys help me launch my boat in union bay a few weeks ago. get what you're saying. karma.

 

[fishchaser]

How about the anglers that use their boat once a year and do nothing to the boat before the hook the trailer to the truck. They get to the launch ramp and can’t get the bow wench to unhook or disengage. After battling that issue they finally get the boat into the water and then the boat doesn’t start.


I have also witnessed twice the angler that with a trailer with rollers disconnect their trailer tie down and bow wench before backing down the launch ramp. Each time the boat ended up on the launch ramp. One guy said screw it and had several people push his boat to the water to float it while the other person waited for High Tide. Lots of friends were made that day.


When it comes to trolling in a pack it is best to troll in a straight line and give anglers fortunate enough to catch a fish the room needed to fight their fish by pulling out of line. Karma has a way if coming back, would you like to lose a long awaited fish to the disrespectful angler.


Also boaters need to apply the rules of right away (Superior Tonnage) if they chose to zigzag their trolling patterns in crowded pacts. I have given up on these idiots and set my auto pilot on a course and only deviate for those lucky anglers that caught a fish. You would be surprised how many times a guy in a 18 foot boat flips me the bird for not deviating my 40 foot sport fishing boats course so he can continue zigzagging his way through a pack.

 

[tubber]

Also boaters need to apply the rules of right away (Superior Tonnage) if they chose to zigzag their trolling patterns in crowded pacts. I have given up on these idiots and set my auto pilot on a course and only deviate for those lucky anglers that caught a fish. You would be surprised how many times a guy in a 18 foot boat flips me the bird for not deviating my 40 foot sport fishing boats course....

I'm not surprised at all, if you want to drive in straight lines on autopilot, when everyone else is trying to follow a contour and catch a fish. Both boats need to give way to make the day fun. The comment about superior tonnage is just silly, and implies that your big boat makes you more entitled, like the jock in the shower with the biggest dick. I catch way more fish on the turn, changing speeds, changing gear height, or zigzagging than going in a straight line. In a crowd, I am careful not to impede anyone, regardless of what you may think I am doing. No one flips me the bird.
If your boat is too big to maneuver, you need to go outside the pack.

 

[Matsutake]

40 footer should behave as others to get along keeping on.

 

[Reel Time]

Sportfishing in a 40 foot, lol. Definitely not effective and maneuverable tight to shore, keep that thing offshore and stay out of the pack.

 

[Sentinel]

Yes, running straight through the crowd on AP in a big boat is just as boorish of behavior as trolling perpendicular to the trolling path on a smaller vessel. I try and play nice when I am a guest in a foreign country myself. You may find it makes the experience much more pleasant.

 

[fishchaser]

Wow, the form should be friendly. I was simply sharing my experiences fishing 25 miles off shore with a constant bottom depth (Rats Nose). When your fishing in a large boat alone or with an inexperienced group and setting gear you rely on auto pilot to simply get your down riggers down. Nice to see stupidity used for justification.

I have even had those selfish people try to race in front and zigzag 80 miles off shore tuna fishing.

 

[Sentinel]

This is the internet and maybe your intent was different then what was written and perceived but it came across like you seemed to think you could set your AP and due to having a larger boat, not deviate unless you saw a fish on. There is no "superior tonnage"rules of the road btw. There is giving way rules for encountering vessels with limited steerage but your 40' boat does not qualify and you need to try and follow the rules just like the other smaller boats around you. There will always be a couple of boats in the pack that want to be contrary and disrupt the troll path. I try to id these guys early on and make my turns accordingly to try and stay away from them. This is friendly observation and I hope you take it as such. Tight lines.

 

[littlechucky]

I would love to see the starboard to shore has the right of way rule in Masset, as well as you catch a fish in the hot spot move your butt into deeper water and give everyone else a chance... Two local lodges are total hogs...

If possible, I try to troll my fish out to deeper water and away from the pack.

Especially if fishing solo.

 

[NautiGirl]

Boat ramp etiquette: test fire all your boats motors at home (on that day) before going to the ramp. This removes uncertainty, reduces **** shows and frustration of the owner and the lineup of boaters you become blind to. Pre-load your boat before arriving at the ramp. Do not wait until you are on the ramp to put your rods, tackle, lunches, crab traps etc into the boat. Educate your boating partners and family in how to effectively handle ropes and start the boat when departing and arriving from the ramp, so that they are more help and less hazard around the boat/ramp/dock. Standing around waiting for you to go park the truck when the boat could be warming up is undue delay for all. When launching, check to make sure that the one boat in, one boat out rule is followed. Don't be the second launch when there is a lineup of boats waiting to get in. Above all- get/tell fishing stories while waiting for the ramp or after clearing the ramp area, not while on the ramp and people are waiting.

 

[tinboatrobb]

All these tips are extra meaningful at a place like cattle point where there is not dock and boats have to mill around on the water waiting their turn. Takes me about 2 mins to launch and maybe 3 to recover my 14 ft lund.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Gotta say this pisses me off the most and gets worse every year it seems

Its funny I sort of thought it was a Sooke weekender thing. Then I saw all the idiots on my last trip to Hardy flying up North past Duvall every morning. Cut point and go right through pack. I mean they weren't even stopping there anyway.

This too me is one of the most irritating and dangerous behavior. In Sooke the biggest offenders in fog are radar equipped boats ( and yes that is some guides too) feeling all pumped there radar is on. Nothing like low fog and some idiot goes 30 knots close to you just to save a minute instead of going out away on a point. It scares the **** out of me sometimes as they can come out of nowhere.

How hard is it to go around, and slow down a little.

 

[RODNREEL]

I'm a bit of a gypsy I use a few different ramps and I find things are done a little differently at all of them. I'd like to see some signage.Rules for the ramp. Rules for parking. That way if some asshat stops on the ramp to clean his fish someone can point the sign out to him and if you park in the wrong stop or block someone in you get towed. That way same rules for everyone !!

 

[CIVANO]

At Port Renfrew, Island Outfitters has a metal boat that returns from the bank every day hugging the shore on plane from Walburn to Owens Point going right through the boats fishing the shore. They have been asked many times on Ch 6 to please go around us not through us. They ignore the request.

 

[Rockfish]

When I was somewhat younger I fished with a much older guy in his 17 foot boat. He was both lacking in confidence and not very good at backing up his boat and trailer and launching and retrieving so i did it for him, including backing down his long narrow driveway and the tight turn at the end into the garage. I did not really understand it then but now that I am older I have a lot more empathy. The things that you could do easily at one time, get more difficult with age and related health issues, so give the old guys a break if they are having difficulty and taking too long at the launch; one day it may be you. As for myself, with the increasing years, I am lucky to have the resources to leave my boat at the marina all year long in a slip or on land storage. I now pay the marina operator to launch and retrieve the boat, which is mostly paid for in fuel savings for the big gas hog truck I don't have to drive out. I have seen too many major screw ups at launches including guys dropping the boat short and grinding the glass hull on the concrete trying to push it into the water or cracking the leg on an inboard/outboard resulting in leg oil on the surface all over the bay and a destroyed prop. With age and declining skills, the last thing I would want to do now is launching and retrieving a boat on every fishing trip and probably taking too long to do it.

 

[black dog]

This one always makes me laugh.................

 

[Sentinel]

I am a trained professional, I can help lol.