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Post by paperworker on Jul 9, 2013 21:59:34 GMT -5
Posted on another champlain board
"the fleet" and bassboats « Thread Started Today at 3:39pm »
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today I read yet another thread on another board relating to bass boats driving through “the fleet” of salmon and laker trollers, and frankly it kind of seemed naive. Apparently the trollers travel in packs. I realize there are some people who drive their fast boats irresponsibly, and since the law states you have to slow to no-wake speed within 200 feet (67 yards) of another vessel there are probably cases where the fast boat is entirely within its rights even though the other vessel feels “crowded”, and cases where they are probably breaking the law…70 yards isn’t that far on the water…but it also seems to me like the “fleet” is asking for problems by fishing where they do in the way they do, i.e. in large groups at the mouths of the bays. I understand the enjoyment of hanging out in close proximity to a bunch of your friends, sharing info, covering a larger area, etc…but isn’t this a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy complaining about having boats run through their group at higher speeds? I mean, virtually EVERY time I launch out of converse bay or apple island, every time I come out of town farm bay around thompsons point, out of the mouth of otter creek, etc I idle out past the buoys and parked sailboats, get up on plane, and inevitably right in front of me at the mouth of the bay is a line of boats stretching for a literal mile in both directions. There are times when this is an exaggeration, but there are also plenty of times when its not at all an exaggeration to say that I come out of a bay and have to change course almost 90-degrees and go half a mile (verified on my GPS) out of my way to avoid going between boats that are only 150 yards or less apart. I don’t own a bassboat, so I only blow by them at 35 or 40, and I try to give everyone a very wide berth…much more than the required 67 yards…but honestly I don’t know what they expect clogging up the mouths of higher-traffic bays with such large groups of closely-spaced boats. If you don’t want to get run into, don’t stand in doorways…if you don’t want to get run over don’t lie down in the road…and if you don’t want boats driving between other boats don’t hang out in a closely spaced line that stretches for a mile across the mouth of bay with a boat launch in it!
I realize they have as much right to be there as I do, but isn’t it common sense that this “fleet” is leading to more negative experiences than would happen if the boats were spaced farther apart? I cant go really fast in my boat, I don’t fish tournaments, and I’m really never in much of a hurry either…but it still feels to me like the “fleet” is “in my way” and often forces me to go an unreasonably long way out of my way to go around them. I don’t think anyone intentionally runs within 70 yards of another boat at higher speeds when there is an easy alternative…but when the easy alternative is turning and going half way across the bay, around the line of boats, and back—especially if there’s weather and you are beating the waves, etc in one direction—I have to think that’s WHY people are choosing to thread the needle between trollers, and possibly go closer to the other boats than they’d like, possibly even pushing inside the 67 yard boundary. I’m willing to bet the “fleet” members would call me an idiot if I went jogging at night on a busy road wearing black, even though doing that is entirely within my rights and it probably would be the drivers fault if someone hit me…so why are they choosing to act in a way that invites behavior they obviously don’t like or consider safe??
It seems totally reasonable to expect that all boats will give other boats significantly more distance than the law requires, especially if they are going really fast...but it also seems reasonable to ask somewhat cohesive groups of boats to try and keep enough room between themselves that a boat can easily and safely pass THROUGH the group if they are stretched out for a distance measured in parts of a mile rather than yards at the mouth of a bay or other higher-traffic area.
This thought process seems totally logical to me, am I being unreasonable?
« Last Edit: Today at 5:59pm by macintosh »
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2013 12:11:30 GMT -5
Yea, from the bass fishing forum. Looks like he created a new profile here just to agitate and make the same comment on the LCI thread...a subject that was discussed a year ago. Oh well...boys will be boys.
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Post by schodackbassman on Jul 10, 2013 12:24:38 GMT -5
I've looked all over for over for the original post referred to and can't find it if it recent. If something real old it serves no ones interest to open old can of worms. We all got horror stories but if we think about it, we know we've many more good experiences then bad.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2013 13:24:47 GMT -5
Agreed schodack. Check the LCI thread, he just has a different name here but it's basically the same thing paperworker posted here from the other site. And I stand corrected, it isn't a 1 year old subject, its a 2 year old subject. Started LCI weekend 2011.
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brddg
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Post by brddg on Jul 10, 2013 16:37:47 GMT -5
Agree or disagree, I don’t expect anyone to change their mind, but I do think its worth thinking about whether boats running too close do so purely because they are idiots or if perhaps some of those idiots would choose to act differently if the “fleet” chose to spread out a bit, and whether anyone else is affected by a nearly mile-long line of closely spaced boats trolling by the mouth of a high-traffic bay. If that counts as stirring the pot then so be it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2013 17:21:34 GMT -5
Well it's not easy to take this seriously given your argument. Your own words...boats trolling spaced 150 yards or less apart a mile in each direction. That computes to 23.45 boats spread over 2 miles. First the "fleet" isn't that big. Second, I would kill for that level of solitude down here!!!
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brddg
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Post by brddg on Jul 10, 2013 17:43:52 GMT -5
Apologise for my lack of delivery.. Unfortunately Ive never been known for tact. I freely admit to some hyperbole, but I figure based on the gps path from this weekend that I went 1/2 mile out of my way each way, to avoid cutting between boats and therefore the total procession was about a mile long...plus or minus, just based on my feeling that I was heading more or less for the middle of the line of boats, and I went a half mile south to go around. Figure a dozenish boats over a mile. Perhaps some werent even fishing, although it appeared that way. Its not that there are a dozen boats in a mile, its that if your timing is wrong, ,as mine was, there are a dozen semi-connected boats forming a blockade right in your path if you are leaving a bay or a boat launch. In this case I was coming out of keeler bay and didnt see the extent of the line until I was coming around the point and so it caused an abrupt direction change--had this been the middle of the broad lake or had I approached from a different direction it would have been easier to correct earlier. Honestly, this isnt a big issue for me, but it happens a few times a summer and in combination with stumbling on the bassboat thread yesterday (which was only 5 or 8 threads down on the first page, I didnt realize until after that it was old, and I didnt dredge it up just for this) it stuck in my craw and I was a bit annoyed to be forced to go what seemed to me an unreasonably long way out of my way to get where I was going, so after reading that thread it dawned on me that the two are perhaps connected. You guys may very well tell me Im full of it, thats fine, I just figured Id throw it out there and see if anyone would think about it. I obviously could have phrased some of it better, but it still seems at least worth considering.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2013 19:40:17 GMT -5
Apologise for my lack of delivery.. Unfortunately Ive never been known for tact. I freely admit to some hyperbole, but I figure based on the gps path from this weekend that I went 1/2 mile out of my way each way, to avoid cutting between boats and therefore the total procession was about a mile long...plus or minus, just based on my feeling that I was heading more or less for the middle of the line of boats, and I went a half mile south to go around. Figure a dozenish boats over a mile. Perhaps some werent even fishing, although it appeared that way. Its not that there are a dozen boats in a mile, its that if your timing is wrong, ,as mine was, there are a dozen semi-connected boats forming a blockade right in your path if you are leaving a bay or a boat launch. In this case I was coming out of keeler bay and didnt see the extent of the line until I was coming around the point and so it caused an abrupt direction change--had this been the middle of the broad lake or had I approached from a different direction it would have been easier to correct earlier. Honestly, this isnt a big issue for me, but it happens a few times a summer and in combination with stumbling on the bassboat thread yesterday (which was only 5 or 8 threads down on the first page, I didnt realize until after that it was old, and I didnt dredge it up just for this) it stuck in my craw and I was a bit annoyed to be forced to go what seemed to me an unreasonably long way out of my way to get where I was going, so after reading that thread it dawned on me that the two are perhaps connected. You guys may very well tell me Im full of it, thats fine, I just figured Id throw it out there and see if anyone would think about it. I obviously could have phrased some of it better, but it still seems at least worth considering. From your post I think I was one if the boat you went around. I can distinctly remember one boat who took the time to go around. My wife and I commented. On your good manners compared to the 3 other boats we saw that day cut between the fleet and were on plane within 50 yards of trolling vessels, which is not legal. Thanks for your seamanship. The salmon trollers fish in these locations because that is where the fish are. Nothing will change that. The fleet is respecting eachother and it is kinda like a dance when you realize some if these guys are pulling a football field and a half of leadcore behind them. Either way I remember you going around. Thanks.
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Post by schodackbassman on Jul 12, 2013 20:59:22 GMT -5
As a bass boat operator I always give any boat lots of room if possible. Sometimes it's not. I had a troller down in the south of Bensons landing a couple weeks actually cut across by bow from my port to starboard side as I approached him though he should have stayed on my port. I was on plane though taking it easy meeting another boat. I have no idea why he made the maneuver he did and question the wisdom of trolling is such a narrow channel but as mentioned, maybe that's where the fish are. Still, when trolling in a confined area the troller has to realize other boats, fishing or pleasure, are going to have a hard time getting around them in a narrow channel if they yards of line out behind them especially if they don't keep in a straight line. I would have preferred to stay on plane but after that move I didn't dare. Different boats travel at different speeds and put out different size/type of wake. I don't think any fisherman really expects all other boats to slow down every time they come across a fishing boat. Be it sitting still or trolling. I know I've been waked by everything from other bass boats coming off plane, big fishing boats on plane plowing a lot of water, to big pleasure cruisers. You have to pay attention when fishing to boat traffic, its part of the environment.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2013 4:19:35 GMT -5
As a bass boat operator I always give any boat lots of room if possible. Sometimes it's not. I had a troller down in the south of Bensons landing a couple weeks actually cut across by bow from my port to starboard side as I approached him though he should have stayed on my port. I was on plane though taking it easy meeting another boat. I have no idea why he made the maneuver he did and question the wisdom of trolling is such a narrow channel but as mentioned, maybe that's where the fish are. Still, when trolling in a confined area the troller has to realize other boats, fishing or pleasure, are going to have a hard time getting around them in a narrow channel if they yards of line out behind them especially if they don't keep in a straight line. I would have preferred to stay on plane but after that move I didn't dare. Different boats travel at different speeds and put out different size/type of wake. I don't think any fisherman really expects all other boats to slow down every time they come across a fishing boat. Be it sitting still or trolling. I know I've been waked by everything from other bass boats coming off plane, big fishing boats on plane plowing a lot of water, to big pleasure cruisers. You have to pay attention when fishing to boat traffic, its part of the environment. Well said!
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