bass boats and angler etiquette

Up till a few years ago I've always owned a bass boat.  I fish tournaments religiously as well.  Since I've been kayak fishing I've experienced various situations of this type regardless of whether I was in the saltwater or freshwater by all manners of power boats.  I wouldn't say it's "JUST" the bass boat types. 

However, there's a quick an easy solution when dealing with the bass tournament anglers.  When they muscle in on a spot that you're already in and fishing just start making all manners of commotion.  I had a couple guys cut me off in a bass boat on Lake Sonoma one day.  I was working down a bank fishing and the boat came in and set down about 50yds in front of me and began working in the same direction as me.  When confronted they gave the same BS tournament excuse and I proceeded to show them just what I thought about it.  I kicked the Mirage Drive into high gear, started paralleling the bank about 10ft out from the shoreline, and beat my paddle against the boat the entire time as I passed between the bass boat and the bank.  They cussed me up and down but ultimately left the area.  Granted, it ruined that bank for me as well, but I'd bet I don't have to worry about that particular bass boat cutting me off again!

I had a couple bass "pros" do the same thing to me on Clear Lake.  These guys often are shooting TV shows when on the lake and have the full boat wrap, matching jerseys, etc.  I was throwing swimbaits down a nice ledge and they came in and stopped less than 70yds in front of me in the direction I was heading and started throwing the same lure I was.  I simply sped up my pedal cadence and passed them.  Once I was in front of them, by about 20ft, I resumed my normal fishing speed and kept going.  They asked me if I saw them there when I passed and I just never responded.  I get the impression that some folks don't take kayak anglers seriously and think that we are inferior fishermen b/c of our plastic hulls.  Somehow that thought process makes them think that their fishing takes priority over ours. 

Coincidentally, my only run-in was at Chris' Lake Almanor.  I was paddling back to a little inlet spot about 40 yds offshore.  Bass boat was about 60 yds offshore and the guy was on the other side of the boat casting away from shore.

He turned and saw me approaching,moved to this side of the boat, and made a couple casts towards shore.  Essentially right in front of me. 

To stay on my path, I'd have to go right over his line, which I proceeded to do.

"Hey!  I'm fishing here!".......Looked back over my shoulder and said 'Oh looked like you were fishing the other side of your boat'

Douche

A 1oz jig head bounced of his gel coat may slow him up

I was thinking 4-6oz.  Repeatedly.

Also have your bat gaff ready should he decide to leave the safety of his fiberglass penis.

Bushy


(I just re-read this post and it's kind of sick.....sorry)

HAHAHAHAHA

It is not just bass boats but all boaters have their share of clueless idiots.  Last year we were in a 22' boat off Timber Cove and not another boat was visible in the immediate area, then we see another larger boat slowly come alongside while we all looked and wondered WTF is this guy doing?  We were trolling along for Salmon and I finally had to yell at him to get the hell away as he almost smashed into two of the downrigger booms.  He then asked us how we were doing.   

Off of Davenport last fall we had a guy carve up the mob, just blasted right into our 4 kayaks and dropped his lines right in the middle of us. Had the audacity to ask us how the fishing was, like that somehow meant he was a nice guy...
There were no other boats in sight. Boat was named Pescadera or something.

Yesterday I was in the midst of 8-10 PBs all fishing rockies and we all respected each other's space. It wasn't difficult.

Some boaters are jerks, but not all of them.

Maybe we should pull a sea shepard thing and just paddle in front of them and drop a one of those nylon ropes across thier bow and hope they get tangled in them?  Might work

Throwing those nasty stink bottles..... Of course that's piracy of some sort I'd imagine.....

I think it's funny how some of these "pro bassers" think & act. But they are recreational anglers too (as much as they want to pretend they are on a different level). Fishing a tournament for money? Fisha' Please! You want to make money fishing and get respect? Then get a REAL fishing boat and a commercial license and start harvesting fish.

Of course, everybody is their own person. And I would not pre-judge someone based on the color of their boat's sparkle-coat or the size of their outboard. I judge people based on their actions.

And it SUCKS when you get 50lb braid wrapped around the prop of your outboard or trolling motor. So please don't put on a bobber, open the bail, and paddle a circle around the jerks in a bassboat. Because they might get stuck and have to paddle home LOL...

Using a tournament as an excuse to be a dick is stupid.  When a guy on a bass boat said "Cool your jets man, we're fishing a tournament," as an excuse for casting his stuff 5 feet from me when I'm fishing on shore, I lost my cool.  It takes a LOT to get me pissed off, but those turds sure knew how to do it.  This was a few years ago, but I still remember it because it was one of the very few times I lost my cool.  I wanted to throw rocks at them, but I knew better.

If someone pulls the "I'm fishing a tournament" excuse on me again, I'll tell them "Well so am I ya asshole!" AOTY counts as a tournament, right? 

not all Basscar racers are dicks.....just most of them 

It's the punks on wave-runners and wake-board boats that scare me the most... a lot of kayakers have some kind of go-pro or cell-phone camera with great sound/video - I'd be rolling my film on them the instant I start getting some bad vibes - a nice shot of their boat reg. number and faces/proximity might be enough of a threat to have them back off, and if anything dangerous happens, you've got your evidence for the authorities. And you can always post it here and let NCKA give their piece of mind

What ive found with any boating situation nicer the boat bigger= bigger attitude! ive met a few really nice bass fisherman with nice boats but on the average they think their stuff dont stink 

I just happen to be down here skippin' rocks when this bass boat came thru