Getting along in the Kinni Narrows

As most know, the Kinni Narrows has been pretty tight for the last two years, even more then normal. I’m reposting a incident that happened yesterday in hopes of keeping the area safe for all to enjoy. I know I’m just posting one side of the story and I was not there.

I’m not going to cite the Rules of the Road, because this is more of a “can’t we all get along” issue then anything.

“Just having a really hard time tonight. What has our world come to? And on top of that it’s the boating world. When did it become that we cannot boat in peace and show kindness to our fellow boaters?
With the most kindness and respect I stood on the bow, kindly asking the fishing boats to make way so we do not hit ground, while my captain navigated the narrowness and INCREDIBLY SHALLOW north end of the kinni.

We were told by 2 boats who draft over 4.5 feet that you MUST MUST hug the MN side bc they ran aground and hit bottom well within the red marker.

Beautiful evening for fishing, I definitely understand this and welcome it, as this is a beautiful part of our river and we love every part about it.

As I stand on the bow KINDLY informing the fishing boats we CANNOT go to the east as it is too shallow many moved out of the way (THANK YOU TO THOSE!) 3 fishing vessels refused to move. I asked kindly and my captain gave a friendly horn. I informed kindly we draft deeper and cannot go around. They refused to move.

We hit ground. Our props turned rocks and our engine stopped. Having other issues tonight too.
I’m severely disappointed in humanity. We were kind. We were not aggressive. We asked to pass, as we KNEW if we went east we would hit. AND WE DID.

Then to follow the men said we need to “learn to drive a boat” NO REGARD FOR KIND BOATING COMMUNITY.
I don’t feel like this should be any slight against a fishing VS non-fishing by any means. This is a HUMAN ISSUE – be kind. This could cost us 1000s just because someone refused to move so we could safely pass by.

In what world. We are all a boating community. If a vessel is coming towards you it’s not out of spite its for a purpose.
We knew we needed to be in the exact spot and these 3 boats refused to move and then told US to learn how to drive.
Unreal.
Please don’t say anti fishing comments – that’s not the moral. I’d usually never say anything but I’m beyond disgusted.”

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Kinni has always seemed to have negative crowd. Even before the channel narrowed.

There’s always been something about fisherman who chose to fish in crowded areas, they tend to not accept others intruding in their space. If they had that consideration ingrained in them they wouldn’t be there in the first place as any crowded area offers no individual space.

I quit fishing kinni after it changed and prior only fished it when it wasn’t busy.

After asking them kindly and they still didnt move, lay on the horn and hit full throttle.
Ya, I know it shouldnt have to be that way but sometimes you have to ‘speak’ to them in their language.

That’s pretty sad this happened, but honestly not at all surprised anymore.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

After asking them kindly and they still didnt move, lay on the horn and hit full throttle.
Ya, I know it shouldnt have to be that way but sometimes you have to ‘speak’ to them in their language.

Beat me to it Sheldon. I would have slowly moved them!

That is a bummer. You are right. It was less than 2 ft deep 30 ft to the right of the red can in your second picture. Your only choice to get through that messa would have been to elbow that ass hat in the head as you passed him on the left side of him.

As the captain of a boat you are responsible for your vessel. They knew it was too shallow. And they went anyway. It sucks, but that is on the captain. Just a big boat going thru an area with smaller boats. Go slow and get thru or stop and wait for boats to clear. I’m not saying the fishing boats were in the right, I’m just saying there are other options to get thru safely.

I have a tendency to agree with you Dave.
The choice as I see it was to go around on the shallow side and hope to make it or
push through the fishing boats with the possibility to running into one or more. Going down stream makes it more difficult to control. Even the tow captains “take the wall” (pull over to shore) when another tow is coming down stream.

For sure tempers would of flared.

Since they had asked others about the depth, I’m assuming they haven’t been through here lately and since they were inside the can line (where it should be 9′), I can see how a person could make the decision to go between the boats and the can.

I know the Captain is cussing at his decision this morning.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

After asking them kindly and they still didnt move, lay on the horn and hit full throttle.
Ya, I know it shouldn’t have to be that way but sometimes you have to ‘speak’ to them in their language.

That’s not the answer either. Who wants to wait around for the water patrol to locate the body’s and notify next of kin?

Brian Klawitter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>iowaboy1 wrote:</div>
After asking them kindly and they still didnt move, lay on the horn and hit full throttle.
Ya, I know it shouldn’t have to be that way but sometimes you have to ‘speak’ to them in their language.

That’s not the answer either. Who wants to wait around for the water patrol to locate the body’s and notify next of kin?

I never said one thing about killing anyone, To put it more plainly sometimes you have to call their bluff, if they still dont move then call the water patrol and sit there until they deal with it.
There is no way in heck I would risk wrecking my stuff because of some asshat.

Definition of Stress:
The minds ability to override the bodies desire to beat the living poop out of someone who desperately deserves it.

Is this something that happens to you regularly Brian? Obviously with a larger vessel that drafts deeper you are more confined to specific areas of the river than a smaller fishing boat would be.

LOL! Settle down there Sheldon… I was just taking your comment and stretching it out a bit.

I don’t know about this. If I’m headed up into a narrow spot with shallows on one side and it’s full of boats…that were there first…maybe I turn around and go back. Do you have more “rights” on the river because you have a bigger ($$$$) boat and the peons need to get out of your way? It’s not clear to me who was in the wrong here.

SR

In your scenario Steve, they boat that the same “right” to traverse the channel and not to impede the traffic of others. It’s a narrow channel and who was there first is moot.

“Most” of these larger boats are going or coming back from someplace. Yeah if I was out for a Sunday cruise, I would drop anchor, turn on the generator and watch some IDO TV.

More so if it had a yellow flashing light.

gimruis wrote:

Is this something that happens to you regularly Brian? Obviously with a larger vessel that drafts deeper you are more confined to specific areas of the river than a smaller fishing boat would be.

Absolutely not! Just one time a month or so ago a fisherman chewed me out when I was just explaining why I was moving so close to him. I was waiting for his trolling lines to clear before heading to a gas dock.
In over 4000 river miles fishermen and tuna boaters have always been kind and considerate whether I’m in the Skeeter or the Carver.

Attitudes vary I found depending where you are. My example is a little different, but very similar too. I know on Pool 4 when someone hooks up with a big fish that is pulling them around while fighting the fish for the most part boats will clear out to let the person fight the fish and move back to their spot once they are clear. A few years ago I hooked up with a big sturgeon on Green Bay not far from the Peshtigo river mouth. There were several boats there and their attitude was basically F off break it off I am not moving. It is too bad people have the it is all about me attitude. More pathetic when in the case of running aground and safety issues they still could care less. It really says a lot about the attitude of far too many people now days.

I just watched a video of above boat entering the downstream end of the Kinni passing close to a boat that was anchor next to shore.

I can say this captain was going too fast for a no wake zone and too fast for being that close to another boat.

The video did not show the anglers.

Either way both parties could have done better.

Here is the path I would have picked if’n I was taking a tuna boat south through that.

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I grew up just a 100 yards up river from the kinni narrows on the WI side. Seen some messed up shenanigans there.

Some seriously good fishing there though.

It the little six stools bar still on top of the hill by the narrows on kinni. When I was just a kid I use to go there for a hamberger and coke. It was a good time watching the big boats go by.

That looks like a great spot to never fish. If I have to be that close to other people, the boat goes on the trailer.

As for the story, I’m not playing the “who was in the wrong” game, but definitely wouldn’t gamble going shallow there with a big rig. The guy in the fishing boat should’ve done the right thing and moved. I’d have stayed persistently close to the path I needed to take until the fishing boats got the memo no matter how long it took. Get the idiot’s registration number written down and phone ready to call if things escalated.

There are always going to be a**holes on the water. Finding your “spot away from the spot” is just as valuable as anything. There are days on the river I drive right by a lot of spots holding fish just to get to a spot with fish where nobody else is. It’s worth it.

It’s to bad a few A-Holes could’nt slide out of the way briefly.I on the other hand would have chosen to turn around if it’s that shallow,always another option.

chuck100 wrote:

It’s to bad a few A-Holes could’nt slide out of the way briefly.I on the other hand would have chosen to turn around if it’s that shallow,always another option.

No other options there. Whether you’re going north or south that narrow channel is the only way.

When in doubt, consult the US Coast Guard Regulations. Their navigation regs for Western Rivers, including the Mississippi and its tributaries, Part B, I, Rule 9-Narrow Channels, (c) A vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any other vessel navigating within a narrow channel or fairway. This section also addresses other conflicts in narrow channels, but is very specific about fishing boats.

Pat the other option would be to turn around and go back the way you came.It would suck but beats the hell out of tearing up your boat\lower unit.
I’m sure there were some choice words echoing off the bluff walls.There would be if it were me.

What bothers me about the whole story is how the person who posted this did not mention anything about going through a no wake at above no wake speeds and damn near side swiped the boat that filmed the video without “asking nicely” or prior warning and it was the first boat they encountered. From there things went South quickly. In no way was the pleasure cruiser completely innocent here though as the story suggested and the video was an unbiased witness which showed that.

However, if you are going to fish in a Navigation channel then this is the experience you need to expect.

On a side note, the pleasure cruiser was stating that the boat was going the slowest speed possible? Do these large boats really go 5-7mph just with gear engaged? How do you dock a boat going 5-7mph?

3Rivers wrote:

What bothers me about the whole story is how the person who posted this did not mention anything about going through a no wake at above no wake speeds and damn near side swiped the boat that filmed the video without “asking nicely” or prior warning and it was the first boat they encountered. From there things went South quickly. In no way was the pleasure cruiser completely innocent here though as the story suggested and the video was an unbiased witness which showed that.

However, if you are going to fish in a Navigation channel then this is the experience you need to expect.

On a side note, the pleasure cruiser was stating that the boat was going the slowest speed possible? Do these large boats really go 5-7mph just with gear engaged? How do you dock a boat going 5-7mph?

It’s not uncommon for a larger vessel to have a 5 mph speed with both engines engaged. I know for a fact that on 53′ Carver the idle speed with one motor engaged is over 3mph.

3Rivers wrote:

What bothers me about the whole story is how the person who posted this did not mention anything about going through a no wake at above no wake speeds and damn near side swiped the boat that filmed the video without “asking nicely” or prior warning and it was the first boat they encountered.

As far as the 5-7 mph, they were going up stream, pushing what current that was there. No Wake Rule: As slow as possible while remaining in control but never more then 5 mph.

They were going too fast, more so for that congested area (although I would of though they would of slowed as the move more closer to the congested area.) I’m certain the folks on shore would have been yelling at them had they continued to make that 6″ wake.

Two wrongs don’t make a right. Agreed.

Find reverse when docking a boat it helps. A river is a waterway basically a road impeding travel should be unlawful. From an older person with some common sense. DK.