P2 Wing Dam Etiquette

This came up recently……why is there an unwritten rule on pool 2 that there can only be one boat per dam?

Most guys that fish P2 consistently know all the best dams…yet if someone is parked on one it’s a no no to try and fish it, too.

I’m not talking bumper boating a guy like pool 4. But, some of these dams are plenty big for a couple boats to keep reasonable distance.

I could care less if someone pulls up but gives me a little space. However, that doesn’t seem to be the norm down there.

In my opinion it would be wrong. They are not very big and one boat should have full access. I can’t even imagine doing it or having someone doing it to me.

I will repeatedly troll a wing damn that someone is casting at but will only pass over the damn on the trolling run and either hit it going downstream (if no other boats around) or go set up on the trolling run again and possibly proceed to pass by again.

I wouldn’t ever cast to a damn that another boat was on.

I’ve never seen that happen on Pool 2. Speaking of good manners…. I was on the end of a long dam this morning and a tug came up river pushing a single barge. He very obviously throttled down as he went past me. Very cool!

SR

If someone pulled up on the same wing dam I was on, I’d instantly leave and let them have it. I go fishing to get away from people.

buckybadger wrote:

If someone pulled up on the same wing dam I was on, I’d instantly leave and let them have it. I go fishing to get away from people.

P2 is rarely busy enough you can’t find your own real estate.

I don’t think I would ever pull up if someone else was on a dam but I wouldn’t be offended by it.

I think trolling the ends if someone is casting on a dam is completely acceptable.

Steve Root wrote:

I’ve never seen that happen on Pool 2. Speaking of good manners…. I was on the end of a long dam this morning and a tug came up river pushing a single barge. He very obviously throttled down as he went past me. Very cool!

SR

I think the tug guys like the fisherman…we usually know how to give them the space they need. Can’t say the same for the tuna boats. I’ve seen a couple of instance this summer where a barge almost swallowed a tuna boat because the guy didn’t know what he was doing.

How do you troll a wing dam ? Just off the tips of them ? I see Tom boley has a video fishing one . Is he just fishing the tips or dragging over the top of them ? New to wing dam fishing . I assume the game is fishing up and over them and the tips ?

isu22andy wrote:

How do you troll a wing dam ? Just off the tips of them ? I see Tom boley has a video fishing one . Is he just fishing the tips or dragging over the top of them ? New to wing dam fishing . I assume the game is fishing up and over them and the tips ?

Depends upon time of year but when water is low like now you can troll the outside tips and the channel edge. If you get a series of them just make a run along the tips. You can also troll between dams as sometimes the fish are roaming between them.

I see some guys troll parallel on long dams. Not something I usually do though.

I don’t troll over dams….prefer to cast them. You could troll right over but that’s a snagfest and in low water you gotta be really careful.

Lotta ways to do it.

A few are huge (100-150 yards long?) and as long as the boats are a very long cast away from each other, it hasnt bothered me if folks double up. Many are simply too small though.

I can only speculate, but I would guess it’s because Pool 2 is 33 miles long with about a hundred or more wingdams to choose from. It’s kind of like a restroom with wall of empty urinals and someone strolls in and decides to take a leak right next to you.

Next time i see a shiny reata out there i’m pulling up real close ;-). joking of course. I think I share the sentiment of a lot of guys on here. There are so many other spots on the river that hold fish besides wing dams that if it were so busy that I couldn’t find an open one, I’d go explore and find a new spot or try a technique i wasn’t confident in. I’ll leave bumper boats to pool 4, ain’t nobody got time for that.

Im guessing hes the best dressed guy around.

3Rivers wrote:

It’s kind of like a restroom with wall of empty urinals and someone strolls in and decides to take a leak right next to you.

Great analogy!

Can’t recall it ever happening to me. But I’m usually cranking death metal.

-J.

I like to give people the space to WORK the AREA.
I might fish a wd 5 ways and not all from the same position. It’s nice to not get jammed into the one spot you were when someone else arrived. Treat others as your would like to be treated. So that’s why I’ll give anyone the wd of they are they’re first.

Wd are like public hunting grounds… yeah they get hit often but fish are still there and/or replenish frequently so you can always come back another day if there a car in the parking lot.

So what’s the story man from Avoca? Run into a confrontation?

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I like to give people the space to WORK the AREA.
I might fish a wd 5 ways and not all from the same position. It’s nice to not get jammed into the one spot you were when someone else arrived. Treat others as your would like to be treated. So that’s why I’ll give anyone the wd of they are they’re first.

Wd are like public hunting grounds… yeah they get hit often but fish are still there and/or replenish frequently so you can always come back another day if there a car in the parking lot.

So what’s the story man from Avoca? Run into a confrontation?

Not a confrontation. I was on the upstream of a dam. Another guy was on the downstream side. He was kinda annoyed I moved onto the dam. Those are separate pieces of structure as far as I’m concerned. Just kinda got me thinking.

had a real interesting one last night. got out for a bit after the rains came through, posted up on the upstream side of a wingdam, see off in the distance a boat coming up stream at a good click, right towards us. The thing has it’s nose pointed right at my chest. It’s going on the right side of the red cans going upstream, going over the top of every single dam it crosses over. My buddy and I were just waiting for it to clip the top and lights out. well they somehow managed not to hit the dam, and cruise right by us not more than 50 feet away at full speed… went up stream a bit and then came right back down stream inside the cans the entire way… people are dumb, and a lot of people shouldn’t own boats… rant over.

Almost forgot. Fishing was tough, handful of eyes, nothing big, weren’t actively feeding like they were last weekend. jointeds worked well.

I don’t fish on dams where other people are fishing. Too many salty anglers out there.

I don’t mind if somebody pulls up to a dam I’m fishing. I like to chat with anglers (even if they’re salty).

I mind a lot if someone pulls up beside me in the parking lot at the landing.

luttes wrote:

It’s going on the right side of the red cans going upstream, going over the top of every single dam it crosses over. My buddy and I were just waiting for it to clip the top and lights out.

I run inside the can line on a regular basis. You just need to know where you can and can’t run and how much water your boat drafts. Do this mostly to avoid the worst of the tuna boat wakes. And in some cases it cuts down on how long it takes to get where you are going!

-J.

I don’t have any skin in the game but I was just wondering how big these wing dams are.

I’ve always abided by the “casting distance” rule. If I can cast to another boat, they are too close.

gimruis wrote:

I don’t have any skin in the game but I was just wondering how big these wing dams are.

I’ve always abided by the “casting distance” rule. If I can cast to another boat, they are too close.

On pool 2 the dams are all different. Some 30 yards long and others that are 100 yds long. However most have a sweet spot. This changes depending on flow but is rarely big enough for two boats unless you are ok with the other boat casting across you at times.

Pool 2 has pretty deep dams too. I have a 17 ft Lund with a 75 on it and can run over 95% of the dams without any worry. It’s nothing like p3 or p4. Pool 3 has some wicked dams that you cannot go over. Pool 2 is much different than 3.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3Rivers wrote:</div>
It’s kind of like a restroom with wall of empty urinals and someone strolls in and decides to take a leak right next to you.

Great analogy!

Can’t recall it ever happening to me. But I’m usually cranking death metal.

-J. Recently ran into this same scenario on lake onalaska , several boats in a few hundred yard area , one guy cranking death metal for all to hear , obviously a live album cause lots of f bombs . Regardless of music choice , just curious why people think others want to hear it . And to the OPs original question, I would never move onto a wing dam with another boat on it.

I’ve fished pool 2 a lot. There’s no need to ever fish the same wingdam as another boat. If you do, you are a hack. Not necessarily a bad person, but a hack nonetheless.

crawdaddy wrote:

I’ve fished pool 2 a lot. There’s no need to ever fish the same wingdam as another boat. If you do, you are a hack. Not necessarily a bad person, but a hack nonetheless.

What do you fish in Crawdaddy? You can share a wing dam with me anytime.

Mike m wrote:

Regardless of music choice , just curious why people think others want to hear it .

I think you missed the point. I don’t want anyone near enough to hear it. If you can, go fish somewhere else!

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mike m wrote:</div>
Regardless of music choice , just curious why people think others want to hear it .

I think you missed the point. I don’t want anyone near enough to hear it. If you can, go fish somewhere else!

-J.

Someone by me was rocking ThunderKiss 65 by Rob Zombie on Saturday. I enjoyed it for a few minutes. It sure turned the sheepies on.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mike m wrote:</div>
Regardless of music choice , just curious why people think others want to hear it .

I think you missed the point. I don’t want anyone near enough to hear it. If you can, go fish somewhere else!

-J.

Just goes to show there is more than one way to be an a$$hole.

So let me get this straight. I’m all alone in my boat, not another person in sight and I’m enjoying my loud music. (It’s something I do to maintain my sanity) Someone pulls in close to me. I’m expected to turn the music down?

If that’s the case, I’ll wear the a$$hole hat with pride.

-J.

I haven’t weighed in yet, but I guess it’s cuz I don’t have much to add. I probably wouldn’t crowd anybody, but I don’t care if folks butt in. Life is easier if I don’t get too stressed out about things like other folks trying to catch fish. some of my closest friends are people that I’ve met while on the water.

I think we can all chill, take a deep breath, and pitch our jig back out and all get along. Maybe crack a beer if that’s your thing.

I think it’s just a common courtesy/etiquette thing. I don’t get angry and have a blow up, and I can rarely think of the times it has happened to me. Look at the majority of the replies for your consensus, which is not to fish a dam that another boat is already fishing. Plenty of spots on the river.