Dock fishing etiquette

I have a permitted dock and enjoy it like anyone would. I consider it a privilege and respect those that fish around it.

One of the things I like is throwing a line out and enjoying a nice day. Unfortunately, boaters sometimes throw hooks at me while I am sitting there fishing. I doubt many fishermen would just look the other way if this were to happen to them. Anyway, this situation does upset me. I usually say that it is not a good idea to throw hooks near someone, nor is it a good idea to fish on top of someone who is already fishing a spot without asking. I then explain that I will be pulling my line in after a while and they can come back and fish the dock as long as they want. I have had boaters cast across my line and snag their line on mine. Others fishing at night with bright lights troll by, blinding me. Yes, they know I am there.

If I head down to the dock to fish and someone is fishing around my dock then I don’t disturb them and wait till they are done. No problem. I would like the same respect. Am I asking too much?

Not asking too much IMO. I think most fishermen that see someone on a dock will gladly move to the next one. But there are always a few clueless ones that won’t.

FryDog62 wrote:

I think cabin owners that fish are far more tolerant than those that don’t.

In my case, I actually think it’s my fathers lifelong hatred for anything bass and bass fishing related. I’m pretty sure he thinks if people keep fishing around his dock for them, the bass will eventually leave…He may be waiting a while….

David D that is exactly how it should be.

I personally would feel very uncomfortable going up and fish a dock that someone was standing on, I don’t even care if they are fishing. I’d feel like I was imposing.

mplspug wrote:

I personally would feel very uncomfortable going up and fish a dock that someone was standing on, I don’t even care if they are fishing. I’d feel like I was imposing.

I believe all respectful people would feel the same way. Then there is the other people who think they are better than everyone else (keeping it PG) and will fish right under you.

Imagine how nice it would be if everyone treated strangers like family. You might say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Since searching YouTube for fishing fights, I have had some doozies pop up and it gets my blood boiling.

This one is pretty funny tho because it looks scripted, unless that guy was wading or there is a 3rd boat. Guy filming does edit out the audio and his hot mic for the choreographed incident.

I don’t have a problem with fisherman close to my dock or boat lifts as long as we aren’t in the water swimming. I have a neighbor who doesn’t like the fisherman close to his dock so he did the smart thing and put a 50 foot wide marked swimming area next to his dock. Boats can’t legally get within 150 feet of the swimming area so it solves his problem for the most part.

We are surprised how many people have been pulling up in front of our house to gawk or take pictures. Many times they come in closer than the end of our dock and on a weekend it’s sometimes dozens of boats each day. Hopefully there will be some other new house on the lake next year and the boat traffic will slow down in front of our place.