Bass Fishing Etiquette

Bass Fishing Etiquette

By Chris Yogerst

                An interesting thing happened to me on Sunday evening.  I was fishing one of my favorite spots when two bass boats came screaming across the lake towards me.  I thought for sure they were going to just cruise past.  Instead, they sat down right next to me, one on each side.  They both started fishing towards me but I didn’t budge.  I couldn’t believe the manners of these clowns.  One guy just circled around me and they talked to each other as if I was not there.

                This is a big lake, with plenty of room and a myriad of good fishing spots.  I still don’t know why they had to sit down next to me.  Did they just cruise the lake looking for a black and blue Triton to fish next to?  I did feel better as I watched them catch dink after dink as I reeled in the big females.  Even still, if you want to fish a spot and someone is there first…too bad.  If you think a spot is YOURS, think again. 

                I see the same things happen in a tournament situation from time to time.  Most guys are really good about giving fellow fisherman space.  The more professional the tournament usually the more professional the anglers are that you encounter.  However, there are always a few bad apples.  I think that there are some guys who will see bass boats fishing in close proximity and just think that it is the thing to do.  The reality is that more times than not if you see two bass boats a cast away from each other, the fisherman are friends and most likely working together.  If you don’t know the fishermen, don’t go running up on them.

                A couple years ago there was a guy who actually faired pretty well in the Wisconsin BASS weekend series by simply following guys and fishing their spots.  He ran up on everyone I knew during practice and marked everyone’s areas and just ran them in the tournament.  Like I said, he did good but had absolutely no friends.  Everyone hated this guy, even the tournament director.  To tell you what kind of guy this fisherman was, I had a perfect story.  He made nationals, and had his boat break down during one of the competition days.  He managed to get it back to the service trailer, had them fix it and then headed back home, leaving his co angler at the dock.  Nice.

                Fishermen like this give us all a bad name.  I have met hundreds of bass fisherman and just about all of them are great people.  Even the guys I don’t care for much I know won’t run up on me at a tournament, because you just don’t do that.  I know that sometimes at the end of a tournament some guys will be scrambling and desperate for a fish, so the proximity will tighten.  On a weekend when everyone is fishing for fun, why push the envelope?