Friendly warning for the beginner..

[OttoDita]

Went fishing today, this morning at around 6am in a 4-5 acre man-man lake. Was having a good time, my casting was off for some reason, might be because of my little leader and my 7wt line. But anyways.....


I'm about 50-60' out from shore in chest high water and this boater is out on the water racing around. He's plenty far away from me. So I continue to cast, and cast, and cast. Then he got a little closer to me, the wavie water was making me bob a little. So he goes around and again and I had my line a good ways out, bout 40 feet, maybe a bit more. So he gets a bit further away from me. But!!! Just close enough that my line caught onto a rope (maybe for skiing?) dragging on the side of his boat....So, my reel goes zinging like mad, and I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to try and "grab+tug" for 2 reasons, my hand burning and my rod breaking, so I quickly grab my pliars and I cut the line. Which broke an eye because it yanked the pliars up past the eye because it didn't cut fast enough.

At this time, I was angry, really angry. Because he had tons of room, he didn't need to be that close to me. And angry at myself because I didn't need to be that far out.

As I was walking home a truck pulled up, a man got out. "Was that you?" this man asks. I said "You the guy in the boat that killed my reel?" He explained to me he was very sorry and that he did not see me in the water. So we talked a bit and I accepted his apology and I left.

So my drag was toast after this morning. And I have to order new line, reel etc. No more FF till the end of Auguest.

So the point of this is......Keep an eye on those boats and your line. You may want to strip in lots of line before it's too late.

Learn from my mistake.
Shane

Edit: Was talking to a friend a little while ago, and we had a debate on how big the lake was. He told me an acre is about the size of a football field. So, this lake, probably around 20 acres...But, whatever the size of the lake, be cautious about the boats!

[MikieFinn]

I hate when people do that. Either while I an wading or when in the boat. There are a lot of boaters put there that are totaly clueless. This guy was at oddds with the Ontario's boating regulations you know:

The offence of ?Careless Operation of a Vessel?, has been added to the Small Vessel Regulations. An operator who is doing any of the following could be charged:

traveling in a way that could adversely affect the safety of people or property considering the weather, boat traffic, hazards or potential hazards, or the number of people around the boat
operating a vessel in a careless manner, without consideration for other people or for the factors listed immediately above.

Above is the quote from official rulebook. In other words this guy should at least offer you to make ggod on the property he damaged since it was his responsibilty to operate the boat in a safe manner.

Here in PA the minimum distance is 100 ft and authorities do not play around. Carry a cell phone with the numbers to the local law enforcement programmed into speed dial. When something like this occurs just make the call. If you can take a picture of the boat with the registration number it is even better.

You might also want to attach a boating whistle to your vest. In situation like this it coud come in handy.

[JRA]

I feel your pain .While im new to fly fishing I use to have a big problem with jet skis. The cure is to show them just how far you can cast a 4 oz lead sinker ...they get the idea quick !!!!!

[MikieFinn]

I just remebered something. I read this story about the angler that was constantly harrased by waterfleas (jetski). One day when two of them were buzzing his fishing boat he stood up with shotgun in hands. Now he did not pointed it at anyone nor did he meake any threats, he just stood there holding the 10 gage but it was enough. Two jetskiers were straight to the park office and reported him. When rangers arrived and heard the whole story they wrote pretty stiff tickets to the complainers and kicked them out of the lake.

BTW. The gun was not loaded and there was no ammunition either in the boat or the guys truck. Now i don't know all of the laws everywhere and not reccomend that you do that but it is the funny story anyway.
Sometimes people get what they deserve.

[Jed]

Mickie,

That's a cute story, but I always thought that if you showed a gun in public you should be ready to use it. Its not a toy and he is lucky that the boaters did not respond by pulling out their own pieces and firing away.

jed

[MikieFinn]

Oh don't get me wrong. I will not tell anyone what to to do or not. However in most places it is legal to have a weapon while fishing or hunting... With that said: most of the buzzers are bunch of cowards that tuck their tail and run when confronted. The guys that carry loaded weapons are not likely to be buzzing people although you are correct when it comes to one thing: one must be ready for consequences of his actions.

[dudley]

I wish I could find a picture of that ad for Scott Rods
The one advertising Unmatched Lifting Power

[Big Bad Wulff]

On the otherhand imagine HIS side of the story.
"Man I was out boating and this guy was out like 60 feet from shore...............FISHING. YOu ever seen someone out that far wade-fishing......well I haven't. And this dufous casts out at our boat and snags the ski rope behind the boat. Can you imagine someone casting THAT CLOSE to a boat?"


Two sides to every story. Plenty of blame to go to both parties in this one.

[flyandtie]

I wish I could find a picture of that ad for Scott Rods
The one advertising Unmatched Lifting Power

[coonriverdog]

remember too, if your chest high out in the water and someones in a boat, you may just blend into the shoreline!!!! Had that happen to me. They didn't see me until very, very close.