Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
I really enjoy spending some of my free time in the fall chasing sika deer on Assateague Island. For me, the lure of hunting the island is not only the fun of pursuing such a challenging quarry, but also the opportunity to do so on such a unique strip of land. Where else can hunters watch the sun come up over the ocean and set over the bay, park on the beach and hike in to hunt over everything from sand dunes to marshes, grassy meadows to thick brush, saltwater ponds to woodlots, and of course, have the privilege of doing battle with some of the fiercest mosquitoes on the planet?
Well OK, maybe not everything about the experience is always picture perfect. In fact, besides the bloodsuckers, there's another downside to hunting Assateague - it's a "public" hunting area. This means that as much as I'd like to have the narrow strip of barrier island all to myself, I have to share it with other hunters, and as most folks who have hunted on public land probably know, conflicts can arise when two or more people try to hunt in close proximity to one another. Deer hunting is not exactly a group sport, and since the actions of one hunter can totally blow someone else's chances for success, those who hunt on public land had better have a "Plan-B" and "C" in their playbook in the event that they sneak in and find that their secret spot is not such a secret.
Most hunters I've encountered on the island and on other public hunting lands have been very respectful and considerate and we all get along just fine. But over the years, there have also been a few "incidents" that left me so steaming mad that I swore never again to leave the sanctuary of a privately leased hunting property, but I enjoy Assateague so much that I always do go back, and just keep reminding myself, "It's public hunting and the other guy has as much right to be here as you do, so make the best of it".
Saltwater fishermen know these same pains because everywhere they fish is "public" fishing. With few exceptions, all saltwater locations are open to all fishermen and just as it is on public hunting grounds, for the most part everyone gets along just fine, but unfortunately there are also times when anglers try to fish the same waters at the same time it gets ugly!
While fishing is supposed to be all about having fun and fighting "fish" not "other fishermen," when two or more anglers are competing to catch the same fish out of the same stretch of water it doesn't always work out that way. We've all been there, fishing our little spot and everything is good until someone else rolls up in another boat and starts inching his way closer and closer until he's fishing just a short cast away. You were there first and are not keen on being crowded off a spot that you've been catching fish at. Maybe a few choice words are passed between you and the other guy. Perhaps you give him a harsh stare, or maybe you're so mad that you won't even look at him wishing he'd take the hint and just go away!
The flip side of that scenario is when you decide to fish a particular place, and make what might be a long trip to get there, only to find another boat already on "your" exact spot. Hoping that he has been there a while and will soon be leaving, you start to fish nearby as you wait for him to leave. Maybe you accidentally drift in closer than expected or purposely inch your way in, whatever the reason, you're there, he's upset, and what should have been a relaxing day on the water erupts into a big shouting match! But as much as you want to fish that spot and feel that you have every right to do so, in this case "you"' are the intruder and need to consider how the other guy feels about you being there.
I'm reminded of this every time I fish around or even drive across the Rt. 50 Bridge. I know that some bridge anglers are not so keen on the guys in boats because they figure the boat guys have the whole bay and inlet to fish while they are limited to the bridge and a few places from the shore. This is similar to boat anglers sometimes being irked by bridge fishermen who drift their lines far out and away from the bridge and make it difficult to navigate around. But because bridge anglers typically fish the down-current side of the structure while the boat guys work from the up-current side, usually everyone is able to stay out of each other's way and get along just fine,. However, a couple times a day, when the current goes slack, it can become confusing to anglers which side of the bridge they need to be on and problems can arise when someone breaks protocol by fishing from the wrong side at the wrong time.
In a perfect world, the goal of every angler would be to try not to do anything that might affect the actions of other fishermen. The easiest way to do this is to just stay the heck away from anyone who is "there first." Sometimes that might be as simple as staying out of casting range. Other times, particularly if chumming is the name of the game, fishermen in other boats might need to stay a mile or more away to keep from competing for the same fish at the same time and messing up the other guy's efforts.
More than once I've been anchored up and bottom fishing on a wreck when another boat pulls up and anchors on the other end of it. Like most folks, in the course of fishing a large wreck or reef, I'll usually adjust my anchor line or even re-anchor so that we can drop our lines on to different parts of the structure, but when you suddenly have a neighbor anchored up next to you that option is out. You just don't do that to other fishermen! No one wants to change their fishing plans just because someone else is there first, but sometimes that's just the way it's got to be. Smart anglers will be prepared for just such a scenario by having a plan "B" and "C" in mind just in case.
Just like public hunting, public fishing will at times try our patience and ruffle our feathers, and as long as saltwater remains open to everyone it's going to be that way, we can't avoid that fact. But by being prepared for such encounters and doing our own part by showing respect to others as we would expect them to respect us (does that verse sound familiar?), we should all be able to get along, catch a few fish and enjoy our times on the water.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
