Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
So how close is "too" close when you're fishing around someone else?
We were anchored up on a wreck and fishing for whatever we might be able to tempt off the bottom. It wasn't a big piece of structure, but it was big enough that our plan was to work one edge of it and then adjust the anchor so that we could fish the other edge and maybe pluck a few more fish before it would be time to run my six clients home in time for lunch.
About halfway through our morning I was just beginning to consider making the move when another boat pulled up and anchored about 25-yards off our starboard side right where I was planning to adjust over to. The boat was close enough that the skipper easily heard me when I shouted, "Hey what are you doing? I assure you that I do not need assistance fishing this wreck!"
His only response before they started to fish was, "Hey man, there's only one wreck". As we were sitting in the middle of an artificial reef site that has about ten structures within a one mile square area, his response was as stupid as the bonehead move he had just pulled. The morning had been going just fine until the intruder arrived and decided that his right to fish that wreck superseded ours to fish it alone. So I figured I had four options: 1 - Get in a shouting match with the guy and hope he'd give-in and leave, 2 - Just ignore him and finish off the morning right where we were, 3 - Pull anchor and set-up on a different structure (and hope he doesn't follow us), 4 - Swim over to his boat and cut his anchor line.
I was pretty mad at the guy, so for a fleeting second I was seriously considering "option 4" as it would both send him on his way and cool me down a bit, but I had a very nice family aboard including children and I didn't want to spoil their fun that morning with conflict and knives, so I chose "option 3", swallowed my pride, pulled anchor and just left. Over the years I've had many other negative interactions with fishermen but that was the most blatant "wreck fishing" incident I've had. I'm sure our local headboat captains and anyone else who fish the structures a lot are thinking "Man that ain't nothing! I once had this guy who…!!!".
It doesn't matter if it's a pond or an ocean, when two fishermen are trying to fish the same body of water it can get dicey if they both don't follow some simple fishing protocols. The thing is, just how close you can get to another fishermen before he might start sending sinkers (or other forms of lead) your way can depend upon so many variables including: location, method of fishing, size and type of fish being pursued, type of tackle being used, the direction of current and how many other fishermen are already working the area.
For instance, in my wreck fishing situation we were there first It was a small structure, and there were plenty of other structures nearby. He had other options so there was absolutely no reason for the other guy to do what he did. Even if it truly was "the only wreck", it was too small for two boats to fish at the same time. When he first saw I was there he could have called me on the radio and asked how much longer I planned to fish and I would have told him "another hour and the wreck is yours" or maybe, if I was feeling particularly generous, I would have said that it was ok to come in and anchor on the other end, but the way he handled it was wrong - period!
Whether from a bank, a beach, or a boat, when a fisherman wishes to fish close to someone else it's only ok if what they are doing does not inhibit the other angler from doing what they were doing, or in any way hamper the opportunity to catch the fish they hope to catch. For instance, let's say you're over open bottom (no structure) in the bay or ocean and want to drop anchor and fish for bluefish, flounder, croaker and whatever. You see another boat in the area you want to fish and he's doing that same thing. In that case you wouldn't want to crowd the guy but you could probably anchor fairly close without interfering with his catch or what he's doing. However, if the other guy is casting or chumming or anything else to try and attract or catch fish that aren't directly under his boat you'd better plan on staying well away, like definitely out of casting range and never down current if he's chumming or chunking.
Speaking of casting - it's never appropriate to throw your bait or lure to the same spot as someone else. Otherwise you're competing for the same fish. Take Ocean City's south jetty for instance. Unlike the offshore wrecks it's not a first-come-first-serve situation where one guy can claim exclusive rights to it. The jetty can and will get more than just a few boats working it at the same time. Everyone has to work together by staying apart enough that the water they are casting into does not overlap water someone else is trying to fish.
The goal when chumming for sharks or chunking for tuna is to allow the current to take the scent of the chum or the food (the chunks) away from the boat and hopefully attract the fish to the baits. Depending upon the depth of the water and the strength of the current, chunks might pull tuna in from a few hundred yards away and chum could attract sharks from a mile out. With this knowledge, anglers should avoid fishing down current of someone who is chumming or chunking and if they are also going to be chumming or chunking themselves, stay at least a few hundred yards off the side of someone chunking and 1-2 miles off the side of someone chumming. Otherwise you will end up competing for the same fish which is not fair to the person who was there first.
Space will not allow me to highlight protocols for all the different fishing situations. However, it's safe to say that, when in doubt, just stay as far from other fishermen as you can. Fishing is supposed to be more of a solitary sport than a team effort anyway. And if you're the second guy on the scene and not sure what to do you can always ask the other guy if it's ok to move in on him. He might tell you to give him another hour or welcome you right in. But in most fishing situations whoever is first in the scene is the one who gets to call the shots.
Finally, and one thing that might help keep fishermen's blood pressure down a few numbers when they are being "infringed upon" is the knowledge that, most of the time, the other guy just doesn't know any better, it's not that he's trying to bully his way in and spoil your day, it's that he doesn't have the experience to know the program. A polite explanation of "how it's done" is usually enough to nudge an intruder out of your exclusion zone allowing you to get back to fishing, and them to leave with an understanding of what to do or not to do around other fishermen. And that's always better than going for a swim with a knife in your mouth and steam coming off your head! §
