Tgxs, I was just about to post those rules above from another site. I realize W is no longer here , but he did post several on here before FYI. I am a long time fisherman myself , so I would have to agree with W rules 100%. I fished around him about two months ago on basket reef and can say he did a great job of showing etiquette I watched three boats close right in on him because his boat was catching a ton of fish. Once he limited out he waved me in to take his spot because, out of three boats we were the only one to not squeeze him.
I also have to agree on the T-Top comments above. I know the east side of the state fisherman were over here due to the oil spill. Most were T-Tops and had no idea about this lake other than finding boats.
To add something in to the thread: Guys please watch out for waders in the water early and late! One of my partners was almost ran over last week right at dark, he had a light on the bill of his hat but boat driver never saw him.
Keep a eye out and God Bless

rule 1 is just a tip so...
rule 2: what?!? 1/2 mile?? so if i launch at cal point and am headed to comissary, and turners being 1 mille wide, if theres just 2 boats in turners flats, i would have to go down the ship channel and around to avoid spooking "someones fish" :confused: thats crazy.
rule 3: kindly tells us where to drive our boats (no less than 300 yards of the bank if anyone is even within sight of the bank, with an underlying threat of physical violence for non-compliance.
rule 4: is a non issue if you stay the prescribed 5 miles from any other angler.
rules 5 and 6 i agree with but 2 casts distance is sufficient for my comfort.
rule 7: is crazy i've witnessed 20+ boats working a single huge set of birds for more than 45 minutes! if everyone is RESPECTFUL it can happen.
and telling me that a trolling motor is required? helpful yes, but unless your buying my equipment, u cant require anything from me or anyone else.
and rule 8: well hell, you just can't fix stupid! :shaking:

Rof*****. Omg Jedi your a nut.

Make the whole Calcasieu Estuary or at least Big Lake non motorized paddle craft only? If your going to crowd someone you have to work for it.
Just joking, I have a bay boat also and deal with the the same thing when I use it.

I don't mind anyone fishing the same set of birds as me, as long as they are respectful, shut down the main motor and use a trolling motor to move in. And don't cut in front of me, or I will crank up and leave, screwing up your fishing like you screwed up mine.
If you come into the birds, you are not scaring off the birds. You are scaring off the fish. Birds will land on your boat if they see something to eat. They are not scared of humans. When the fish leave, the shrimp stop coming to the surface, the birds leave.

Another topic is launching. Don't prep your boat in the launch area. Do it in the parking lot or away from the launch. WHen it is all ready, then go into the launch area. Same when you pull out. Run on the trailer, tie off, get the fruk out of the launch area to finish preping your boat for the road.

you're exactly right man. When i was young all i'd do is freshwater fish with my dad and brother in bayous and small lakes. Whenever you were running and came up to another boat you would slow the boat to an idle and go to the opposite side of the bayou. The past 3-4 years, I have to say that barely ANYONE does that. Now they'll slow their boat down to where they are almost on step and throw a huge wake over your bow, while they are a rods reach from your boat. You would think that they just don't have any common courtesy, but i think the fact is that they are just to stupid and ignorant to think that maybe they are messing up someone's bite.

As far as saltwater goes, which I'm fairly new to (only been fishing saltwater 4-5 years) People don't seem like they know any common courtesy/sense much less know how to find fish. At least once a day, I see ppl with binoculars looking at other boats to see if they are catching and what they are fishing with, instead of looking for bait activity or any other sign of fish like current lines, slicks, BIRDS!, or just maybe a good looking washout or cut. It drives me insane that they just don't have any know how unless they are surrounded by boats.

Sorry this kind of stuff really "grinds my gears," especially when they anchor their boat right where your casts are landing, which happened to me this past weekend and killed an awesome bite i had going. I could literally look around and as I'm reeling in fish after fish i see the ppl around me picking up anchor and directly their trolling motor full speed at me!:pissed: I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING. I may take into consideration the area they are fishing and set up another drift but never get 2 casts from their boat! K I'll stop other wise I'll keep going.

i've passed threw small canals with people fishing ,if I see there catching fish I'll wait to pass them and let them catch the fish they are on, if there not catching fish I pass by slowly, but there is always that person who flies by while your on fish in a canal bend and totally ruins the bite, Most of the time I get ticked off at people, there either Mexican or Asian boaters who don't know the difference between Idle and plowing! Me and Southern151 were talking about this saturday.

This would be an excellent idea, the only issue would be that this fishing etiquette information would rarely pertain to the people on this website, except for possibly a very few things. The people on this website seem to have enough respect and common sense to know what's right and wrong when it comes to respect and courtesy on the water with others. I think it would be a great article to publish come the beginning of the spring and summer fishing months in the Lousiana Sportsman, launches, outdoor section of newspaper, and the Lousiana rules & regulations pamphlet that tells you what catch and size limits are allowed.

There are twice the number of unregistered guest that view this forum than there are registered guest.
People are looking. But I don't thing they will register in order to comment.
Best way to shame them into doing better is to take pictures and post them.
They will not try to learn, they don't care. All they say when you ask them why they
are running in front of you or chasing your school of fish off is, "this is a public lake, you don't own the fish or the lake".
So I say, take their picture and post it up.

they'll just say, hey i saw your thread that the lake is on fire so here i am.

really? :p

I don't run up on people or cut em off on drifts, on the other hand if someone does it to me I used to get really worked up now I just leave it they shut down the bite, if a area I'm catching fish in has other boats in site I always reel em in with my rod tip down n shake em off the hook I don't put em in the ice chest either basically I try not to attract attention. On the other hand if I'm smokin em n I see a father/ son struggling I will call/ wave em over so he can put the kid on fish I've even given the plastics I've been catching em on ...... Now if someone messes up a killer topwater bite I'm on that's a whole different story :p

Ray - I made mistakes in my first year or two of fishing that I look back on now with complete embarassment. I learned what some of my mistakes were by reading another forum that I am still a member of today (11 years later). Sometimes I'd read something and think to myself, "Damn, I'm one of THEM!" And I believe myself to be a pretty considerate person. You've got to remember that 98% of fishermen are weekend warriors who don't get to fish nearly enough (like me), especially those that "lurk" because they are learning and are afraid to post up and say something that sounds stupid. We've all been there at one point in our lives. ;)

That said, I definitely agree that the rules should be published in more places than just this site. If y'all get a good list of best practices put together, I'll see what I can do. ;)

Pox - It's definitely on when someone kills a topwater bite! :D Probably 2/3 of my fishing is topwater, and it's hard to get on a good bite sometimes.

It's not rules. It's respect and courtesy. There are actually no rules for killing someone's bite.
The term should be something like "common courtesy" or "respectful hints".

If you are not as good of a fisherman as the next guy, that shouldn't mean that you
can basically kill his fishing, and day off work, because he is doing good and you are not.

We all make mistakes. But some are blatent potlicking/grave jumping. Not mistakes.
They are just greedy and want the fish you are catching.

If I make a mistake and don't realize it, please tell me what I did wrong, with an
explanation of why, so I can understand better.

I have gone thru the Grand Bayou boat bay and a guide gives me a stern look and
says I am killing his business. I had to tell him to get ready, there will be a few
more boats behind me going in and out. Fishing a confined, high traffic area is not
a good choice. But if you run over any reef on plane, you deserve the finger. Except
Turners, it is one big reef. You have to get thru there now and then. I won't run thru
Turners if I am not fishing Turners. I'd rather go down the ship channel and go thru
Texaco Cut or 9 Mile Cut. Running the channel is usually calmer than the lake anyway.
There are way too many who run over well known reefs to get somewhere else.
Why ruin everyone elses fun, THINK before you leave the launch.

Ray, you're correct. It shouldn't be called rules...common courtesy and etiquette are more appropriate terms. Unfortunately, too many people aren't taught either by their parents these days. Hopefully a list published in a few startegic places might help, if even just a little.

Isn't the guy with Cajun Outdoors a member here? Would be nice if he could publish our boating etiquette 101 spring and fall in his magazine.

Fixed it for ya buddy!:*****: Basic rule for that would be, if ya piss me off on the water, I'm gonna run my ugly arse, heavy arse, 3/16" skiff into the side of your fancy fiberglass rig! Wanna guess the outcome?:shaking::smokin:

Raymond, wanna borrow my boat?!:*****:

Please do not generalize
 

Please do not generalize people, I own a t-top and I know how to fish birds and I do not mess up other anglers fishing. If I can get in without messing them up I will if not there are more spots. Some like the t-top for the added convenience it offers. I highly doubt 90% are bad anglers

Start Chootin! Get some blanks and just cap off a few rounds and go back to what you were doing lol

Pretty funny right there, but you're right. Kind of an "all hat no cattle" thing.