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derek4one.
Friday afternoon, I put in Salt Run, at Salt Springs. The Springs opens into a large shallow lake, 40 acres with a “no wake” policy. At the East end of the lake, it forms in to a deeper run that meanders to Big Lake George and at the beginning of the run the no wake” is off. The warmer spring water has early bedding bass. There were at least15 or 20 bass boats fishing the lake and down the first 1/2 mile or so of the run. I fished the lake and then moved to the run, but because of the narrow channel at that point and the number of boats working the shore lines, I just idled along till I reached a wide spot with at least 40-50 yards clearance and put my boat on plane and then pulled back to about 30 MPH . I stopped in the next wide spot, called Taylor Lake and started fishing again. There was no boat traffic for some time, but about 4:30 a bass boat came by me with-in 10-15 yards wide open. Behind him was another boat wide open also. The boats passed between me and the North shore line and there was much more room on the South side of me. A minute or two later a third boat barreled by, wide open and of course I was rocking from the last boat that passed. A couple of weeks ago, with my Grandson, we were in the St. Johns River and we were running the West shore line at a point the river is at least a mile wide. We were headed for a point and as we got closer to the point, I slowed down to about 25-30 MPH and a Bass Boat came by on my left, between us and the shore line wide open. We were just before turning to the shore line to stop and fish. The boat startled both of us, we never saw the boat. This has happened several times over the years that a bass boat comes by wide open and close to me while we are trolling along the shore line. Some times as close at 10-15 feet. I know that a bass boat throws a lighter wake when it is on plane, compared to dropping off plane. I generally come off plane when the water way is narrow and someone is fishing. I think that is respecting the person fishing and I dont want to disturb his fishing. If there is plenty of room for a wide pass, I do slow down to a safe speed and then speed back up when I am pass the other boat. My question is this. Do tournament bass fishermen feel that this type of high speed passing an ok thing to do? In other words, if I throw less wake at wide open speed, I can ignore anyone else fishing and just fly by as long as I dont get the other boat wet with my wake? Personally I think is is an unsafe practice. I also think it is an immature action and contempt for the other boats on the water and besides, “no one can catch me anyhow.” I notice that it is worse when some one is pan fishing and they fly by. I am afraid that someone is going to fly by and the unsuspecting boat he is overtaking turns in front of him and there is a tragic accident, as it surely would be one. Everyone on this board is a bass fisherman and most have boats that can reach high speeds on the water. I am not one that runs my Bass Cat wide open on a regular basis. Only sometimes to see if it will still break 60 MPH. So I just might be an old guy crying wolf, but this is something that I notice a lot around here. We have a lot of water and a lot of boats plus a lot of bass tournaments. I think some people forget that the water is shared by other people in both big and small boats. There may come a day when it wont matter that your boat will run 80 MPH, because the speed limit will be 35 MPH. Am I off base on this? Skipjack
but if theres plenty of room, i prefer for boats to stay on plane. nothing aggravates me more than having a boat come to a barreling stop right before reaching my boat. the barge wake it creates is far more dangerous, to me standing on the deck, than the small wake created by a planed-out rig…so i just as soon have you speed on by at a safe distance, of course. now, if youll need to come within 10-15 feet of my boat, you can slow down some, yet still maintain your plane. folks, im sure, remember gerald swindle getting disqualified in the classic for running wide open within feet of another contestants boat as he passed thru a small area.. (irony was, the competitor/fisherman didnt care, it was actually his observer who complained to b.a.s.s. tourney officials, and he caught the incident on tape.) so much of your answer depends on the waterway thats being used. but the variables are many (skill of driver, size of boat, wind, traffic, size of waterway, etc.)
I agree with Cajun 100%. I would much rather prefer a guy run by me going fast than idling. Our lakes are different though and not working on the tight conditions that you FL guys do on those river systems. Hard to judge whether it is right or not or even what I would do having never been there. Glad you are getting out and enjoying your boat. Judd Lasiter
I do understand your frustration, especially when your grandson is along for what you hope is a safe day on the water. By all means thats what it should be. No one should ever be in jeopardy from another boaters carelessness or ignorance. Most of us with any experience realize what is safe and what is not. Sometimes on the other side, the other party may not see it the same. Not to say that you didnt, but you might evaluate your concern to be sure. Sometimes we fisherman designate certain areas as travel lanes, even if they are not posted. A lot of the so called, non posted boat lanes are created only from experience on a particular body of water. The locals for years know and accept this practice. If youre new to a body of water, I definitely understand how a person could easily think someone is being unethical or careless. Ive been there before myself. But on the other hand if a person has fished this body of water for years, then I think that person should be more observant of the surroundings. Ill bet if they pay close attention, theyll notice traveling on pad, standard practice in those given areas. Skipjack, you sound like a great person. I know you are concerned about safety. My advice, be fast to designate those areas and realize there will be boats coming through on pad. Fish knowing this or avoid fishing the area altogether if you see a safety issue. Your choice here! Me,the traffic never bothers me. You can come by me wide open anytime anywhere, even in the shallowest of water. It sometimes helps the fishing. Glynn
Guys, parts of Salt Springs are too narrow to run by with any courtesy, also they are shallow flats with limited channels wthat most of you are used to. It is a narrow Florida style spring flow. There are areas that have enough room with courtesy also, which was obviously not observed. This is a situation that pops up under these circumstances and in tournaments, more so in Florida styles of areas and we must all have courtesy. That is a long run there, and even on those short narrow gaps we need to be observant.Last edited by Bass Cat Boats on January 25th, 2009, 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I dont care how wide the channel is, I will be very unhappy if you come flying by me at 10-15 ft away. That is just not safe at all. Think of the multitude of things that could happen to cause an accident at those high speeds and very tight spaces. If you want to pass by on plane at a larger distance where your wake wont disturb my boat or fishing, then feel free. About 4 years ago, I was fishing the shoreline at Lake Dardanelle at night (with all my lights on) when a boat passed by me at WOT no more than 8-10 ft away. I could have slapped the guy with my rod as he went by. However, I was not thinking about that because I was so scared that he was going to hit my boat. My partner and I both had to hold firmly to our seats or we would both have been thrown from the boat. I can tell you, it is not safe to pass at that close of a distance. Just dont do it, its not worth a tournament check to risk the lives of others or yourselves. Be safe out there. KentKent Charles 2002 Pantera Classic & 200 Yamaha VMax
I dont want to beat this dead horse too much, but I dont think there are channels just reserved for our bass boats to be on pad flat out, regardless of the other boat having to have knowledge of this and to stay out of the way. In Salt Run, boats were on both shore lines and in the middle. At times as it can be a popular place this time of the year. I have fished Salt Run on and off since the 60s day and sometimes moonlight nights. You could be the worlds best hi speed driver and still have an unknowing boater swing into your path at the last minute. I agree that being on pad there is less wake, but slowing down a bit when someone else is standing on his bow fishing, just shows common courtesy. I like to fish a bar at the mouth of Dunns Creek, flowing in to the St. Johns River. There have been times that two or three bass boats come flying out the creek returning from Crescent Lake and turn right across the area I am casting to, instead of keeping the channel another 50 yards and turning North into the river. There is no way that I am fishing in the channel at that point. I am afraid it comes across as an arrogant tournament fisherman that thinks he owns the river and can do anything he wants to do. I admit, most guys in bass boats are courteous to other fishermen on the water. But I think we should be happy that there are so few regulations now on boat speed around here. Two actions come to mind: (1) PWCs are starting to run into places that they can not operate because of noise, crossing of wakes and accidents. (2) The Ocala National Forest now is regulating specific areas where you can operate 4 Wheelers, ATVs, Utility ATVs, trucks and trailers. Since we use to quail hunt there in a utility ATV, they now have designated areas to operate this type vehicle, so we gave up hunting the forest. There are bureaucrats that just seem to be staying awake at night, trying to see what else they can come up with to make use of our waterways and forests miserable for hunters and fishermen. BCB is right about Florida having some narrow waterways. When I fish Clark Hill, most places you can stay on plane at hi speed and not bother anyone fishing. PWCs are another thing. I would like all of us to think courtesy when we are running at high speeds when someone is fishing and the way narrow. And if there is room to give a wider pass, show him that courtesy. MHO Skipjack
there are just too many variables to make a clear consensus on this. the bottom line is it still comes down to two basic things, COMMON SENSE and COMMON COURTESY. that applies if youre in a boat, in your car, on a motorcycle, or horse-drawn carriage, for that matter.
I am like most of you guys i would much rather someone go by me on plain. I did ahve a dummy moment one summer night on ouachita we were leaving mountain harbor headed north and if you know the are you know there is a good set of deeper humps just out from harbor that poeple fish from time to time, well anyways i asked my partner just before we took off how far a boat was from me b/c my graph was kinda fussin my vision he said way off and i agreed. I got on plain. the trolling motor spun a lil and got my eyes wiht water and if you wear contacts like i do thats not good. Thank god i have some kind of reflex because at about 60 the boat we thought we plum across the lake was about 20 -25yds away. I just did my best not to kill all of us and kept on motoring. I know the guy that i scared to death and from time to time he still gives me grief over it. During the day i dont care if people ” IN BASS BOATS” Not huge cruisers or wake rigs blow by me but be careful at night i have a good deal of experience in all conditions in a boat and i admit i messed up and night time is a whole new ballgame.
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