Unwritten rules of Bass Fishing

DL · Post by DL » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:18 am

In all sports, there are unwritten rules that you just don't break. In baseball we have not throwing at a batters head or standing at Home plate admiring a home run. In Hockey its not throwing another punch when the linesmen step in or one guys falls to the ice. In hoops its not undercutting a guy when he has a step on you while he's going for a dunk. And there are many others in other sports.

With all this talk about "written" rules, what is the one "unwritten" rule that you will not break in Bass fishing?

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:45 am

personally if I have a good buddy that is on the fish I won't fish his spot...regardless. You just don't mess with your buddies spots or a spot you know someone is fishing.

personally won't ever do it.

BassManDan · Post by **BassManDan** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:52 am

I don't tournament fish but simple courtesy is the rule of the water.

1)Give people space.

Done!

Marty · Post by **Marty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:01 am

elfish16 wrote:personally if I have a good buddy that is on the fish I won't fish his spot...regardless. You just don't mess with your buddies spots or a spot you know someone is fishing.

personally won't ever do it.

This is a good one - I would ask if I could but if he said no - I would not go there.

cib11b · Post by **cib11b** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:20 am

I would say.. Lie about how many you cought the zie, and on what.

Grape Ape · Post by **Grape Ape** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:08 am

As a "non-boater".....not peeing on the carpet.

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:11 am

1. Don't cast to the exact spot the person in front just cast into.
2. Don't cast across the other person's line.
3. Don't leave mudsharks in the livewell.

buddy brown · Post by **buddy brown** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:19 am

eat a chorizo and rare egg burrito w/ extra onions and a warm mickey's big mouth and make sure your partner is down wind from you all day... If he doesn't start to stick fish break em off a lil sum sumn until he does

GKramer · Post by **GKramer** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:12 am

Just where are those "unwritten rules" written? Robert Frost was wrong: Good fences actually do make good neighbors. In theory, we teach etiquette. In practice, you have 30 minutes to file a protest.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 12:07 pm

Grape Ape wrote:As a "non-boater".....not peeing on the carpet.

Suppose too many people are length challenged

DL · Post by DL » Tue Apr 20, 2010 12:17 pm

GKramer wrote:Just where are those "unwritten rules" written? Robert Frost was wrong: Good fences actually do make good neighbors. In theory, we teach etiquette. In practice, you have 30 minutes to file a protest.

They're written in the gray area of the rule book. You know, right between the section you agree with and the section you don't.

offduty · Post by **offduty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:02 pm

1) If a guy is fishing down a bank don't pull in front of him and fish the water he is heading towards.

2) Don't pee in the lake, way uncool. Take a bottle if you need to as no one should have they're drinking water pissed in!

3) Be ready to launch at the ramp, don't prep your boat on it and tie it up and same goes for getting out.

Rich

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:15 pm

offduty wrote:2) Don't pee in the lake, way uncool. Take a bottle if you need to as no one should have they're drinking water pissed in!

A little pee aint gonna hurt--it's not like the water isn't treated for the end users. Besides, it's all going to Westlands anyway, so why not?

BassinAz · Post by **BassinAz** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:19 pm

No bananas!

Greg_Cornish · Post by **Greg_Cornish** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:40 pm

Never carve your initials in a bass.

Hey it's the Vicoden.

offduty · Post by **offduty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:42 pm

fish_food wrote:
offduty wrote:2) Don't pee in the lake, way uncool. Take a bottle if you need to as no one should have they're drinking water pissed in!
A little pee aint gonna hurt--it's not like the water isn't treated for the end users. Besides, it's all going to Westlands anyway, so why not?

Yeah I knew that would hit a nerve with quite a few, guess you were never taught not to pee in the water as a youngster. Some of these lakes are for drinking. Is it really all that hard to think ahead so ya don't pee in my drinking water, I would not do that to anyone myself.

Rich

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:47 pm

offduty wrote:
fish_food wrote:
offduty wrote:2) Don't pee in the lake, way uncool. Take a bottle if you need to as no one should have they're drinking water pissed in!
A little pee aint gonna hurt--it's not like the water isn't treated for the end users. Besides, it's all going to Westlands anyway, so why not?
Yeah I knew that would hit a nerve with quite a few, guess you were never taught not to pee in the water as a youngster. Some of these lakes are for drinking. Is it really all that hard to think ahead so ya don't pee in my drinking water, I would not do that to anyone myself.

Rich

If we're talking pollutants, all the pee from all the fishermen combined doesn't even compare to the unburned petroleum product (ie, oil) our outboards put into the lakes/rivers...

Pee is not bad. I'm more scared of mudsharks

offduty · Post by **offduty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:52 pm

Nt peeing in the water is easy to do if you want to. Cleaning the outboards up, not so much.

Rich

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:12 pm

hahaha...peeing in the water...thats a funny one. Like said before...that stuff if filtered and treated before used anyway. i sure as heck ain't drinking straight out of the lake so yeah... not really an issue there. LOL

Turkeyman · Post by **Turkeyman** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:26 pm

In Northern Ca. we pee in a lot of peoples water just for fun.

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:31 pm

offduty wrote:Nt peeing in the water is easy to do if you want to. Cleaning the outboards up, not so much.

Treating all traces of my pee is easy--it's ancient technology and the utilities have mastered that for ages. You should have more concern over the unburned fuel, oil and other petroleum by products my outboard puts into your municipal water supply. I contribute to the pollution yet I don't even utilize the fish that caused me pollute in the first place--what the heck??????

offduty · Post by **offduty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:55 pm

You just don't get it, It is not hard not to piss in the water. Casitas for example is a drinking water reservoir. Bathrooms are provided in hopes that they will be used. I am not arguing that the emissions from our outboards are not an issue as far as pollutants.

I know I should not have posted my opinion on urine in my drinking water, bottom line is some of you don't give a ****. Obviously I don't feel it is cool to pee in the water wether in the end it gets filtered or not. I am by no means an enviromaniac but I will do the easy things not to pollute our waters.

I guess maybe it was part of how my father raised me. We used to go backpacking all the time and I was fortunate to have a dad that spent time with me in the great outdoors. Lesson one was don't pee in the water or wash anything at the waters edge. I guess I still have those values. Now as someone who loves his freedom I certainly would not want to take yours. If it is legal to piss in a particular body of water and that is what you want to do I am sure you will. If it is not legal I would like to think you might understand it is that way for a reason.

Swimming pools have chlorine in them so that water gets treated too does that mean I can piss in your pool.

Rich

Turkeyman · Post by **Turkeyman** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:04 pm

Ok one more and I'm done. I was kicked out of one of the reservoirs at Cal Poly by the campus police for fishing. I asked him why, he said " It is for drinking water and we don't want people peeing in it." My reply was "Then let me stay and fish, because I don't want fish crapping it it either." I was politely escorted away.

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:04 pm

Offduty,

You should direct your ire at Greg Cornish. I read somewhere that guy likes to carve his initials into bass.

Jeff Jewell · Post by **Jeff Jewell** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:10 pm

There is usually a line to wait in before taking a pee in the Pump inlets at the delta......Sending our Pee South

Andy Lippert · Post by **Andy Lippert** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:29 pm

Jeff Jewell wrote:There is usually a line to wait in before taking a pee in the Pump inlets at the delta......Sending our Pee South

....and it's not uncommon for the words "This is for you Southern California" to be uttered before/while doing so. Atleast, that's what I've heard....

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:37 pm

offduty wrote:Nt peeing in the water is easy to do if you want to. Cleaning the outboards up, not so much.

Rich

I totally respect your desire to minimize your impacts. I wish everybody had that level of compassion for our environment. But seriously, urine in water hurts nothing. Do you know how polluted the Delta is? And that is your drinking water. Think about the drainage basin for the Delta, mostly agriculture and its a massive area. Do you know the level of pesticides and herbicides that are in that water. Its astronomical, and you cant get that stuff out of the water before drinking. There are even some very poisonous pesticides present in the water where there arent even water quality standards set for them. Go read the NPDES permits, and the associated required bioassays, and you will be freaked out to find what you actually are drinking. I think I would rather drink straight urine.

Oh, and the unwritten law in bass fishing is, as a back seater, do not start casting until your boater has the boat in the right position. The ohter one has been stated, but never jump in front of somebody in the direction they are moving, coming in behind is fine.

birdi23nls · Post by **birdi23nls** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:09 pm

hey this is a good topic....but how far in front should you not jump in front of someone...are we talking 100 yards 300 yards? the whole cove? I've only had my boat for a year now so not really sure on all the unwritten rules.

Marty · Post by **Marty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:15 pm

Well Iâ€™m not going to tell you where to take a shlt while fishing? Look what happen to Poor Rich when he said to piss in a bottle.

jazzwannabe · Post by **jazzwannabe** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:36 pm

Someone once told me this one: If you're fishing a two-day draw, don't talk to your Day 2 partner about the Day 1 guy's water/pattern.

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:59 pm

Marty wrote:Well Iâ€™m not going to tell you where to take a shlt while fishing?

Just remember not to switch your livewell to "recirculate" or you'll have an even bigger mess to clean out.

big_limits · Post by **big_limits** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:06 pm

know how to back a trailer, have ur boat ready, know how to quickly put ur boat on the trailer, don't park on the ramp, don't sit in the way trying to choke the motor enough to get it going. pull out with the trolling motor then do that, don't tie up in everyones way.... basically handle ur chit quickly and get theflock outta the way.

lowerider · Post by **lowerider** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:36 pm

Its happened to most of us at one time or another. I'm fishin Clearlake a few years ago working down a bank headed straight into a small cove when some dildo comes flying into the cove on plane nearly swamping my boat and starts fishin 20 yards ahead of me.
This is in the middle of the week no less. I say "Hey bro thanks a lot I appreciate that." He says "Sorry were pre fishing." To which I say " I dont give a F$%&K." I then start my motor do a few doughnuts around the cove then leave.
Need less to say,thats my unwritten rule. Have a little respect.

CN · Post by CN » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:21 pm

big_limits wrote:know how to back a trailer, have ur boat ready, know how to quickly put ur boat on the trailer, don't park on the ramp, don't sit in the way trying to choke the motor enough to get it going. pull out with the trolling motor then do that, don't tie up in everyones way.... basically handle ur chit quickly and get theflock outta the way.

100% agree. Just dont waste Dock time anything else I can deal with and move on

offduty · Post by **offduty** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:54 pm

For Oak View where I live and western Ventura Co Casitas is our drinking water. I guess our local situation is kind of unique because we are dependent on lake Casitas for our water and do not get our water from up north. I took a trip up north to the lovely city of weed in Siskyou for training and was amazed. All the trees and game not to mention the amount of water was really nice. I am working on transferring to our Sonoma Lake Napa Ranger unit as I would like to live and work as close as possible to Clearlake.

I am am not trying to piss anyone off but isn't there a state water project to provide water throughout the state. Where do you draw the line to say water can not be shipped from here to there. I know that Diamond valley in Riverside has a minimum draw down to provide emergency water to L.A. and Lake Mathews provides water for Riverside as does Perris. Yeah I think So Cal is too crowded and I cant wait to get north but how far are they pumping your Norcal water south and where do you draw that line. I am all for protecting the Delta as it is such a unique ecosystem in the state and I think it should be maintained.

As far as pulling in front of someone and fishing in front of them I personally use the 100 yd rule.

Rich

Scott Robertson · Post by **Scott Robertson** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:02 pm

wow for me its have a little respect for the guys boat you are fishing in. I was a backseater for years and i always tried to respect someone elses boat and equipment. When your in the back of my boat i wont front seat you, I will help you, I will do everything to put you on fish even loan you tackle, but respect what belongs to me. If you need something ask, dont dump stuff all over my boat, pay for gas and expenses if necessary. The great backseaters make great captains and pros. Just a thought and my 2 cents. Scott

Chris N · Post by **Chris N** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:28 pm

"I guess maybe it was part of how my father raised me. We used to go backpacking all the time and I was fortunate to have a dad that spent time with me in the great outdoors. Lesson one was don't pee in the water or wash anything at the waters edge. I guess I still have those values"

he lied, we all pee in the water... just sayin-

but good on you for the values, gotta love the values

upriverLMB · Post by **upriverLMB** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:30 pm

Don't fish pee and poo in the water?

Chris N · Post by **Chris N** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:34 pm

upriverLMB wrote:Don't fish pee and poo in the water?

they do, but they have to wait in a long line at the can because of the birds... the birds can poop it up pretty good

acm95301 · Post by **acm95301** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:26 pm

yeah, I prefer my deer pee straight..oh and canadian goose poo, and merganzer farts and crawdad toe jam. ....

g-man · Post by **g-man** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:29 pm

I pee in Folsom as much as I can, and also encourage others to help keep Folsom full.

TannerS · Post by **TannerS** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:53 pm

The biggest problem i've had is me taking someone to an area during prefishing, asking them not to fish there, and then finding them and their tournament partner in there during the tournament. Complete bull****. I once told my dad where I had been fishing, he was boating for my tournament, so i went into the area on tournament day and found him in there with people i was fishing against in the tournament. DONT GO TO OTHER PEOPLES AREA, EVER

snapitoff2002 · Post by **snapitoff2002** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:08 pm

TannerS wrote:The biggest problem i've had is me taking someone to an area during prefishing, asking them not to fish there, and then finding them and their tournament partner in there during the tournament. Complete bull****. I once told my dad where I had been fishing, he was boating for my tournament, so i went into the area on tournament day and found him in there with people i was fishing against in the tournament. DONT GO TO OTHER PEOPLES AREA, EVER

This is true, but even on my home lake of Shasta, with it's enormous size, I have fished almost every inch of it. When someone thinks that their 'special' spot is theirs, they need to rethink this. I like the saying "If it's your water, you better be carrying it in a bucket".

Hunting areas always have natural funnels, and sweet spots. If you're a competent fisherman, you already know where they will be by looking at them. People get too bent on spots. Now if it's a big tourney, and someone pulls in on another competitor's spot on the last day.. no bueno.

fishercurtis · Post by **fishercurtis** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:04 pm

Don't bring 15 rod set ups as a backseater and have them spread out all over the place so I have to wait 5 minutes for you to clean up your mess. Don't step all over my seats and spill your drinks everywhere. Don't hit my cowling everytime you cast!!!!

j10b · Post by **j10b** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:10 am

snapitoff2002 wrote:
TannerS wrote:The biggest problem i've had is me taking someone to an area during prefishing, asking them not to fish there, and then finding them and their tournament partner in there during the tournament. Complete bull****. I once told my dad where I had been fishing, he was boating for my tournament, so i went into the area on tournament day and found him in there with people i was fishing against in the tournament. DONT GO TO OTHER PEOPLES AREA, EVER
This is true, but even on my home lake of Shasta, with it's enormous size, I have fished almost every inch of it. When someone thinks that their 'special' spot is theirs, they need to rethink this. I like the saying "If it's your water, you better be carrying it in a bucket".

its different if you dont know the guy on "your spot". When you KNOW the guy, as in YOUR DAD, or prefishing partner..... Its doubtful that ole DAD or your prefishing partner who is with a guy neither of you saw during prefishing ON your stuff.

DB · Post by DB » Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:14 am

Don't let the lime from your cocktail make it's way to your bilge pump!

ash · Post by **ash** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:21 am

If you chew dont spit all over the side of the boat and not wipe it up...

Non-boater dont bring dye onto the boat, use the pens.

Boater, Stop watching Ultimate Fishing Match and cutting the trollign motor over so the guy in the back never gets an angle.

If you see someone fishing some way off shore piece of structure dont cruize by them, banging out way points while they are fishing.

Stay to the right, dont buzz blind points....I dont fish right ontop of the bank.

Quit bitchin and start fishin

DL · Post by DL » Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:47 am

DB wrote:Don't let the lime from your cocktail make it's way to your bilge pump!

Hallelujah!!!!!

garyd · Post by **garyd** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:17 am

don't steal someone's bass boats

some guy · Post by **some guy** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:32 am

all this beef about water coming south, yet one of the best lakes down here is being closed to low water. enjoy your lakes that are still open 24 hours a day. Maybe you can convince enough of us southern guys to move up there so all your waterways will be insanely crowded like down here.

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