I've heard a few stories from others, but this was a first for me.
So I was approaching a semi-popular fishing spot at the same time as another boater. He gets there a few seconds before me, and so, instead of fishing on top of him, of course, I stop about 75 yards left of him.
The next thing I hear is, "Are you gonna cut me off?" I said, "Well, where did you think I was gonna go?" "Maybe he thinks I'm going to drive between his boat and the bank," I thought. I'd never do that, and by this time, I'd already stopped.
"You're cuttin me off you #$!@ idiot." My blood boiled instantly. I was nowhere near disturbing this guy and couldn't imagine how he believe otherwise.
Then, the truth came out.
"I'm fishin a tournament. You're just fun-fishin," he says. I'm not kidding one bit. Those were his exact words. Still mad, I said "Ahhhh, I should've known!"
After he called me every name in the book and exclaimed that I didn't know what I was doing, he said, "You better hang on!" That was his warning for the 15 mph drive by that was supposed to swamp me I guess. I could've ran faster. At the time, I wished he would've hit me. We could've at least met face-to-face.
In the end, I was glad to have maintained my cool more than I would've ten or 15 years ago. I've always gone out of my way to make sure I'm not disturbing other fisherman and respect their areas. But the spot I chose to land on was not only out way, way out of bow range but the opposite direction in which most fisherman choose to navigate when fishing this particular stretch of shoreline.
Not sure what I could've done to make this fool happy except to have cleared the entire bank just for him. I'm glad he told the truth though. He was p.o'd, not because I was disturbing him, but because he was a tournament fisherman - entitled to a 1/2 mile stretch of shoreline in his mind. And ya know, I'd probably have moved had he been more civil.
Hope this was just an isolated incident and never happens again.
So I was approaching a semi-popular fishing spot at the same time as another boater. He gets there a few seconds before me, and so, instead of fishing on top of him, of course, I stop about 75 yards left of him.
The next thing I hear is, "Are you gonna cut me off?" I said, "Well, where did you think I was gonna go?" "Maybe he thinks I'm going to drive between his boat and the bank," I thought. I'd never do that, and by this time, I'd already stopped.
"You're cuttin me off you #$!@ idiot." My blood boiled instantly. I was nowhere near disturbing this guy and couldn't imagine how he believe otherwise.
Then, the truth came out.
"I'm fishin a tournament. You're just fun-fishin," he says. I'm not kidding one bit. Those were his exact words. Still mad, I said "Ahhhh, I should've known!"
After he called me every name in the book and exclaimed that I didn't know what I was doing, he said, "You better hang on!" That was his warning for the 15 mph drive by that was supposed to swamp me I guess. I could've ran faster. At the time, I wished he would've hit me. We could've at least met face-to-face.
In the end, I was glad to have maintained my cool more than I would've ten or 15 years ago. I've always gone out of my way to make sure I'm not disturbing other fisherman and respect their areas. But the spot I chose to land on was not only out way, way out of bow range but the opposite direction in which most fisherman choose to navigate when fishing this particular stretch of shoreline.
Not sure what I could've done to make this fool happy except to have cleared the entire bank just for him. I'm glad he told the truth though. He was p.o'd, not because I was disturbing him, but because he was a tournament fisherman - entitled to a 1/2 mile stretch of shoreline in his mind. And ya know, I'd probably have moved had he been more civil.
Hope this was just an isolated incident and never happens again.
