# Public Reef Fishing Etiquette



## Misn 1 (Jul 14, 2008)

How close is too close? I am new to offshore fishing and I have made two trips offshore, both to public reefs/wrecks. On both trips, I was anchored on the reef/wreck and had other boats come up fairly close. By fairly close, I mean within approximately 50 feet. My brother asked me how close was too close and I told him that I didn't know what the proper ediquette was. I didn't mind having company...in fact, we spoke to each other about the mornings bite and even shared a few tips. One of my concerns is that if I'm too close to someone (or vice versa) and I get a runner, thatwe might get our lines tangled. I know that's always a possibility with someone on your own boat, but I don't want to do this with someone on another boat. My issue is that, as an inexperienced offshore fisherman, even on a public site, I don't want to encroach on someone. So again I ask; how close is too close?


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

50ft! Any your complaining! Try going out on opening day of Red Snapper season. You could hop from the bridge rubble too Hooters on the beach,get some wings and find your boat again without getting your feet wet. As long as no one is in danger of striking your boat with theirs,thats a good buffer tome. Don't like being crouded,well either move off to a differant spot or put it back on the trailer. Sorry man but its the sign of the times.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

There's enough spots out there, if you are not comfortable just move. It's better to be anchored and someone come up on you then trying to anchor near someone.... I have been out twice in my new ride and both times have come across folks on reef's I was looking for so I just moved. Usually you'll find several boats on the close reefs...Treat others like you want to be treated...You'll be crapped on more then you'll like but in the end you know you are the better man!:usaflag


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## sc23 (Jun 17, 2008)

Etiquette on fishing a published site is gone. I had someone cast over me. Not my line, me...



I shot him a look, and cut his line. I know that wasn't right, but you cast over someones boat, you take your chances.



I'll never fish a public reef again.


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## Fifty-Fifty_2 (Feb 9, 2008)

:sleeping


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

ive been out there before put out my bouy and went to get in postion to anchorand had someone try to park on my bouy. must of thought it was a public bouy. lol. whats funny is they backed rightup to it on the wrong side andTHREW their anchor out. they had about 2 foot of chain. i couldnt get mad i was laughing too hard. they ended up about a 0.1 of a mile away before it finally hung.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

> *nextstep (8/12/2008)*ive been out there before put out my bouy and went to get in postion to anchorand had someone try to park on my bouy. must of thought it was a public bouy. lol. whats funny is they backed rightup to it on the wrong side andTHREW their anchor out. they had about 2 foot of chain. i couldnt get mad i was laughing too hard. they ended up about a 0.1 of a mile away before it finally hung.


What is funny is to put your bouy away from the wreck and watch the amount of people that will go over and try to fish around your bouy. It's funny. We were out dift fishing one dayand threw the bouy out. Well the bouy ended up about 100 feet off the wreck. So instead of retrieving it we just fished marking the general direction from the bouy. You would not believe the amount of people that would drive up to the bouy, drop some bait and then eventually leave when they didn't catch anything.:doh We talked about next time, we will set the bouy away from the wreck on purpose.:letsdrink


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

hell yell we have done that too. i used to let those people get under my skin, but have learned just to laugh.:letsdrink:letsdrink:letsdrink


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## Misn 1 (Jul 14, 2008)

Sorry Bonita Dan, but I think you seriously missed the question. And, there was no complaining...just a general question since I am vertually a newbie to <U>our</U> sport. Personally, I don't mind having someone close just as long as our boats don't come in contact with each other. And they don't complain if our lines get tangled if someone hooks a fish that runs on us. Heck, unlike some jealous people, I actually like to watch others catching fish. I know that may be one less fish that I could've caught, but most fish aren't on the endangered list.Plus, I enjoy the fact that I got to watch someone else building memories of their time "on the water". 

Back to the original question (and statement); I was asking because, as a newbie, I am concerned more about encroaching on someone else than myself. There are enough crazy people in this world and I'd prefer not to provoke one if I can help it!


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## Chet88 (Feb 20, 2008)

If there is someone on a public wreck I want to fish I don't stop. Let them have it. Way too much water in the Gulf to get into a disagreement over a spot. Come back to it later on my way back in.


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

No need for an apology to me man if I have mistaken your question,but like I said Its a sign of the times. There are very few that will give ya an inch let alone a yard. If you don't feel comfortable being that close to another boat in fear of crowding them,then make a judgment call to move on to another spot. The only buffer zone is the one that you feel is right for your situation. Good luck man and thanks for your consideration to other boaters,fisherman and divers. We could use a few more folks like you down here. Oh,Nextstep,nice drawings. Need some lessons with a sharpie marker say the word. :mmmbeer


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## Lucky Dawg (Oct 6, 2007)

Slow down as you apporach and stay far enough away that you will not hit there boat or tangle your fishing lines. Don't run right up on them and throw your wake. I try to find another spot, but sometimes you will run 20 miles offshore and find someone on the spot you were going to.

I slow down and try to get close to the spot without inturrupting their fishing. Sometimes you can not get over the reef, just move on.


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## Misn 1 (Jul 14, 2008)

> *bonita dan (8/12/2008)*No need for an apology to me man if I have mistaken your question,but like I said Its a sign of the times. There are very few that will give ya an inch let alone a yard. If you don't feel comfortable being that close to another boat in fear of crowding them,then make a judgment call to move on to another spot. The only buffer zone is the one that you feel is right for your situation. Good luck man and thanks for your consideration to other boaters,fisherman and divers. We could use a few more folks like you down here. Oh,Nextstep,nice drawings. Need some lessons with a sharpie marker say the word. :mmmbeer


Thanks Bonita Dan. I do want to be considerate of others, and I'm sure thereare some real jerks out there who might want to claim 'squatters rights' to a public site. I've loaded approximately 20 of the public spots on my GPS so if I encounter one of these squatters, I'll just move on to another spot. I'm sure that as I get more experienced that I will begin toventure out to some of the furtherpublic spots.

Also, I do love this forum. There is probably more relevant info here than in the Library of Congress and/or all of the fishing and boatingmagazines put together. And, there is no subscription fee! Awesome!!!


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## woody1661 (May 7, 2008)

this is a question i had a week or so ago and didnt ask it. i am new to this sport and have had many people pull up on me while i was anchored and didnt think much about it. so a week or so ago i was going to try a new tank so i pull up and there was a very nice looking boat on it. Ithought it was ok and pulled up it, it must of beena charter captain i heard him say there are alot of public reefs out here so you get company, he drifted off the reef and i pulled up right on it with no plans of anchoring, just planned on staying close,he didnt like this at all and started talking all thissmack, but everytime he said something he would look down like he didnt sayit. the boat was named "big shot" (dont know why the fish they were catching weren't any bigger than what my rookie self was catching. i guess what i am saying is i wont fish with him again


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## GROUPER321 (Jul 30, 2008)

WELL THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, I GUESS IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK, IN WHICH I HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM BEFORE, ON THE FIRST TRIP I WENT OUT OF PCOLA PASSIT WAS THE FIRST WEEK OF SNAPPER FISHING INSTATE WATERS AND ONE OF THE PUBLIC SPOT'S I WENT TO HAD 4 BOAT'SMOTORING AROUND THE FISH AND I JOINED IN ON THE ACTION, WE WERE PROBALLY 15 TO 35FT APART AND CIRCLED THE AREA FOR A HOUR OR SO AND NOBODY HAD A PROBLEM, BUT YOU PROBALLY WILL RUN INTO A ASSHOLE ALONG YOUR TRIPS, AND ON THE NEXT STOP THATS JUST WHAT HAPPENED. WENT TO A SPOT ABOUT A MILE AWAY ONE BOAT ON THE SPOT AND ASKED IF YALL CAUGHT ANYTHING, HE REPLIED NOT WHEN STUPID FISHERMAN DONT KNOW WHAT ETIQUETTE IS WITH A FEW MORE CHOICE WORDS WHICH WE EXCHANGED BACK AND FOURTH. THE POINT IS IF IT'S A PUBLIC SPOT IT'S FAIR GAME AND WE ALL WANNA CATCH FISH, IF IT'S A PRIVATE SPOT WELL SOMEBODY MIGHT GET ANCHORED LOL BUT BE A GOOD JUDGE, I MEAN JUST LOOK AT CHARLOTTE HARBOR TARPON FISHING IT'S A NIGHTMARE BUT IT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE SO JUST DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT AND GOOD LUCK FISHING CPT. B PRATT


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## Bullshooter (Oct 5, 2007)

How close is too close depends on the spot and how the first boat is fishing. If the first boat is flylining live bait, give him plenty of space. If everyone's bottom fishing over manmade structure, stay away. Usually the best fishing is in a pretty tight location. If you're fishing over natural bottom, you can get closer. Usually you're not pulling fish out of the same nooks and crannies. If the boat is drifting a spot, don't run up to his spot the first time he drifts off. If I had somebody run up to the same exact spot that I've been drifting (as one of the earlier spouters said he did), I'd be really pissed also. I've had boats drag anchor through a bottom area and then yell at us because we were getting too close to them. The majority of my bottom bouncing is done with stern into the current holding with the outboard. With any good GPS and/or bottom machine, you can hold over a smaller area than what swinging on an anchor rope will do for you. I guess the best rule of thumb on too close is when the first boat starts getting uncomfortable with the closeness. If someone asks me to give them more room, I do. If you've only got 10-15 "public" spots, buy yourself a couple of charts at West Marine or Half Hitch. For less than $10 you'll have a hundred spots. 

By the way, the whole Gulf is "public." If you're fishing what you think is a private hole, think again. The way the hurricanes sling manmade reefs around, who's to say exactly what's attracting the fish (unless you can see the masts!). I haven't found any spot that doesn't have debris/structure surrounding the main location. If the reef's been there for more than a couple of seasons, there'll be fish on several pieces. 

Bullshooter

Aquasport 205 w/ 150 ETEC


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