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How close is "too close?"

3K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  juro 
#1 ·
On the eve of what's going to be a very busy weekend on the Cape, I thought I'd throw this out there:

How close is "too close?"

Not talking flats here - more like dropoffs, rips and other blind casting locales. Inshore or offshore. Usually involving miles of open beach in both directions - casting to migrating fish that are not likely stacked up in one spot.

Opinions?

I would venture to say that if you're within a double-haul of another angler (100 ft), you're "too close".


Tight lines to all who make it out this holiday weekend:smokin:
 
#2 ·
hi dave

how you doing dave? i feel your pain. you know what we put up with in my neck of the woods. for some reason, some anglers think they will increase there odds of hooking up by just crowding another angler. dealt with this last night walleye fishing. hook a fish and the boats start crowding just like a swarm of mosquitos. i have a hard time keeping my mouth shut in times like these :) ill be down next month, we need to hookup. later, mark
 
#4 ·
Dave,

I agree for the most part. There are exceptions of course. Fishing the drop off where the rip ryder picks up at the end of the day is certainly one. Albie fishing on the breach ways are certainly another. 100 inches seems more like the rule when they show up! I would say the comfort zone in some of these situations is just whether or not your cast could drift over with the wind to the next angler. Flats are a totally different story as you point out and I think where the most difficulty lies.

Sean
 
#5 ·
On the flats (sorry to deviate) the problem is not how close you are standing together because standing close means you are in sync with your neighbor. When taking clients out on the flats their cooperation usually results in a double hookup from a single pod.

The problem is when someone does not understand the approach lanes and stands right in them, diverting fish from their tenuous scurry over the shallows. This can be a matter of 100 yards or 10 yards and has more to do with the lay of the land than distance, which I know you've already mentioned and I only mention it for completeness.

I don't have a problem standing two rod lengths from my neighbor when casting for coastal gamefish from one spot unless there is a current, when the proper distance is relative to the swing. Especially when I am brandishing the big stick :devil:
 
#6 ·
It depends on the situation. In a Clave situation I think its ok to kind of be close to one another . It doesn't bother me because I know the person and want to share my spot. I guess if a total stranger started to get close to me it certainly bother me.
If you have a couple of shuttles dropping people off crowding is bound to happen. Try fishing on the Beaverkill sometime at a popular hole. Sometimes the flats remind me of the Beaverkill.
I don't think we can prevent crowding at a popular place like the Flats.
FishHawk:D
 
#8 ·
If you are fishing say a drop off point or just blind casting and there is a chance of hooking the guy who has no common sense or common courtesy as to where he has just decided to fish then he is too close. It's so frustrating to have somebody stop 40 feet from you after he has just seen you land a fish and start fishing! It happens all the time!:mad:

If you are fishing a flat and someone can obviously see that you are sight fishing the flat and decides to cut you off 100 yards right in the area that you are watching then either the person doesn't understand how to fish the flats and needs to be educated or the person does realize what you are doing and just has no respect for other fishermen.

It always amazes me with all the miles that can be fished on the Cape, why someone would not want to fish in an area that is not being fished by another person. The less people=less spooked fish=the chance to catch more fish and if you are sight fishing the chance to see more fish. A lot of people just don't understand this concept.

This is a great topic T Dawg! Lets just hope enough people who are guilty of this read this post and maybe learn a thing or two.:(
 
#9 ·
Thx all for the insight.

I was referring more to an open beachfront than flats. Agreed that with the hype about NM/SB it's impossible to avoid a crowd on the weekend. Same deal for albie fever at a breachway or popular trout stream

I usually take the high road on this but have been fed up over the last couple of weekends with the crew that sees a bent rod and then hustles down and pulls in literally 10 feet away from you like you're not even there. This is with a completely open beachfront for a 1/2 mile in either direction:eyecrazy:

You can forget fan casting and covering ground when this happens. Maybe these folks were rookies but fly fishing carries a certain level of etiquette that was completely lost on this crowd.

Curious as to how you all would handle this situation?
 
#10 ·
I believe the very best approach is to welcome him, then proceed to out catch the ever-living heck out of him until he leaves.

If he doesn't leave, make him take pictures. If he still doesn't leave, buy him a beer at Squires afterward because he's the perfect fishing buddy :smokin:
 
#11 ·
I would have thought that...

Because you're so relatively very large that you would seem, to an approaching/encroaching angler, that you were closer than you really were (sorta' like the rear view mirrow disclaimer/warning)...
But on South Beach and the Monomoyz...
ALL BETS ARE OFF!!! :devil:
 
#13 ·
Sounds like it's time for the gentle reminders

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reminder, I will start spreading the word again with the newbies to " spread out" as Moe would say. If my gentle reminder doesn't work at the time of departure from the Rip Ryder, I guess the two finger eye poke would be your next option.

Capt Keith
 
#14 ·
Just an idea. What if the Forum put out a little guide book on fishing the Flats which could be handed out on the Rip Ryder?
We could give suggestions and also advertise our site. We could do this on our computers and it wouldn't cost that much to do.
What do you think? I think it would be well received . The only way to prevent crowding is by educating people.
FishHawk :D
 
#15 ·
Fishhawk,

That's a great idea. I would gladly devote my time to help create a handout for the newbies. If this should happen please let me know how I can contribute. This topic is one of my favorites and anything to help to educate the newbies will in turn make some of the veterans less frustrated with more educated newbies on the water.:)
 
#16 ·
I might be part of the squawking committee but thinking objectively...

We'd have to be careful about a handout. If the intent of the handout was to purely educate our fellow anglers toward their own best interests and as a result indirectly improve the general approach, that would be cool. But I would stay clear of a scolding by those in the know.

Many are happy going to the drop-off and blind casting all day from one spot. Maybe we should be glad they stay put :devil:

Seriously, if the handout was in the spirit of "successful sight fishing for everyone" and had more content to help the individual than the others around him, it would be a nice thing to receive were I a newbie.

But if the tone was akin to the Saturday Night Live skit... "Jane you ignorant (newbie)" it would certainly not represent the camaraderie that the forum is all about.

.02
 
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