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Marley
04-05-2009, 05:45 PM
Hello, my name is “Marley,” and I’m a fishaholic. At least I was this weekend, having taken the rare Saturday off to fish the Sport Chalet derby and returning to fish Sunday’s Masters qualifier. I can’t remember when I’ve been lucky enough to spend two days in a row at one of my favorite places doing my favorite thing.
The days were similar, with moderate winds making holding an anchorage tricky at best to downright frustrating just before turning maddening. Cold, pre-dawn conditions warmed quickly to bright, sunny days with temperatures rubbing 80 at times.
There were fish to be had, if you looked in the right spots. I was fortunate to have found a couple of such spots, although Saturday’s fish took a little longer to locate. Thinking outside the box paid off in a limit of fat fish, but left me (once again) 2 ounces out of the money on Saturday, and a frustrating 4 ounces out on Sunday, forcing me to be looking at the Masters from the outside. Oh well, there will be next year and besides, I fished well and am fortunate to have caught limits on both days.
There were a couple of incidents of unsportsmanlike conduct that reared their ugly heads, but there was one in particular that happened to me and that gnaws at me.
I was set up in what turned out to be an outstanding spot. Intuition and a little bit of experience put me on a spot Sunday that was holding a meatball of bigger-grade fish. I dropped three into the basket and farmed another before 7:30, and I didn’t even get on the water until 6:45. It was one of those days when you stumble onto something sweet.
Well, unbeknownst to me, I had caught the attention of a couple of guys in a rental who were fishing outside of my spot. Wanting to catch something (heck, don’t we all?) they came in on me and anchored a decent 20 yards downwind. They watched me catch another fish and farm two more (weeds were an issue). And then they pulled their anchors and started to leave. We had been talking and I had been answering their questions, giving tips and suggestions, so I asked them if they were going to “call it quits so soon.” They said that no, they were going to try “that spot.” I quickly realized that “that spot” was my spot.
They motored upwind of me and put down their anchor and promptly drifted right into my motor. They cast out their bait right on where I had cast. Not close, but right in the same splash. But, I apologized to them when they caught my line on the retrieve. They realized after a few minutes that they were too close (probably the crashing of the aluminum boats gave them a clue, I don’t know) and asked for some help anchoring. I told them what to do, and they were able to get moved and set. Heck, one even caught a nice trout.
One really strong gust pulled them off their anchor and they drifted again into my boat. They pulled up and left the spot. I cast back out and was instantly on a bigger fish. As I played the fish down, I saw these two guys motoring right back to the spot they had left. I asked them to hold off and let me get the fish, that it was my fifth and I was leaving. The guy driving just steamed full-speed ahead right over my line and my big fish. I could feel the prop beating my stressed 2-lb. Somehow, the fish broke free of their boat and I was able to get a couple of winds on it and as it came to the surface 15 feet away, one headshake parted the line at the wad of frayed mono and my Masters invitation swam away, free to slurp midges and test someone’s mettle another day.
It’s not that they were close. Their boat was rubbing mine and, if they had been any closer, they would have been in my boat with me. The next closest boat was 150 yards away at least, so there was no crowd. And it’s not their choice of tackle because it’s likely all they had. But, even tips from Marley can’t do much when one reel is spooled with 20-pound (heck, it even caught a fish) and the other spooled with, I kid you not, 50-pound. It’s that they were just so discourteous, especially to someone who was helping them, and I was the one who lost.
Now, if you were one of the souls within earshot of my, um, address to these two guys, may I offer my sincere apology. While grammatically correct and, of course, perfectly punctuated, I used a couple of, shall we say “colorful” metaphors and adjectives not entirely appropriate for mixed company. And I was never a sailor. After all is said and done, it was just a fish and I will hopefully catch a couple more before I hang ‘em up for good. And I will not stop passing off biting fish or answering a question or two, or even offering a half-used tub of wigglers -needing-to-be-herbed.
So, thank you Irvine Lake for stoking this fire within us that drives us to the brink over the sport we all love, the sport we call “fishing.”
I’ll see you in two weeks for the WON zoo. I mean derby.

Crab
04-05-2009, 08:26 PM
Better luck next time.Sounds like you got a bad apple there fishing next to you.Its the same idiots who change lanes on the 405 doin' 60 without looking.
Anyway, sounds like it was a beautifull day out there.:Wink:

bruce watson
04-05-2009, 11:07 PM
If that was your own private boat that was being hit, I'd have had my camera out in a heartbeat. I'm sure those renters had a deposit posted with the lake for damages they do with Irvine's boat. CC's regs are whoever owns the boat is responsible for the boat.

Santa Fe Eric
04-05-2009, 11:16 PM
Sounds like you tried to be a gentleman about it. I'm sorry you lost your big fish! You have every right to be upset and vent about it. I wish you double success in the WON tournament!

Peace

yamafish
04-06-2009, 05:37 AM
Marley,
Nice report. It was a challenging weekend!
LF almost got in the $$ on Sat. On Sunday the bite just seemed to shut off for us.
Our recap
~I caught a duck on Sat..haha
~Got our troll lines just about all cut by a rental newb
~ I witnessed TWO seperate Tounament DQ's over each day.. drama
But... We truly had the best of times with great friends. Sat I grilled up some eats. The smoke and aroma filled up the entire boat dock cove area!

Lots of fun
Rodger - YamaFish



Marley, Good luck in the WON SCTO:Smile:

dixoncider
04-06-2009, 06:55 AM
I find it hard to believe that somebody in a rental boat did not know what they were doing.:LOL:

Marley
04-06-2009, 08:20 AM
Thanks Eric, Crab and Rodger. WON will be a fun day to be sure. Just hope the wind doesn't blow! I learned to fish in shoulder-to-shoulder conditions so we'll see if I can remember what to do. I tried a couple of things Sunday after I weighed in to see if I could get bit and the fish were holding just where I thought they might be. It's an unorthodox but very effective method and since it's not common, I'll post where and how when I post on the WON derby (sorry, I might need the edge).


I find it hard to believe that somebody in a rental boat did not know what they were doing.:LOL:


No kidding! I've heard say that if you want a good laugh, just take a six pack and a lawn chair down to the launch ramp. I might add the rental boat dock to that. When I was tied up for lunch, I watched two boats full of college students try to get their boats into open water. They had no idea what to do. One was going backward off the rail when he suddenly throttled up. The look of surprise on his face when the prop came flying out of the water was priceless. The second couldn't figure out which way to turn the tiller to get the boat to go where he wanted it and kept jamming the bow under the rail on the dock. They were not jerks and they were not drunk, and they laughed off the episode in a nervous but genuine way. Once they figured out a couple of basics, I bet they had a good time.
Too bad there's nothing effective that the lake could do to let folks know about boating coutesies.