ShaneCarroll
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
- Messages
- 639
One thing that really bothers me while boating is a spot where people constantly throw out their fishing lines: IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHANNEL UNDER THE BRIDGE!! I launch up river, and we cruise out the mouth of the river, and in the process, must go under 3 bridges. The first two are very high, so you can pretty much go between any pilings and not risk hitting the bridge with the bimini. The third bridge has a separate railroad bridge running right next to it, with the clearance at probably around 5-8 feet depending on the tide. There are two marked channels to go underneath, where the bridge will swing open and allow much more clearance space. Each channel (one in, one out) is probably about 20 feet wide. On the other side of the bridge is a boat ramp that has a separate fairly long dock that goes out onto the water.
Now, fishermen can cast their lines to either side of the dock, and not be in conflict with any passing boats. Instead, they choose to cast right in front of this channel, which ends no more than 15 feet from the dock, and then want to yell at the boaters when their lines get run over. Now, I am very courteous, and when at all possible, I will swing wide to avoid running over their fishing lines. Sometimes, there is boat traffic in the opposite direction, so I have nowhere to go but straight. I have only knicked one fishing line, and the guy acted like I just shot his dog!! There is probably about 50 feet of open water between the end of the dock and the beginning of the channel.
My question is why do the fishermen not use all of that available space instead of casting right in the narrow channel (with wooden sides, I forgot to mention)? And when they do cast here, why yell at the boaters if your line gets cut? The boats have nowhere else to go, and it is purely an accident.
Now, fishermen can cast their lines to either side of the dock, and not be in conflict with any passing boats. Instead, they choose to cast right in front of this channel, which ends no more than 15 feet from the dock, and then want to yell at the boaters when their lines get run over. Now, I am very courteous, and when at all possible, I will swing wide to avoid running over their fishing lines. Sometimes, there is boat traffic in the opposite direction, so I have nowhere to go but straight. I have only knicked one fishing line, and the guy acted like I just shot his dog!! There is probably about 50 feet of open water between the end of the dock and the beginning of the channel.
My question is why do the fishermen not use all of that available space instead of casting right in the narrow channel (with wooden sides, I forgot to mention)? And when they do cast here, why yell at the boaters if your line gets cut? The boats have nowhere else to go, and it is purely an accident.
