Summertime tourists

[BigJeff823]

I know we all have had issues with non fish catching guys who invade our areas each summer.Surfers,Novice Fishermen who get in your way,Guys messin with your stuff,Trashy people,and other Idoits who try to ruin your good time.I know Emanuel,Orest,Me,and others who had trouble with these types of people.Don't worry when Labor Day is over they will thin out.So how you guys dealing with it?Is eveything going ok? ;)

[catman]

Hey Jeff, we have the same problems fishing from a boat. Got to deal with blow boats who pick you out as a tack point, high powered cigarette boats doing 50+ mph heading straight for you, jet skiers running all over the place, pleasure boaters creating hugh wakes, novice boaters who think spending $100K on a boat makes them captains, fishermen who run right through a school of breaking fish that you're working, charter boats who think the bay is theirs....well you see my point - same as yours. I just learn to live with it and make the most of each outing.

Catman. ;)

[cocoflea]

I have found that if you talk to them and tell them what they are doing wrong 9 times out of 10 they will listen I feel in order to make fishing better you must also educate when I'm fishing my waters I know what to do, but I vacation every year and I plan to travel to other places to fish and even though I have 30 plus years of fishing when I go to other parts of the country I'm somewhat of a novice I know the basic but I have to do some learning. I thought for years I was pier fishing until I first when to Virginia Beach and saw REAL pier fishing so I think the best way to handle it is to try to help and if they don't accept then it's thier lost. Sorry for being so long winded.

[Orest]

After my run in with the surfers at Delaware surf, I am still thinking of getting braided line on a back up spool for the next time. It will take a while before I get over this. :(

[OldBay]

Big Jeff - I am suprised that you get so many tourists in Bowie / Hanover MD. Just wait till the kids are back in school. We get a lot of tourists in DC, but we have an understanding - You leave me alone, and stay off the roads, and I will try not to walk between the camera and family infront of the monuments. It seems to be working out.

[Orest]

Do you work in DC?

[OldBay]

Nope. I work in Silver Spring. I live in NW a block west of the cathedral.

[Orest]

I work across the street from Union Station. In the Postal Square Building, where the Postal Museum is located.

[OldBay]

Ever fish Haines Point? How about Fletchers? You dont work far from Haines Point.

[Orest]

Never fish the Potomac.

[BigJeff823]

Na this is at the seashore buddy.They do have alot of torrist at Hanover at the Mall.I see alot of PA,Joisey,and NY tags there there all good guys.But when I'm out on the water theres a ton of idiots.I used to work in DC too;I deliverd Car Parts to Garages in NE,SE,and NW.This white guy spent alot of time near Berry Farms.Now I work with guys from Baltimore City and suronding areas.I know about the DC vistors;Baltimore has its vistors too.

[johnnyleo11]

I do my best guiding tourists on the Metro when I go home at night from work. I work at the Federal Center SW metro stop area. Where can you go fishing near there and anywhere on the Potomac? I hear about guys fishing the Chain Bridge, but I have no idea how to access it.

[OldBay]

You can access the chain bridge with a boat or canoe by putting in at Fletchers Boathouse. You can fish the Chian Bridge from shore by taking Canal road out of the city (M st across town, or the whitehall freeway, or 3 million other routes) until you get to the bridge. Pass the bridge and there is parking on the Left. Just walk down and hike to the river. It is inaccessible during very high water though b/c the whole area under the bridge floods. Dont fall in while fishing either - tricky currents and eddies have claimed some lives there. Good luck.

Oh Yeah, water is swift and about 80 feet deep in the middle under the bridge.

[OldBay]

BigJeff - I guess I always considered myself a tourist at the beach. I just try not to make it obvious and blend in. I know what you mean though. You get the people who fish for 1 week a year, and dont know the regs and/or Etiquette I just try to head to my "secret" spots during the summer. :cool:

[rattler]

i took my daughter for 4 days of smithsonion....METRO IS THE WAY TO GO :) ....never even thought of fishing. i did drive over a lot if brigdes trying to find the hotel :( .... tourists....can't live with them, can't live without them :) (last time i was in DC..i was robbed at knife point, in the washington monument(i was 11 yrs old) :eek:

[murphman]

Jeff,
Judging from the hours that you fish from your posts I would think you avoid the tourists. :rolleyes:

[BigJeff823]

I don't mind torrists too mutch but I do want some repect but some guys aint very repectfull.You have 2 groups Fishermen and Torrists;Torrists are Sunbathers,Swimmers,Surfers,Jetskiers,Pleasure Boaters,and Fishermen who don't know a damn thing about fishin(like those who use spincasting rods and snoopy rods).Fishermen are those who atleast know very little about how to fish the area and who try to use the right equipment.IM A FISHERMEN NOT A TORRIST EVEN IN NEW WATERS THAT I DON'T EVER GET A CHANCE TO FISH.

[BigJeff823]

Your not a torrist;you know how to fish any area.Why would you say that?To be a torrist you have to use a snoopy rod at IRI. :)

[Topsailbum]

totally agree on the comment reference the snoopy rods and zebco 33's. had to explain the facts of life to a couple guys this year. the muddled into the kingfishing area tangling lines and raising cain. ended up cutting there line and had pier folks remove em

[k-tom]

fishing is a lot better on the sound side, anyway.
Presently in a descent flounder run where the fish are 5-10lbs. Fishing is getting more like hunting everyday. chose the times to fish where everyone else is on the beach, avoid crowds and other boats, and if you do find them keep the lips sealed. seems to get worse every year. The drum fishing from a boat to me is just as good as the beach, especially if you are in a large school, in skinny water. Sleath is the word.

[Manayunk Jake]

Greetings All!

I thought Grease was the word (now having visions of Olivia Newton John in those black pants!)

I'd have to admit that fishing (or should I say catching) from a boat is better than being shorebound 90% of the time. But there are spots a boat can't reach or fish properly, and there are those precious moments when the fish are in the suds. The rest of the time we're just trying to eek out a decent catch.

Either way - from boat or shore - we're in competition for precious resources. Of course we compete with the commercial fishermen for fish, but we're also competing with other parties for space. This competition for space - access - is quickly becoming the number one problem for the shorebound angler. But as seen by catman's post, boaters have their share of access problems too.

There's no easy way to control access without one or more of the parties feeling wronged. Regulation only works if it is enforced. Legislation can lead to loss of access (marine preserves), limited access (seasonal no kill zones), and prepaid access (license fees). In addition, national security measures have eliminated access to many favored hot-spots. Its a very different world from just thirty years ago, when beaches and oceans seemed endless.

Sportfishermen on the whole have learned to police themselves. Pleasure boaters are overdue for licensing. And personal watercraft operators, surfers, and scuba divers will come under increased scrutiny as accidents and fatalities increase. But in the end, it will be the shore fisherman who loses the most.

[rattler]

we were all there at one time....can you help?...i try when i can...don't make daddy look bad :eek:

[Topsailbum]

I DONT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE NEW and un educated. thats simple enough to fix. i have a big problem with the drunk , uneducated and dont care crowds. the cost you money (tackle) and fish

[OldBay]

Bob - Are you making fun of my snoopy rod? It casts a lot farther than my Scooby Doo rod.

To me a tourist is anyone who comes to an area to make use of the local attractions, and stays in a hotel or other rental. I agree that there are two types of people, but I would classify them as 1 - Tourists, and 2 - Locals.

[oldsalt]

:cool: OldBay
That sounds about right to me. By the way still got a snoopy rod laying around,not what you got but how you use it! :rolleyes: :p

[OldBay]

I am actually in the market for a snoopy rod. I have a friend's youngin' coming to visit in 3 weeks. I can't wait. I guess I am a little late for the P&S kids day, but anyday is a good day to get a kid hooked on fishing. :)

[BigJeff823]

Becasuse I fish any area like I live there.Even when I'm at IRI guys ask me all the time if I'm a local.I still say no but I know or try to know the area that well.The word I should be using is moron+torrist=touron and somtimes a snoppy rod can be used but IRI is not the place for Zebco 33's and snoopy rods.Cape Henlopen is more frienldy towards the snoopy rods.If you konw where to use the equipment more power to ya! :)

[OldBay]

I guess it is all in how specific a locale you are talking about. I am a DC local, but I am not a Capital Hill Local. I am a Chesapeake watershed local, a mid-Atlantic local, and and East Coast Local.

All of the $$ I spend outside the DC metro area are considered Tourist $$ where I am spending them though.

If I put an OBX sticker on my Jeep, does that make me a local?? Just kidding. :rolleyes:

[Sandcrab]

Your not a torrist;you know how to fish any area.Why would you say that?To be a torrist you have to use a snoopy rod at IRI. :)


Tourons bad habits...


1. They bring a 2 gigawatt flashlight to the jetty at night and keep it on all night long.

2. They wear a headlight on top of their head and not around their neck. This shines the light in everyones eyes and does not keep it focused downward. What night vision?

3. They hog the point on the jetty without rotating.

4. They fall asleep and let their lines drift with the changing tide into everyone else's line. My solution is simple - SNIP SNIP!

5. They are litterbugs!

6. They take up all the seats at the Sunrise Diner in DE so I have to wait in line for my after-fishing-IRI-breakfast! ;)

September hurry up and get here!

Sandcrab

[Manayunk Jake]

Greetings Sandcrab!

Yup, Labor Day is about the only "cure" for the tourists. But anytime you think you have it really bad out there on the IRI jetty, you're welcome to come up to New Jersey and go out on a Saturday Night Bluefish Trip on a party boat. Thank gawd most of these mofo's would never make it out on a jetty....

[BigJeff823]

Everyone Hogs the point of the jetty I see it happen during the day alot;even expert fishermen who have proper manners do this too.But,this is probily not aceptable behavior during the pich black hours when you can't see a damn thing.That point is a good spot to bottom fish for Tog,Stripers,and others with Peelers but it gets crowed with 30 other anglers with some sporting another touron habit:GOING ON THE JETTY ROCKS WITHOUT KORKERS OR METAL SPIKED GOLF SHOES.

[Cdog]

We are all "tourist" when fishing a new area. I try to blend in and learn before just going at it.

Jeff, I'd like to see you walk onto the point and "fish any area like I live there." :eek: :D

[BigJeff823]

I try to blend in and learn before doing it.I do the same thing buddy;I did sound like a jerk the way I said that :D Fishing an area like I live there.I might not always know what I'm doing but I never get in anyones way even if I tried King riggin off them Carolina piers(I might try that). :cool: ;)

[Drumdum]

Watching thier new 4X4's being toted away with rollbacks on my way home from work.. :D

I always consider tourist those that DON'T ask questions before they jump into the fray head first... ;)

[shaggy]

Okay, couple of comments and I'll shut up.

Jeff, old golf shoes with the metal spikes (if you can still find em, since most courses are now into the "soft" spike), from what I have heard work if nothing else, better than adequate.

Define tourist, I live in America, hence, I am not a tourist.

My feeling, as much as I fished AI, I was always a "tourist", and learned the ways of the "locals".

As for the ones who can (and maybe it is their only chance), get out one or two weeks a year, let them have their fun, usually, the window only lasts two or three months, and then they are back at their everyday lives of stress, dreaming of "next' summers trip.

Life is short, we shouldn't sweat the small stuff.

[Cdog]

;I did sound like a jerk the way I said that :D

Well said! :p

But like I said before, let me know when you are heading down and I will try to hook up so we can "tourist" fish together. :D

[BigJeff823]

Watching thier new 4X4's being toted away with rollbacks on my way home from work.. :D

I always consider tourist those that DON'T ask questions before they jump into the fray head first... ;) I totally agre and I always ask questions before trying somthing new.

[jcreamer]

Reading these posts and I agree with everyone is one of the reasons that I put my equipment up and said no more this year. I have not wetted a rod in one month and have not missed it.

[Wilber]

This is a pretty ineresting thread.
Like somebody said before, no body is born an expert, we all had to learn somehow, common sense and courtesy are the keys to peaceful cohabitation.
I have been driving on the beach for a long, long time and consider myself pretty good at it. But, it was not always so. My first trip to the land of quick sand was less than pleasent, after framing the thing a hundred yards from the ramp I felt like an idiot. Along comes a very nice fellow and without any words of grief he pulls me out. After a short talk I found out two things, 1, I had no idea what I was doing and 2, he was a nice guy. We remained friends over the years and I learned a very good lesson as far as how to treat people.

[rattler]

i have found that most "locals" will let a tourist get away with a lot before they say anything...i usually try to judge their ability... i will try to help when they are open to it. :) ..its the ones that get hostile and say they have as much right to be here as i do(true) and continue to cause problems that get to me(jump in my spot while i take a fish off, smoke "pot" right in the open, etc) :eek: :(

[MarkDido]

I fish the Cocoa Beach Pier pretty regularly.

We get tourists here from all over the country and world, and many of them don't have a clue about ocean fishing.

I always try to be polite to them. I'll explain what type of fish are being caught, what type of rig I'm using, why I haven't caught any fish yet. :)

I want them to go back to Duluth or London or Munich thinking "What a nice bunch of people we met in Florida! We'll go back there next year for our vacation."

Thus, they will be paying my taxes for me.

Plus there's a Tiki Bar at the end of the pier!

I HAVE been hugged and kissed by lonely, slightly inebriated women who came to Florida only with their girlfriends.

Did I mention that there's a Tiki Bar at the end of the pier? :rolleyes:

[Fatback]

Hey Markdido, Yea man there is a Tiki bar at the end of Cocoa pier. Fished it once..........wierd being able to set down at the bar and have a cold one..............and get this, still fish at the same time. COOOL place!