How close is to close??

[Chuckles]

This may have been discussed earlier in the season. But how close is too close to set-up when starting to fish? I suppose part of the answer would be on how big a body of water your fishing. I normaly fish alone. So the other day 4 guys come out and drill 20 or 30 holes with a noisy power auger, some not 10 yards from me. It was about an hour before sundown so things had time to quiet down before the "nite-bite". As a rule of thumb would you say 30 yards
should be about the right set-up distance?

[grumpymoe]

i think it really depends on where you are fishing. 10 yards away is not too bad, but the more room them better. some fish like lake trout and northerns, tend to run off quite abit of line depending on how they are hitting, so 10 yards is not much and i would be a little ticked. for walleye and perch, no problem. my 2 cents grumpymoe

[PIKEGUY]

It couldn't hurt to ask whoever you were going to set up by. But you can't make them ask you i guess. Did they have beer or anything to share with you?? lol 

[nocash0000]

Come on 10 or even 30 yard's they should not of even set up there. i'm shure there is more than one lake or pond in that state.I won't set up any closer than 100 yard's of anyone.       Rich

[bigfish57]

30feet (10 yards) is a bit close for my taste, but to be perfectly honest in some lakes there are a large handfull of people that all fish the same area. They know this when they set up there so if they don't liek it they should head else where.  I like to set up a good 20-30 yards from someone elses trap and make "base camp" far enough away that we don't "easdrop" on each other. That way when we wann chat we go, visit if we wann relaxe we stay right were we are. You guys that tell the horror stories about people setting up 5 or 10 feet away....I dunno what I would do but I am shure it would be rude.

[fishercat]

I would say at least 100 yards. Some spots with a large amount of people that may not work.   

[Oldfart]

100 yds min. If I can hear people talking, their too close.

[missfishylicious]

all depends on my mood  this is my lake  100 yards  10 yards  only my hubby gets that close 

[Mudbug]

i like to fish close to people, in case i need to borrow something.

[jethro]

I stay about 100yds from others. If they start drilling to close to me I send my 5 yr old nephew to bug them. They always leave.

[eyedoktr]

It depends on the body of water and the situation. Saturday I walked until I was at least 200 yards from anyone. Yesterday(sunday) there were probably 10 of us within 100 feet of each other. We could all talk without using our two way radios. I had fun both days.

[Luckydog]

I think it all depends on if you know the people who are already set up.  I've drilled 10' away from friends who said they didn't mind.  If I don't know who is in the shanty...I ask first before drilling closer than 20 yards. (The lake I usually fish is relative small and "everyone" knows where the weedline is that holds most of the fish  )

[hard_waterer]

I stay about 100yds from others. If they start drilling to close to me I send my 5 yr old nephew to bug them. They always leave.

EXCELENT

[flaggggg]

l've recently gone through the same problem.l arrived around 4:30 am with only my hand auger fishin for browns.A full hour after sunrise a guy shows up parks his sled not 25 ft from my last tip up.Within 40 minutes l was surrounded on all 4 sides and everyone of them had a gas auger!The lake is over 600 acres and you couldn't see another fisherman on it anywhere.Needless to say with all that noise no one caught anything,l was boiling over with rage,none had ever fished there the first guy saw me so he figured l must know something and that idiocy mentality became contagious.The next day the first guy beat me there but l walked a half mile down the lake no one followed {to much like work lol} caught a 7lb brown and on the way back l past 10 guys in what was my spot with nothing on the ice except 2 small bows. Ignorance is contagious........

[trapperjon]

As a general rule I never set up less than 50yrds. from anyone unless I know them, even in tight quarters, sometimes too much activity in one area moves schools out. If you get invited in move a little closer but not too close. This holds even if someone is on the spot I got um yesterday, my .02 also
trapper

[billditrite]

50 feet ,simple rule i space my tipups usually about 50 feet apart from ,each other ,your traps, the shanty,50 feet all around gimme some elbow room spacing! see how far apart my traps are ?,please dont put one closer!

[2 dogs]

I like to fish for the quiet and peace of the lake and ice. If somebody sets too close (withing 25 yards) I send my Scottie male over to lift his leg on their tipups. His record is 7 before going dry but folks get the message and leave. 8)

[Little Brown Dog]

Have to train my dog to do that, but with her it may be tricky   When it's busy like a derby then don't set up closer than I have my tipups to eachother.  When it's quiet then I want more room.  I like the days when there is just one other person on the lake and we can just barely see eachother, but chat on the way by to see how we did.

[fishermanjake]

There is nothing wrong with fishing close to people as long as you are courtious and they don't object.  I've only had one instace where a guy fished to close to me (summer is a different story, combat fishing).  He drove right out on 7 inches of ice in his SUV circled us 10 feet away and pulled up about 10 feet from one of my tip-ups (which were 50 feet apart) and drills his holes.  My buddies and I were the only people on the lake, which is pretty much a big pit  (not much structure).  I was ticked. 
Usually I already have my spot in mind before i go, so if someone is in the area, i set up 30 yards or so away.  If fishing is slow i go over and chat/see how they are doing.
If fishing is hot and they aren't doing well i invite them over.  If they give me a cold sholder i leave them alone.  Pretty much, you can tell from the person's demenor if they want to be away from people(i respect that).  But most the time i meet some real neat people on the ice and have a good time.

[billditrite]

I WANT TO MEET ALL OF YOU ,I WANT TO FISH WITH ALL OF YOU , I FEEL A LOT OF LOVE IN THE SHANTY TONIGHT!IF YOU SEE THE BIG GREEN ESKIMO LODGE ON THE ICE ,COME ON OVER AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF LETS FISH

[crappie66]

I generally don't care if people fish near me, some places I fish people regularly fish 5 to 10 feet away going from hole to hole, if the hole is open it is fair game.  The only thing that pisses me off is when they walk over and put their Vexilar in the hole I am fishing in.  The other day I had an idiot fish a hole about 5 feet from me where I had my auger, bucket, and fish piled up.  He saw me a catch a few fish from the hole then move to my next hole.  I usually drill a few holes in an area where I am catching fish and go back and forth jigging each hole.  He then invited himself to sit between all of my gear and steal my hole.

As for the gas auger people who drill about 50 holes.  I don't mind if they drill their holes real fast all at once.  What annoys me is when they drill 2 or 3, which scares the fish away, I don't care what anybody says the noise does scare them away.  They fish for 3 minutes then drill another 2 or 3 holes, not giving the fish time to move back in.  I generally know the area I am going to fish, and I drill a bunch of holes all at once, that way it gives the fish time to settle back in.

But the worst is when you have people on snowmobiles doing laps around you when 99% of the rest of the lake is wide open with nobody out there.

[Chuckles]

Thanks guys and gals for your imput on this "touchy" subject.

[GEEMAN]

The further away the better as far as I'm concerned when running boards. I would NEVER consider crowding another fisherman and would hope for the same in return.

Panfishing is a different story somtimes. Though I still want some elbow room somtimes group fishing is the way it works out. That's ok as long as everyone shows a little consideration.

Either way I always ask if I think I may be too close to another. Most people don't care but some do so I respect thier wishes. No problem.

[Gusher]

A couple of years ago my bro-in-law and I had two lines of tip ups set about 25 yards apart and a guy from out of the area showed up and asked us how the fishing was.  We had been having a good day, got 10 or 12 walleye in a few hours.  After visiting with us for half an hour he proceeded to put a line of tip ups exactly between us.  We were pissed.  Needless to say it killed the fishing action we had been enjoying.  Needless to say about 3 hours later he landed a 7 pound walleye and we ended up skunked since he showed up.  We uncerimoniously gathered up our stuff and moved a couple hundred yards away.  If he had set up on either side of us by 15 yards we wouldn't have had any problem. 

[grumpymoe]

that takes alot of nerve to do something like that. i agree that sometimes (and it really depends on where and what you are fishing for), that 10 yards is great for perch, 30 yards may be ok for other species, but ideally 100 yards or more is common courtesy on larger lakes and rivers. the one thing that seems to tick us off, is anglers setting up right outside your shanty, not only for fishing, but for windbreak and chugging down a few cold ones. i've seen that many times. they simply dont respect peace and privacy.

[howey1176]

I don't normally get within 50' of anyone or their gear. If it's one of my hotspots and I've made up my mind that's were I am going to fish, I make exceptions. I don't like doing it but I always aqaint myself with the fella(s) first. I'm always courtious with them and share anything helpfull I can offer. If your going to be neighbors might as well try to be good ones.

I don't mind folks setting up camp within 20 or 30' of me. I'm a pretty social person and don't mind the company seeing as how I fish alone most of the time. Just don't like being surrounded by migrating fisherfolks after they see me catching fish. If they are cool poeple I'll invite them to cut a couple of holes right next to mine if they aren't catching anything and I am.

My 2 cents

[BOOB]

Ask me if you can set up close to me no problem. Ill drill your holes and feed you dinner . Dont ask and ill take a big dump on your trap or by your trap. Is it gross very just ask the guy that pulled his traps shortly after !!!!

[woodyjdh]

Here in Minnesota 10 foot is the legal minimum distance.  I'd prefer to be at least 20-30 foot away from someone.  If someone moves in on me, I load up on Burritos, Chili, Baked Beans, beer, pickeled herring, limburger cheese and wait for nature to take her course.  Then when the time comes...I leave the door open and aim the fans out the door to "smoke" them out!!  LOL  I am soooooo rotten!!! HEH HEH HEH  8)

[mooseslayer]

IN NORTHERN MAINE, IF SOMEONES 300YRDS FROM YOU HES TOO CLOSE. IF HIS TIP UPS ARE WITHIN 100YRDS OF YOURS HES LOOKING FOR A FIGHT. THE ONLY TIME THAT 300 YRD SPACE IS BREACHED IS DURING THE HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL VISITS AND EVEN THEN ONLY FOR A COUPLE HRS AT A TIME.