How Close is to close?

[jflood]

If someone is already setup with tipups in the water, how close would you get someone else if you knew that it was a hot spot that you had luck on in the past?
Curious to see this answers on this one???

[mattmull10]

I try and use the hundred yard rule on an everyday fishing trip.  with our camps being atleast 100 yards from each other and the closest tip ups being 60-75 yards apart.

[deerslayer92163]

it depends on the people around you ive been set up before sitting in my shanty and had guys drill holes right outside within 5-6 ft from me and between me and my tip-ups guess it depends on how bold you are i usually give everyone some breathing room not to crowd someone elses space but thats just me

[kappydick]

100 yards is a long ways, but if people are spreading tip ups out and they have them all over the fricking place with 25-50 yards between them then thats being greedy if they don't expect you to set up someplace in that group...but i know alot of places to fish so i just move on anyways

[jflood]

100 yards ???thats seems to be a bit much but hey i want the input.
tight lines and all that

[reubenpa]

100 yards is a long ways......   appreciate the room but I try to look at the people who are their and the space available and decide my destance that way.  Canandaigua lake when entirely froze on the north end I will be at least 50 yards away... now conesus there are many people there so my tipups might be 10-15 yards from theirs and I might be like 3 yards from them... too many people for more than that!!!   I couldn't care less if somebody put their tipups 20 feet from mine or set up 20 feet from them... now 20 from where I am set of inbetween me and my tipups esp without saying a word I would be saying something.. if they are friendly and wanna come close come on casue the more bait in the water the more fish will come in!!!    MHO

[ifishhi]

just far enough not to get lines tangled up should be good enough. it is everybody's water.

[ICE LUNATIC]

Honestly if i was the one fishing there and they took my spot then i would move right back into it.I always have to enjoy these guys who fish with there binoculars becvause they can't find fish!

[ICE LUNATIC]

Just to clarify that.if they were there first nhot a big deal i can always find my own fish,so i would never wanna take another man's spot..but i also think it's only fair they have the same respect!

[GAMBELL]

I always try to stay as far away as possible.  If that person is in my favorite spot, I will find a new one.  My biggest pet peeve is someone who sets up right on top of other people.  If I have a favorite spot, I will get up extra early to get this spot.  Early bird gets the worm.

[Reel Wet Ride]

I'd say it depends on the water, # of people fishing, and where the hot bite is. If there isn't a "bite" in any one particular spot, then I'm all for fishing as far away from everyone else as I can. I do that regardless if I'm on the ice or on open water. Gives me an excuse to try new things and learn as much as I can about a new area of the lake. However, this lake 20 min from my parents house always has the best gill fishing late ice. It doesn't take long before 20+ guys know about it. Well guess what, all the fish are in one cove that may be 30yds long and 20 yds wide. Guess where I fish.....yeah, right next to everyone else.

[IFISHY]

I'm one of the guys that likes to spread my tipups out when i can.  if it's a confined area and there are a lot of people there than i pretty much expect people to set up close just leave enough room to prevent tangles 20 ft is fine for tipups but please dont jig within spitting distance of my hole half the time the noise will spook fish and make for no hits or short hits in that imeadiate area but if you go just outside the noise will move fish to the quite area espicially in shallow water.  the thing i ask most though is try not to sit in  a direct line with the set up because i cant see around you I'm not that far away that its hard to figure out where i am espicially since i'm usually the first on the ice because i like to fish certian spots.  but if your flags are mixed in with mine i'll only get mad if you get a bigger pike than me and i would be mad about that if you were a mile away anyway so thats not a huge problem.  however if theres lots of room and not a lot of people i like to spread to my sight limits and theres no need to set up next to me the spots i do that in are pleanty big enough with pleanty of good areas for you to stay a bit away.  I usually count steps in crowded areas 20 steps or so between sets in open areas 50 or more.  and if you do set up close dont be an a hole if your friendly i'll probably sit and chat with you and even help with a big fish if you hook one.  I really just wanna fish and have fun.

[utes]

If it's a spot I fish regularly I would simply walk up and ask how the fish are bitting. Strike up a conversation with the guy/guys and throw in the fact that i fish that spot alot and have found it to be productive. I would then ask if they minded if i joined them for a day of fishing being kind enough to leave them plenty of room but still being able to chat every so often. Who knows, you may make a new fishing buddy in the process. Then on the other hand , if the guy/guys are totally unfriendly i would say "have a nice day", and go find my next best hot spot for THAT day and never be LATE to my  NUMBER ONE HOT SPOT AGAIN . Stay On Top, Utes

[RIVERRAT2]

UTES
that is the way i would go also, talk to the guy you my learn
 
RAT

[1TIGGER]

I lay my tip-ups out before I drill and and if I feel it may be close I show some respect and ask If I'm too close !
General rule of thumb is to see how far apart your neighbor is spreading his lines and stay twice that  distance from his that way you eliminate tangeld lines .
Just my two cents ... but I have never run into any problems this way .

[jflood]

Some intersting comments. I like UTE's approach the best, although I can that the opinions on this topic can vary. I still think 100 yards is to much but if its a huge lake then maybe?? I like the 20 yard rule..and I would not be to happy if someone was drilling holes in between mine.
Tight lines and all that...

[FingerLakesFisher]

I would say people should stay out side of the line of tip-ups.  I usually set mine in a straight line.  If I am fishing with my brother we would make two lines of five, about ten yards between them and about twenty widthwise.  I can't stand it when people jig inbetween them.  Worse is when I set up tip-downs.  And as everyone knows who fishes with tip-downs for perch, is that they are not spread out that far.  One time I had a guy actually step in and jig my hole while I went to get a minnow to put on it.  That psss me off.  Most areas are big enough, give people the room they deserve, if you do not like it, get up earlier. 

[billybono]

Most areas are big enough, give people the room they deserve, if you do not like it, get up earlier. 

agreed....i have a few rolls of caution tape and was thinking about roping off my whole set    i dont even like people to walk within ten yards of my tip ups, yet alone drilling


                            billybono


                               

[AD]

If they have tip-ups out I show them respect and dont even go close.    Too many times haev I had peopel pretty much set up on top of me when there is plenty of room elsewhere.     Its annoying an its disresectfull.      If they are in "my spot" then I better jsut get up earlier and beat them there the next time its simple.   Just because they are there doesnt give you the right to push them out of it.   What if that is there spot too?   

   I give them, at leaste a tip-up and a half distance from my first tip-up to theres.    Its the nice thing to do.   
   Generally the same thing if they are even jigging, a lot of guys bounce holes when they jig so I want to give them the sapce so they can do that.     
   
   And just because others out on the ice dont show that much respect to me all the time doesnt mean Im going to do the same thing as them.   

    Ive had people set up 5 or 10 feet from my tip-up and start fishing when the rest of the area I am in is wide open.   

[fzgil]

I'm with Utes, talk to the people, you could end up with some good info or a good reason to explore someplace new.

[wnybassman]

If someone drops a tip-up in the same hole I am jigging in, that is much too close!!  LOL!!

Use your head, think about how close is too close when someone is setting up near you.  Use that as a guideline anyway.

[hookedonice]

utes has the idea. after talking to somone you may be invited to fish with them or you may decide 100 yards is not enough distance. theres all kinds of people out there so a few minutes of your time can help with your decision.

[mrlongbeard1]

The way I see it is you sitting next to me, is a challenge and I'll do my very best to out fish you.So come over and sit right down.

[fish boy]

True story:  A few years back on Caz the snow was deep and that place is small anyway, but my friends and I are fishing all in one man clams about ten to twenty feet apart with a few guys we don't know on the perefery (sp?).  Anyway this old timer comes huffing and puffing out to the narrows and walks right up to a friends Frabil drops his stuff and starts looking to drill a hole.  so he proceeds to start drilling a hole , I swear , no farther than 3 feet off the corner of my friends shanty!  I'm laughin my arse off and this guy in the shanty hates crowds to begin with.  So my friend yells to the old timer what the frig you wanna fish inside my shanty!!!  the guy responds, (totally serious), Why, you got another hole in there?  I almost fell over I was laughin so hard.  I think that old guy was just so happy he made it out there without dyin that he just wasn't thinkin.  So we popped out of out shanties to move over and I asked him where he was from and if they taught manners in that part of the world.  He stayed in that hole the rest of the day.  I think he was afraid to move! 

I would have to agree with Utes just stop and ask and if someone is close ask them nicely to give you a little more space.

Tighlines

T

[bonkfan14]

i usually ask the person next to me to move his ffoot so i can drill a hole... and iv never had a problem ..zeke

[TheManInBlack]

Last year I was at Iron Bay, trying to find a deep water spot we had found a week earlier.  My Dad and I drill a test hole to get the water depth.  We were over 100 yards away from these guys with tip ups, and the one guy starts yelling at us that it is a big bay.  Here's a clue, if you have to yell at the top of your lungs for the people to hear you, they are not too close! (unless you have devised a new way to cast with your tip ups).

I guess some people just feel like they own the whole body of water!

It really kind of irked me, because I have always been conscious of not crowding people, because I hate it when people do it to me.

[ifishhi]

on the pond i've been fishing a camp owner plowed a wall to block the access point on land at the other side of the cove not even his land cause we were fishhing in front of his camp, he think he owns the lake. and the one that ownes the access has let people go through for years.

[Rangerclay]

It depends on how crowded the pond is.  My rule of thumb is about 50 yards on a normal day.

Ranger

[ifishhi]

[jflood]

Great pic. Where is that