fishing in channel

C

cassymai

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Joined
Jun 13, 2010
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32195
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Is it allowed to fish from your boat in the middle of the ICW?

There are numerous locations thru out South jersey where the ICW is narrow and alot of boats are just sitting in the channel.

This is a real pain in a** when you are trying to cruise somewhere and you have to keep coming off of plane so as to not leave a big wake or swamp someone. Not to mention the fuel expense and wear tear on the engines to get back up on plane with a bigger boat.

Maybe not so bad if you have a smaller/faster boat with ability to get up on plane quickly.

I fish sometimes but I always head out front or find a place not in the middle of the channel.

I understand the fishermans perspective, go where the fish are biting but is it ok to be sitting in narrow channel?
 
It is OK for them to do it, and it is OK to not slow down. I try to get to the side of the channel when I am on plane, but I got tired of coming off and on plane, so I just motor along and do my best to be polite.
 
its not ok to anchor in any channel but to drift thru is done at your own risk.
 
Just dont forget you are responsible for your wake and if something bad happens its not going to matter if your right or wrong. I agree its a pain in the ass, but i have been on both sides (fishing and now cruising), i almost always slow down if its tight.

To answer your question they have just as much right as you do to be there, but cannot anchor in channel.
 
I run into this all the time where we boat. I hate it most of the time depending on tide I can't go outside of the channel. I'll wait but after they make no effort to get out of the channel the air horns get thier attention.
Bill
 
The fisherman that fish in the channel along the NARROW part of the ICW are A-holes....plain and simple. They are a hinderence to navigation.
 
Glad to see I was not the only one to find this to be a real pain in the....

It has gotten to the point I am thinking of relocating to the Northern Chesapeake next year.

There are plenty of places to fish besides being in the channel.

Like you said Britanic, you are responsible for your wake and any damage it does. For that reason I do come off plane and slowly go by them and than struggle to get back up on plane. The few times that I didn't I get called the ahole and finger gestures and the like by the fisherman. Problem is my kids are usually with me and they hear it.

The last thing I want to do is ruin another guys day off relaxing also but it seems to be getting worse and worse. I think there should be some regulation against sitting in the channel when the channel is below a minimum width. It is also a safety issue. On Monday of this week I came across 2 locations where 2 boats could not safely pass each other portside to portside because of several boats sitting in the channel fishing.

It is very common in South Jersey for the channel to be very narrow and if it is anything but high tide you can't go outside of the channel. But there are also plenty of spots to go that are not in the channel and still go fishing. I guess the fish aren't biting at those locations.
 
When we exit our channel, at headway speed, I have to pass a pier and a marker very closely. I have to go between the marker and pier There is several hundred yards of water on the other side of the marker but it is extremely shallow and I have already done damage there. When we pass the pier there are always fisherman on it and I ask them, with a toot of my horn, to please bring in their lines. Many times they will refuse, screaming to go on the other side of the marker where they believe there is plenty of water. I have to try and explain why we cant and it always gets into a verbal exchange. Mo matter how nice you try and be or how you explain it they scream and yell to the point where I have had to call the DNR 3 seperate times over the last couple of yrs.

DNR told me to just cut their lines but I have IPS and I can not afford to have line tangled around my seals and doing damage. I alway stop to give them time to pull in their lines but many times they have a fit and it gets ugly.

A friend of mine even had a line tossed at him and it caught his shirt. Luckily someone in the boat saw it and pulled it off before it stuck him.

I love to fish, I have another CC that I use for fishing but I always stay out of the way of those using channels. I also understand that if I am fishing in close quarters that I have to expect to get waked. I understand that you are responsible for your wake but fisherman need to take part of the responsibility and not put others in awkward situations. We have alot of water out there. Lets share it and do the right thing.
 
It's a huge problem here in Little Egg especially near Parker Island taking the North cut to the inlet and Great Bay on the ICW to Atlantic City. Most of the time I come off plane however if they have thier bow facing my wake and no children onboard sometimes I don't. My wife always gets on me when I don't come off plane which is rare. I had to give 5 blasts about 2 weeks ago the fishing boats completely blocked the channel and one started to move directly across my bow as we approached at 4 knots. The idiot was less than 100 feet away when he started to make his way through the other boats blocking my only route other than grounding the boat. The word "Jacka*s" came to mind. Got to love those air horns.
Bill
 
Bill

Agree 100% with you but keep in mind that if the jacka$$ comes across from your starboard side you must giveway. (Even thou the "rule of tonnage" says you can crush the little ba$tard!)

The converse is true as well, since the boats are not anchored they are considered "underway not making way" (or something like that, been awhile since reading the rules), they MUST giveway/standon as if they were operating with the engines in gear. They won't but they are supposed to.
 
I see alot of people citing the "you're responsible for your wake" rule in this thread. While I agree with it, I think there is a point where people need to take responsibility for their own boat with respect to where they are, and what wake/waves they may encounter. Hypothetically speaking, If I am in the middle of the bay running at cruising speed, I don't believe I am responsible for my wake capsizing a canoe that is 100 yards away in the bay. The person in the canoe needs to realize they are in big water and there are going to be waves that could potentially capsize them. I have looked, but cannot find any references to the "your responsible for your wake" under all circumstances. If someone can find that reference and post it here I would like to see it.

Thanks
eric
 
I know I am 100% responsible for my wake. However the jack*sses that fish and block the channel are also impeding vessel traffic. Rommer it's too bad that the speedboat that past me on my port side almost cut the fishing boat in half, that's really why I laid on the air horns. They came within 10 feet of disaster. I had my boat under control thanks to my wife's attention to detail (read pain in the a*s) about coming off plane so we can get eaten alive by the Greenhead flies then burn 20 plus gallons getting on and off plane between all these small fishing boats.
We have extremely narrow skinny water here from low to mid tide even at high tide we have our spots. I guess what PO's me the most is there are areas all around the ICW and local channels that smaller fishing boats can anchor and cast towards the channel.
I know we could cut a smaller boat in half with the rule of tonnage, but the last thing I want is to injure anyone or find myself charged with manslaughter. I guess it comes down to keeping your cool something I'm actually pretty good at doing be it carrying a gun, operating a sports car or a boat.
Bill
 
it's not entirely true that you are 'responsible for your wake' in every situation. Read the state laws, it's not that clear - absent of 'negligence' you may not be in violation even if your wake causes damage. Whos is negligent, the guy blocking the channel trying to catch a fish, or the captain piloting his vessel in a safe manner in the only water deep enough to navigate? If somebody is sitting on an inner tube 125 feet from the channel, with no life jacket, drunk off his ass, and doesn't know how to swim - and your wake, that peaks at about 4 inches by the time it reaches him throws him into the water, and he drowns - are you liable? if you go buy the common 'you are responsible for your wake in all cases, no matter what', I guess you would be - but in the real world, you would not. Not that it makes it ok to throw all the fisherman in the channel from their bass boats, but something to consider.

Sure, if you google it, you see some interviews with officials who repeat the mantra, but I don't think it's the law. We've been down this path a few times before, and never really resolved it..

http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=116363&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=wake

http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=128661

I've heard in South Carolina, it's customary to slow down for ANY body fishing in the ICW, and you risk physilcal harm if you don't. But that still doesn't make it illegal?
 
Alk,
Thanks for the links. It looks like this is a dead horse that is still being beaten. I guess it comes down to personal responsibility, and a little courtesy. Two things sorely lacking in todays society.

eric
 
Alk, you may eventually be found not liable or negligent what's the cost and time spent defending yourself worth?
The problem may not be the eventual outcome but getting to it.
As with all vauge or poorly written law the courts decide your fate, on site officials generally take reports and charges can be immediate, never happen or come at a later date.
Bill
 
I'm not saying you shouldn't slow down because somebody is anchored in the ten feet wide channel; you pretty much have no choice. But when people repeat the myth that 'you are responsible for your wake. period.' I feel the need to jump in, because that isn't the case - and the misconception is what gives a lot of these jackasses the belief that they are in the right.

But back to the original topic, there really should be some state regs against sitting in the middle of a narrow channel fishing. The area between Sea Isle and Strathmere is awful; tons of rental boats out there, close to blocking the channel at times, and at low tide even in the shallowest draft boats if you venture a few feet out, you are aground.

Those fisherman sure have attitudes though. I remeber once on a friend's boat we came under the bridge that takes you from the ICW over to Corsons Inlet - guy had a fishing line down from the bridge, in the center span which the channel passed under. Hooked my buddies shirt; fisherman had the nerve to call us names. I wonder if these guys have picnics in the middle lane of I-95, cause it's a nice place to park - and expect everyone to swerve around them?
 
its the same ahol's blocking the channels that doing 3kts throwing a 3ft wake in a "no wake" zone instead of doing 6kts thowing a 1ft wake.
 
what wear and tear and extra fuel slowing down? if your boat is struggling to get on plane then it's underpowered... you dont' burn more fuel overall since when you start slowing down you're coasting using a lot less fuel as you slow down, it makes up for the fuel your burning accelerating.

that said, i agree that fishing boats should not be in a channel or right on the edge of the channel. last year passing thru NC I actually called the USCG as there were about 30 small boats ANCHORED in the ICW (either at Lockwoods or Shallotte). it wasn't even matter of slowing down, there was just barely enough room to come thru. some of the idiots had to push themselves off the hull as i came thru.

the problem is that if you swamp some idiot fishing in the channel, you're still the guy driving the big boat... i dont' take chance and pass them at minimum wake. on average, on a 10 hr day, it's like 20 to 30 minutes total slowing down for teh fishing guy and the sailboats... no big deal. if you're in rush, take it outside. safety and COURTESY first!
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

what wear and tear and extra fuel slowing down? if your boat is struggling to get on plane then it's underpowered... you dont' burn more fuel overall since when you start slowing down you're coasting using a lot less fuel as you slow down, it makes up for the fuel your burning accelerating.

that said, i agree that fishing boats should not be in a channel or right on the edge of the channel. last year passing thru NC I actually called the USCG as there were about 30 small boats ANCHORED in the ICW (either at Lockwoods or Shallotte). it wasn't even matter of slowing down, there was just barely enough room to come thru. some of the idiots had to push themselves off the hull as i came thru.

the problem is that if you swamp some idiot fishing in the channel, you're still the guy driving the big boat... i dont' take chance and pass them at minimum wake. on average, on a 10 hr day, it's like 20 to 30 minutes total slowing down for teh fishing guy and the sailboats... no big deal. if you're in rush, take it outside. safety and COURTESY first!

Click to expand...


Pascal, not true about being underpowered in my situation. I have V drives and I require about 51/2 to 6 feet of water to get on plane. Otherwise I'm squatting and churning the bottom. My resting or trawler speed draw is 3'6". This is the nature of a compromise V drive boat. I have 420hp per side with the proper gearing and props. In my area area at mid to even high tide many parts of the ICW are in the 4 to 5 foot range.
Bill
 
Alk my wife and I used to live in Strathmere between Bay and Sumner about 5 streets down from the Deauville Inn on the Bay. I am very familiar with the area. There isn't any place for a larger boat to go especially at mid to low tide especially in Whale Beach.
As to the other poster my boat throws almost no wake if I'm doing 2.5 knots up to about 5 knots.
I like cruising in the back bays and ICW Pascal why should I have to run outside? Many of these smaller vessels seem to be able to handle 3 to 5 foot swells and 2 foot waves on the outside why not a 1 to 2 foot rolling wake?
Bill
 
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