Drum etiquette

Capt. George

We need some help. I live in south river and fish there all the time. The rudeness and disrespect a lot of the drum fishing boats is pathetic. They see you catch a fish and crank up and run right to you, set up on top of you etc. I am sure you all have the same problem as I do. They know who we are and that we know where the fish are. It has gotten to the point we cannot hardly fish on the weekends. Could you all do an article in the magazines and post on your website about etiquette while drum fishing? Some do not know and others just don't care.  I had one the other day where I thought I was going to have to go on his boat and get physical with him. Your thoughts?    Tony. 

Tony, 

I hear your pain.  Although I haven't had any problems this year, the folks fishing around me have been really decent.....but I haven't fished the same place at the same time two days in a row.  Seems like every time that happens, the next time I go there, there is already someone sitting there.  

Although certain areas are great thoroughfares for fish, what people don't realize is that when they are biting, they are typically moving a lot and you are getting bites from waves of fish coming through. The school from which you just caught a double header is 3 miles away an hour later.  Best advice I can give someone is to go where no one else is fishing.  No sense in running up in the middle of the fleet and spooking the whole school, killing the bite for everyone.  When another wave hits you, why would you want to share them with a crowd?  

And for those of you who have your favorite location plugged into the GPS, you don't have to exactly follow that line to get there.  If there is another boat on the horizon, between you and your honey hole, how about swinging wide, preferably a half mile off the bow.  At 40 miles an hour, it won't take you but a minute to get back on your line.  

While we're at it, for you vampires who can't seem to catch them during the day.  Turn your lights on.  It's a miracle that no one has been killed by an anchored boat who believes the myth that drum are afraid of lights. hell, in 10 feet of water, you can't even see the light.  That's different that a truck shining it's lights on surf fishermen, that's where that got started, but it doesn't apply here.  So turn on your dang lights, at least an anchor light and when you hear a boat coming, throw the switch on your spreader lights. 

And for you guys that are used to fishing at the beach, this ain't the Turning Basin or Beaufort Inlet, give us AT LEAST 200-300 yards , preferably set up off our bow, you'll get what we let go by, there should be plenty of them coming.  IDLE, slowly.  The four strokes aren't bad at idle, but when you rev them up, the drummies don't like it. I would also prefer if you did not cut across my stern and kill what was coming to me. 

How's that Tony? 

All the best,

George