Ethically, how close can you fish to a "permanent" ice house / shanty that is not occupied. Repeat - not occupied.
If I get out their early and "nobody is home" how close can I fish. I'm not talking feet - I'm talking yards. I respect the space but how much territory is theirs to claim. I fish out of a portable ice house.
Do you leave when someone finally arrives - if they do?
This is interesting. On the other thread going on titled "are permanent shanties necessary?" or something similar, everyone is saying that if a guy puts a permanent shack on a well-known spot, there is nothing wrong with other guys fishing right by it. I probably won't fish in front of anyone's door anymore, I really don't want anyone getting hurt. But I still think its ok to get pretty close to permanent shacks as long as you don't do any harm and they aren't in the shack before you get there.
How close is too close if the ice is 2 1/2 to 3 inches? I don't allow anyone within 20 ft of me for any reason at that ice thickness. A couple times people have tried to walk right up to me in those conditions, even tho I repeatedly told them to stay away. One guy, I had to keep backing up for at least 100 ft before he finally understood it wasn't safe. Another time, I backed off 30 ft, the guy took one look at my hole, sees how thin the ice is, immediately turns around, gets off the ice and drives away. I have life jacket and ice spikes with me, but 90% of these clueless people have no safety gear at all
Drilling a hole in front of some ones shack door is just plain wrong, no reason to risk an injury due to a fall while stepping into such hole. I believe such an individual gets what they deserve if caught disrespecting another that way. For what? you don't like them having a shack you think shouldn't be there. Shame on you GS20. Everyone on this site should be shaming you as well, if you don't agree with perm-shacks make a resolution at the conservation congress meeting next April and change the rules.
So, what are you saying Junkie - 2 wrongs don't make a right, so the first wrong-doer wins by default?
Only one is wrong. Having a permanent set up is not wrong, illegal, or unethical. So the drilling in front of someone’s door is the only wrong I see. Honestly if you pulled that with me I’d make your day miserable. I’d literally just follow you all day drilling a hole 2 ft from you all day long. I can fish almost everyday all winter so I can waste a day being a pain in your a$$. Can you? What’s the worst that happens? You break into my shack or damage it in some way.
Just because there is no law doesn't make it right. Going out of your way to get into someone's way because you don't like where they put their shack is no better than the guy that put it there. If there are only "a few" cribs in the lake and everyone knows where they are, the fish are going to move off those cribs pretty quick anyways.
Had a similar situation on a lake in northern MN a few years back. Resort owner put up a permanent shanty over a known fishing hot-spot, except he left it unlocked and for anyone to use free of charge. Nice guy.
I fish a lake that has a few cribs in it. A lake owner decided to plop a permanent shanty right on top of one of the cribs. I would fish so close that he couldn't get his front door to the shanty open unless i moved. Its all public water and he knew he was putting a shack on everybody's favorite spot.
If nobody is in the shanty who cares how close you are to it?? Not that I set out to fish right outside other people’s shanty’s but on some lakes it gets to be like a village and when ur hole hopping I feel like it doesn’t matter if it’s vacant (maybe I’m wrong??). If people happen to come I absolutely make sure to give them a buffer of at least 30-40 yds or more. As far as fishing goes I usually drill in a line til I mark fish. Once I mark them I’ll drill a dozen or so holes so I can hop around and then see how it goes. I always tell people near me that they are more than welcome to fish any of the holes I drilled. I see no need to get territorial over a hole in the ice. I get aggravated with people enough at work I don’t want to deal with that when I’m fishing too!
If I drill holes and start catching fish go ahead and drill a hole right next to me! You still have to catch the fish, and I'll have someone to talk to! I love when I'm able to fish next to people, just makes conversations better! I have a buddy, however, who insists on finding his own areas to fish and doesn't want anyone around him. He says he's worked too hard when he finds those fish to have someone else get right there with him. That's fine, I respect that too. If noone wants me fishing near them, I don't. But I'd much rather have people fishing around me and catching fish than noone except me catching fish!
