COLREGS vs. bank fishing

[Kilkern]

This is inside a port/harbour, so it will be up to the Harbour/Port Master to decide if it permitted or not, it may have been approved in this case ...
I try to stay away from those fishing from the shore assuming I have room to manoeuvre, and follow official instructions.

[Shrew]

Colregs Rule #3 (d):

The term 'vessel engaged in fishing' means any vessel fishing with nets, lines, trawls, or other fishing apparatus which restrict maneuverability, but does not include a vessel fishing with trolling lines or other fishing apparatus which do not restrict maneuverability.

'Lines' which restrict maneuverability would be lobster trap shot, crab trap shot and long lines. This is not a 'rod and reel'. This section was modified to specifically address this argument from recreational fisherman.

Rule 9 (c):

A Vessel engaged in fishing shall not impede the passage of any other vessel navigating within a narrow channel or fairway.

The angler did not have the right to demand he could block passage. However we all have the obligation to avoid a collision regardless of whether we believe we're the stand-on vessel.

[capt jgw]

But the guy wasn't in a boat, he was standing on the bank so the Rules of the Road would not apply. There might be a local law that could apply, especially if it was a park or something where fishing might be prohibited. Otherwise he had as much right to be there as the boater. It comes down to simple courtesy at that point.

[dannc]

We have a similar problem at the inlet we go through. Even with strong winds over tide, there will be people out fishing at the inlet. Surprisingly, in boats that should be on a lake because the free board is so low. If the waves are up, they will stay along the jetty and out of the channel but I would not be out there in those lake boats...

However, if it is a calm or calmish day, the fishing boats will block the entire inlet with their boats and lines. It is crazy.

We just go where we have to go based on the channel, winds and waves. The fishing boats will slowly move out of the way. There are two large gambling ships that use this inlet and the same things happen. The ships have even less room, and in some place it is very little space, so they set a course and hold it. The fishing boats will eventually swarm out of the way, and once we, or the ships pass, they swarm back into place.

If they would get out of the way earlier, it would not be a problem, but they wait until the last moment.

At some point there is going to be a bad incident. Some jet skis somehow went up on the jetty one year, not sure how they managed that one, but they did, and it required a pretty large response from local, state law enforcement, a fire department and USCG to handle the incident.

Later,
Dan

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by capt jgw

But the guy wasn't in a boat, he was standing on the bank so the Rules of the Road would not apply. There might be a local law that could apply, especially if it was a park or something where fishing might be prohibited. Otherwise he had as much right to be there as the boater. It comes down to simple courtesy at that point.

Apologies it was titled 'Col-Reg's, with a long wind-up, and discussion of kayaks. I mis-read.

I've never known of shore fishing to be allowed to impede boat traffic.

[GrowleyMonster]

There are many reasons why a vessel should be allowed to pass in a waterway commonly used by vessels, and people fishing from shore should not expect vessels to somehow guess where their fishing lines are, and steer around them. The person fishing can reel his line in. If he can't, then what the hell is he going to do when he gets a fish on?

Certainly, when you have plenty of room and you observe people fishing from shore, it is courteous to give them a spoke or two. It is also sensible to try and avoid wrapping a line up around your prop shaft, if you are motoring, or across keel, rudder, etc. I do. But if there is a reason to hug the shore, then hug the shore. The guy with the fishing rod has a little handle that he can turn on that miniature winch thingie that will retrieve and store his line temporarily while you pass. All he has to do is turn the little handle.

I have fished from shore, near where boats often pass, and I don't have a problem with reeling in my line if there seems to be a conflict. The boat can see me fishing. If he sees fit to cut me some room, cool. If he can't or won't, do I REALLY want to lose a hundred or more yards of line and all the associated hooks, weight, swivels, snaps, etc, just to be a big stubborn entitled doodoo head? It's probably a good time to check my bait, anyway.

I think, from a common law standpoint, the right of a vessel's innocent passage trumps any right to gather free fish from a particular bit of water when there are also plenty of other places to fish.

[GreenWave]

Since you included Colregs in your title I will say this, there are none that govern the bank fisherman. As others said upstream, boaters and fishermen should try to play nice with each other.


However, in the scenario you described and the area, the boater wins here. Fishermen who cast lines in busy areas, channels etc. are asking for trouble. I would certainly never change my course to save a fishing line if it put my boat in harm's way.

[blazing928]

Had a friend entering Sandringham Marina , Melbourne Oz,
Some fella was casting over the marina entrance, probably 30m wide.
Fortunately he was slipping his boat for service so they could pull the line out of the IPS drives.
Was impossible to see where lines were going.

[rxcsailnet]

I was on the ferry from Oban (Scotland) to the Kerrara Marina across the bay back in 2011. The ferry passes along the face of a large pier that is shared by the ferry and some fishermen who fish from shore with rods and lines.

As we passed the end of the pier one day, one of the fishermen cast his line across the top of the ferry, but the hook in the line did not clear the boat, and it caught on the edge of a wood door about a foot away from my face, and the fisherman swore at us and held on until the line snapped, leaving the hook and a bit of line behind.

When we got to the marina, we lodged a complaint with the harbormaster, and he agreed to call the police to try to find the fisherman. We never heard anything more, but this incident did not generate much empathy from me for people fishing from the shore, anywhere.

I once had a boat that was trolling in the main traffic channel in Back Creek, Annapolis, come alongside and complain to me that I had run over his line, and he wanted compensation for the loss of his gear. I told him to go away - it was his loss for fishing in a traffic zone, and he was lucky that I did not ask for compensation from HIM to have my boat hauled and inspected to see if the line had gotten tangled in the prop shaft/cutless bearing.

Commercial fishing is hard work, and I respect their need to stay clear, when they have gear out. Recreational fishermen are a PITA, and have no respect for anyone else.

[chrisr]

while we are having a go at shoreside fisherfolk, a common problem in areas we use to frequent is the fisherfolk using a dock that you needed to tie up to

often there was quite a crowd. usually they would shift without too much grief but you needed to make it clear you were coming in whether they moved or not !

cheers,

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by capt jgw

But the guy wasn't in a boat, he was standing on the bank so the Rules of the Road would not apply. There might be a local law that could apply, especially if it was a park or something where fishing might be prohibited. Otherwise he had as much right to be there as the boater. It comes down to simple courtesy at that point.

A pedestrian standing on a sidewalk does not have the right to hold a pole that sticks out into a vehicle lane thus obstructing the flow of traffic.

The same argument could be made towards an angler standing in the shore.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Adelie

A pedestrian standing on a sidewalk does not have the right to hold a pole that sticks out into a vehicle lane thus obstructing the flow of traffic.

The same argument could be made towards an angler standing in the shore.

100% agree. Fishers from shore or a dock do not have "right of way" over any moving vessel period - ever! While it is common courtesy of the boat to avoid the fishing line, the same also appplies in reverse in that the fisher should not cast lines in a way that completely or even mostly impedes a boating channel or other body of water.