Ignorance

[Some Old Guy 968]

I don't usually fish near other shacks unless I'm in one. I take a shack like a boat. I keep my distance. As for wind breaks, I wouldn't use your house for one so I wouldn't use your shack! There are plenty of islands to tuck behind on Lac.

How far is too far? I take a reasonable distance from the shack owners outside lines.

I wouldn't have ventured in close to an ice shack unless I knew the guy and had permission and I felt like fishing in a crowd which ain't to often.

Just like people who don't have shacks, like myself, I wouldn't like it if you parked 10 feet away from my lines and started drilling your holes. Ettiquette!

Roger

[Guest Jighead]

I have had a shack on Lac for 9 years now and we like to fish away from the rest of the folks out there. Over that time we have not had any "trouble" with people fishing to close. I do think however some thought should be givin to fishing to close to fellow anglers, summer or winter. The question is what is to close ????? If you can talk to the guy in the boat next to you, your too close. Winter fishing is alittle more difficult because of the way we have to fish. Lakes are big bodies of water so there is room for everyone, no need to be tripping over each other. No I dont believe people with shacks have more "rights" than day fishermen, we can all fish togeather but respect for there "stuff" is all we can ask. My biggest problem with anglers is how fast people are driving on the lake, SLOW DOWN!!!! Ice conditions are still not too great and driving you Truck, SUV or Van 50-80 Km/hr is not safe for anyone, especially driving 20-40 feet from someones shack or day fishermen!

Stay safe, Good fishing

Jighead

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

I am also a fisherman who prefers to have his own solitude water. However I do not see people showing up near me as a bad thing. Some of the best people I've ever met have been fisherpeople and in no way would I ever want to exclude the chance of meeting great new people. When it comes to distance I have always felt that if you were in a boat, and you and a boat near you could both cast and have your lures meet than thats to close, I am not talking about a small pitch cast I mean winging a nice chunky spoon out there as far as you can. Your fishing adventure should never be diminshed by other people, or limited in any way, only enhanced. When it comes to ice, I have always felt that if you dont need to raise your voice a bit on a calm day than your too close. I am always courteous when it comes to shacks, people there or not. But somedays your empty shack is where I follow the fish to, and if your not there, than the ice around you is fair game, you show up, I will be more than happy to move and there will not be any hesitant action on my behalf. I'm out there to fish, and I can do that with or without you 25 feet from me. I will never let some other person of group get in the way of me having fun, and I will never get in the way of them doing the same. You don't like how close someone is to you, than go meet them, and as others have said, educate them if need be, and maybe next time and every time after that they will have the confidence to avoid the shack towns that people assume are the only places holding fish, and go out and discover new spots for themselves. When I first started ice fishing I was closer to shacks than I am now, thats for sure, with time on the water you build the knowledge and confidence to take chances and explore outside of the shanty towns. Problem is, if theres some a$$ yelling at uneducated new comers on the ice than you wont see them on the ice very much. Beginners can get discouraged, cut people some slack, there is always tomorrow.

Brodie K.

[Guest Domenic]

I have been fishing lac for over 30 years. The last ten years has seen a lot of shacks being built and placed all over the lake. I have almost all my life ice fished poplar point and mainly coffin island directly across from poplar point, front side of the island where archie originally had his shacks and by my understanding has them there again. Me and my brothers were the first to put a shack at that island and Archie was next to follow with two of his own on the back side. This spot to me was unbelievable. We fished there all the time at least 8-12 times per month without seing a soul. Fishing was fantastic. This spot is know for producing the big fish. 8-12 lbers all the time. One example is 3 fish over 8lbs in one day biggest being 9.5 lbs. This was my favorite spot on the lake as it always produced numbers and also size if you fished for them with larger bait. As the years passed and some people you show them how to target these fish invited all their friends and they inturn tell their friends about it and so on and so on. Know it is surrounded by ice shacks. We stopped bringing our shack out 6 years ago because of the congestion. I have no problem fishing with people beside me on the lake. I seen it all over the years. Just because you have a shack doesn't mean you own that spot. When i posted the other day about slaying the fish we originally stopped at coffin island to fish my favourite spot. We drilled 4 holes and started fishing. 5 minutes later 4 guys showed and started pulling their gear out of their suv. I politely asked if the shack was theirs and told them that we would move. On that day i decided to move but maybe on another day i would have said the hell with it. Needless to say it was the right move as my other "SECRET SPOT", was fantastic and those guys did terrible. Its too bad, having a shack is such a great thing, but there is some guys out there that own them that just have no respect for the rules, etiquette, and most of all other anglers who are there for the same reason they are.

My 2cents.

Dom.

[sinker7 114]

Kingkan - I feel your pain. These kind of people would pull up beside you whether you had a shack or not. I started fishing Lac when there was only 10-12 ice huts clustered in Poplar Bay and the rest of the lake was clear of shacks. You got your spot based on how early you were willing to get up and drive out on the lake before the crowds arrived. I have never had an ice hut on Lac and probably never will. Yet I have had the same issues happen that Kingkan described. Several times we have had people park themselves virtually on top of us after seening a fish or two being caught while they were driving by or fishing some distance away. The most noteable experince occured when we were fishing a remote spot on Lac during late ice. We were out first thing in the morning and there was not another person in sight. Around noon another sled showed up drove right in between our lines and parked about ten feet past our farthest line. The father and teenage son proceded to drill holes and fish very close to use. At one point, our closest line to them went down and the girlfriend ran over to pull up the fish. She lost it half way up hole and walked back to the sleigh to grab another minnow. In the meantime, the father grab one of his lines walked over and dropped it down the hole, set it up and left it there. I did notice this happen as I was tending to another line - when I realized what happened the girlfriend pleaded with me not to confront him and let it go as we had our 12 year nephew with us and we were out there to have a good time. I regret now that I did not do something at that time (like pull his line up and throw it at him or better yet choke him with it). Fortunately, 99% of the fisherman on Lac are great people and respectful of others.

[Guest BannedCore]

When I go fishing and hunting I am going to get away from people and have some fun in private. If you want to socilaze do it in town or if you are outdoors and want to be friendly visit or chat briefly, don't set up right beside me. If the hut is not being used there is no problem, but when somebody is fishing there go somewhere else for sure. flyingfinn is really polite for moving if the hut guy shows up if I was there first I would not move but I would not set up that close to the unused hut anyway. This summer on the Nipigon river I had guys fishing in my face and I just pulled out and left and maybe that is why some guys do this kind of stuff. When you fish popular spots or areas this behavior will happen for sure and if a stranger ever set his line in my hole it would be hard to let that slide!!! WOW that is ignorant!!!! As some of the other members stated there are unwritten rules to follow in the great outdoors and my dad also passed them on to me. RESPECT others and give them space, don't litter, obey the law, and one of the most important never leave anyone who needs help. I do have to admit that when fishing in a tournament I have fished closer to a boat than I ever would guiding or fishing for myself.

[Guest Run N Gun]

Kingkan, I feel your pain seems like this happens to you more often than not.....lol.

10 FEET IS TO CLOSE ice fishing or not, you should have thrown your ethics out to and kept the auger running all day!!!!!

What goes around comes around.

[Phil 26]

Shacks or not its first come first serve. If I cant afford or want to set up a shack do I not deserve to fish certain spots. Its exactly like applying for a tournament in an early bird position and then someone saying " Oh you dont qualify " for the cheaper fee or better starting position.

[Monks 164]

Nothing like hurting our future. People come on!

So the first time angler to ice fishing knows to stay exactly 10 ft away from a shack, or a first time moose hunter without the priveledge of being brought up like I was or someone else in NWO should automatically know he or she is never to enter a cutover behind someone? Instead of bitching about it on a board like this how about each of you take the time to calmly educate and discuss this with the people whom you are speaking of and meet each year. Oh yes you will reply the group was rearends or they were Blah blah blah.

I know that every time I have ever aproached a fellow angler or hunter in a positve manor they have always shown me respect. And I have gained a lot of friends.

So slow down, talk to your fellow sportsman, and leave the bitching to the Gov't.

[Guest Domenic]

For guys who have shacks and don't like people fishing close to you, move your shack to an isolated spot where there is no shacks. "there is miles of lake out there". The problem you have is your shack is obviously on a popular fishing spot that people have enjoyed FOREVER. Just because you positioned your shack in the vicinity of this spot doesn't mean you own it. Get use to people fishing on your doorstep as it is just another square inch of that massive body of water. Don't be surprised if guys pull out the tape measure and measure the ten feet of distance. If you don't like it just move to another spot or another lake for that matter, or just quit complaining and enjoy the hard water fishing.

Dom.

[Guest Run N Gun]

I know that every time I have ever aproached a fellow angler or hunter in a positve manor they have always shown me respect. And I have gained a lot of friends.

So slow down, talk to your fellow sportsman, and leave the bitching to the Gov't.

Oh I get it now, we should all get along and play nicely, instead of avoiding confrontation and blowing a little steam off over the this board (like Kingkan did)we should hit it head on. If I actually have to come over and "educate" you then something is wrong with your ethics and sportsmanship!

[Resource Pimp 60]

Harmony on the ice.

[Trevor Zimak 171]

For guys who have shacks and don't like people fishing close to you, move your shack to an isolated spot where there is no shacks. "there is miles of lake out there". The problem you have is your shack is obviously on a popular fishing spot that people have enjoyed FOREVER. Just because you positioned your shack in the vicinity of this spot doesn't mean you own it. Get use to people fishing on your doorstep as it is just another square inch of that massive body of water. Don't be surprised if guys pull out the tape measure and measure the ten feet of distance. If you don't like it just move to another spot or another lake for that matter, or just quit complaining and enjoy the hard water fishing.

Dom.

Just for your clarification! KINGKAN'S shack IS miles away from these "ice shack towns" and he and his uncles shacks are the only two along the shoreline.... With that in mind, this chump fished right beside them drilling holes no more than 10 feet away all around the vicinity they were fishing.

I totally agree with you run and gun, nobody goes out ice fishing, hunting, or whatever without any knowledge or not knowing at least some proper etiquette, there are just people who chose to be plain ignorant as the title says and ignore it.

[Gone8to1248 158]

Trying to follow some of the logic here for open water fishing that some of you apply to ice fishing with ice fishing shacks, If 2 boat loads of us were out fishing a hot spot and when we got ready to leave, we anchored one boat over the spot and all road back to camp in one boat then nobody would be allowed to fish there because your boat is still sitting there empty! Basicly that is what you are saying about ice fishing shacks. Just because it's there wether anyone is in it or not that area is off limits to anyone else. In reality if you have 4 people fishing in one of these cabins and you string out tip ups in a line from the cabin WHILE your IN the cabin jigging or drinking, you would be tying up a lot of water and area! There are certain areas on Lac that are well know hot spots and someone comes out there and nobody is around or in the shacks then I think it would be open game to set up where ever you would want. Common sense would say don't put your holes right in front of someones door because they are going to have to walk right over you to get in or someone could trip in a hole and get hurt.

I hope I never read in the paper or see on TV that Canadians went to war over someone fishing in thier hole in the ice!

gone8to1248

[Trevor Zimak 171]

Trying to follow some of the logic here for open water fishing that some of you apply to ice fishing with ice fishing shacks, If 2 boat loads of us were out fishing a hot spot and when we got ready to leave, we anchored one boat over the spot and all road back to camp in one boat then nobody would be allowed to fish there because your boat is still sitting there empty! Basicly that is what you are saying about ice fishing shacks. Just because it's there wether anyone is in it or not that area is off limits to anyone else. In reality if you have 4 people fishing in one of these cabins and you string out tip ups in a line from the cabin WHILE your IN the cabin jigging or drinking, you would be tying up a lot of water and area! There are certain areas on Lac that are well know hot spots and someone comes out there and nobody is around or in the shacks then I think it would be open game to set up where ever you would want. Common sense would say don't put your holes right in front of someones door because they are going to have to walk right over you to get in or someone could trip in a hole and get hurt.

I hope I never read in the paper or see on TV that Canadians went to war over someone fishing in thier hole in the ice!

gone8to1248

Two things Bernie,

1. The dispute is not over people fishing near ice shacks while unoccupied. It is the fact that someone starts fishing 10-15 feet away from you while at your shack.

2. Yes, there can be 4 people in a shack jigging and drinking. With that in mind, they are all allowed to have one tip out at a reasonable distance from that shack and have every right to tie up useable water around it because the MNR says I can use two lines while ice fishing.

[Gone8to1248 158]

Thanks for the quick reply there Trevor. As I don't ice fish up there and I'm not familier with your regulations on just how many lines you can have out and how far they can be it's funny to read some of these postings. It's postings like your last one that really gets the message out there that the novices can understand. I can tell you from my own past experience in ice fishing down here that in the winter we were allowed 4 lines for ice fishing as compared to just 2 for open water fishing. As long as are tip-ups were in SIGHT we were okay. Keeping that in mind and some people use snow machines to check thier lines imagine just how much water you can tie up. I know it wasn't un-common for people to place thier lines between each others because of the distance we normally set them up. For my own personal thing I look at it this way with me, until you become dangerous I don't really care were you hunt or fish in approximity to me! Chances are you aren't going to get anything anyway and evendually leave anyway. But thanks for clearing it up for me.

Bernie

[Trevor Zimak 171]

Just for informational purposes the distance you are allowed to be away from your lines is 120 feet. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. So you really occupied a lot of area.

[Some Old Guy 968]

120 feet and an unobstructive view of your lines. So for instance if you are jigging on the South side of a shack and your other line is set in a hole on the North side of the shack and you can't see it, that's a no-no even though it can only be 12 feet from where you are standing.

Roger

[Gone8to1248 158]

The lake I primarely iced fished on I had a place on the lake. It was only 96 acres and held crappies,bluegills,LargeMouth Bass, and Northern Pike. One side of the lake we called the hole because it was bowl shaped and 44 foot deep and that is where the crappies suspended. In that area there were shacks like you all use because those guys actually LIVED in them for the winter. Normally they only jigged for crappies and had no tip-ups out. The other side of the lake had weed beds,points that dropped of and held most of the wintering bluegills,perch and Northern and the tip-ups were used there. So everything kind of worked ot pretty well for everyone because of where the fish were. Because of the distance our lines could be spread out yes there was a large area covered and 2 or 3 people could put thier lines between each other with no problem. I was one of the tip-up people who was trying for northerns and occasionally jigging a hole for Perch. The picture that resource Pimp put up reminds me of many of the smaller Wisconsin and Illinois lakes.

Bernie

[joks 26]

120 feet and an unobstructive view of your lines. So for instance if you are jigging on the South side of a shack and your other line is set in a hole on the North side of the shack and you can't see it, that's a no-no even though it can only be 12 feet from where you are standing.

Roger

I think it's 60 meters

Two lines may be used for ice fishing except in a limited number of waters (see the Exceptions for the Zone in which you are fishing). You must be within 60 m (197 ft.) at all times of any line or tip-up you are using when ice fishing and you must have a clear and unobstructed view of the lines being used at all times. Any spring loaded device which sets the hook for an angler may not be possessed within 30 m (98 ft.) of any waters.

[Some Old Guy 968]

I stand corrected. I wasn't sure of the distance. Better to error shorter than longer though!

Roger

[Guest FreshwaterFisherman]

Oh I get it now, we should all get along and play nicely, instead of avoiding confrontation and blowing a little steam off over the this board (like Kingkan did)we should hit it head on. If I actually have to come over and "educate" you then something is wrong with your ethics and sportsmanship!

People make mistakes, or in some cases have absoultely no clue what the unwritten rules are if it is their first time out, maybe they never had a father or grandfather to show them the ropes. Eliminated education as a posibility is selfish. You want them to do things right, and in a courteous way, than give them a hand, next time, due to your edcuation they may feel more confident to venture out away from the shacks. Theres more good people out there making mistakes than there are jerks trying to ruin someones day. Give them the benefit of the doubt if your able to. Of course, there are the true jerks that dont give two $hits about you or your ethics, but you know what, your out their to fish, some times you need to bend a little to keep your day on a good note. Also, of course there are things that need to be mentioned, ie. fishing in the hole i drilled. That I would never let slide. The point is that not all cases are the same, inquire a little and see why they are so close to you, most of the time they would have no problem moving if you explain yourself. They may think you really dont care how close they are since your in your shack.

Brodie K.

[Guest MiniMe]

I had a buddy who had a shack. He accessed it from Pine Point and he was all by himself. He was out fishing one weekend and went out in late March one week later to find someone had drilled holes around his shack and flooded it out. He spent 4 hours chipping it out because the slush and water that came up from the holes froze all around it. Now my question to all you fishermen who drill holes near someone's shack. Did these fishermen go to the shack because it was exactly, exactly in there favourite spot, or because it was a giant billboard that said... "I did some exploring everyone, and checked this area out in the summer time and it looked promising; so I built a shack and got away from the crowds and parked it here, so c'mon over and catch some fish and I hope you have a pleasant stay." Obvious point being ... if the shack wasn't there they never would have stopped. There's couple hundred shacks out there and thousands of spots to fish, so quit jumping on the backs of others and..."Go Find One"

[Croat 28]

If a guy is fishing within 5' of my hole after ive baited my lines then it bugs me and I have to say something but after 5' i could care less.Lots of water to fish.

[mmgg 26]

I had a buddy who had a shack. He accessed it from Pine Point and he was all by himself. He was out fishing one weekend and went out in late March one week later to find someone had drilled holes around his shack and flooded it out. He spent 4 hours chipping it out because the slush and water that came up from the holes froze all around it. Now my question to all you fishermen who drill holes near someone's shack. Did these fishermen go to the shack because it was exactly, exactly in there favourite spot, or because it was a giant billboard that said... "I did some exploring everyone, and checked this area out in the summer time and it looked promising; so I built a shack and got away from the crowds and parked it here, so c'mon over and catch some fish and I hope you have a pleasant stay." Obvious point being ... if the shack wasn't there they never would have stopped. There's couple hundred shacks out there and thousands of spots to fish, so quit jumping on the backs of others and..."Go Find One"

Researching a lake ,takes time and you need a starting piont,,,,,,if the shack is there fish the fishing spot is good enough to try;,,,,, for a new fisherman to the lake.(Yes the guys fishing beside you were way too close )

You probably beat the guy that had a shack there last year and he had to try a new spot this year.

Just like going to a new lake , making note of where the boats are fishing so the next time you can give it a try,

except in the winter the shacks don't move when the fishermen leave.

Yes fishing within a 100 yards of another shouldn't be done, but don't think people won't fish near you.

(if I owned a shack and I was out there 800 meters would be too close for me),

In the deffense of day fishermen:

(If you go to a trout lake and find some old holes in the spot you planned on fishing you don't go some where else and explore a new spot)

Looking on the GPS, shows most shacks in good natural depths changes, near islands and where fish are caught in the summer or are sheltered from the wind.

The shacks cover most channels and good spots for the first 15 miles of Lac,,,a day fisherman isn't going to go further than they have to to catch some fish.

If you come out of your shack when a snowmobile arrives greet them and show them the area you will be using for the day

most will stay outside of that range.

So one day out of 20 trips to the shack was ruined , it's not like 3 shacks were pulled up beside yours the one day you weren't there!!!or the spot you fished for 20yrs is now a village.