Jet boat etiquette.. or "jetiquette"

[bnt5]

Well I have gotten my jetjon to the testing phase and am now speeding up and down the local rivers trying to figure the interior layout while doing a little fishing here and there. Since there are very few fishing jet boats around this area, I have never had to deal with shore anglers and boats wanting to share the same water. Most of the places I will be running, there are mainly kayaks and canoes and the occasional wade fisherman in smaller rivers with not much room for maneuvering or slowing down due to shallow water crossings. I would really like to keep the amount of curse words or fishing lead thrown in my direction to a bare minimum so what do you guys do on narrow rivers to keep the peace?

This past weekend I ran a shallow river and came to a big riffle with a guy fly fishing, thankfully the water was deep enough downstream that I could slow down and wait for him to get done casting and leave the area before I blasted up the chute and through the shallows, the rest of the run was pretty much shore anglers gawking at my 16 ft bundle of aluminum two stroke fun and waving as I flew by doing 25mph in 8" of water..what an experience that was for the first time!!! I got pretty good as cutting the motor without sucking up rocks before coming to a hole I wanted to fish, hopefully that won't mess my motor up.

 

[Wood_Duck]

Sometimes not much can be done. If someone is standing in the only navigable stretch of water options are pretty limited. I always get dirty looks from the trout snobs the second I turn the key. Some folks are okay with it and some don't want to even hear a gas engine run within a mile

 

[PSG-1]

I'm not sure about inland rivers, but here below the fall line in navigable waters of SC, it is unlawful to block a navigable channel. As such, a fisherman cannot "own" the entire creek or channel.

However, it is also unlawful to operate above idle speed within 50 ft of an anchored vessel, dock, or person in the water.

That said, if the body of water is a few hundred feet wide or more, I stay on plane, and stay far away from fishermen. Otherwise, I make every effort to slow to idle for them, unless I am constrained by draft in shallow water, then, I have no choice except to stay on plane.

But then again, where I live, this type of common courtesy is very rare. Most of these drunken inbred idiots here do not know how to fish, nor do they know how to run a boat with courtesy. Their idea of slowing down is to put the bow of their twin engine T top equipped boat as high as they can, while throwing a 3 foot wake, and looking back to make sure the wake is as tall as they can possibly make it. I suppose having this type of angle allows them to tip their beer back and get a better swig on it. Oh, and while they are doing this, they have to make sure to pass as close to you as possible, to see if you are catching any fish, and screw it up if you are.

So, I'm not too worried about my jet boat etiquette. Other than the cussing that I give to the idiots with no CFC (Common Freaking Courtesy) :roll:

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

I could be wrong.....but if I remember correctly, vessels restricted by draft have right away over non-powered vessels like sailboats, canoes, kayaks.

 

[Ranchero50]

It depends. If it's close quarters I'll point that path I'm going to run once they look at me. If they don't look at me they don't get the courtesy of me pointing my path. I try to go wide open through traffic as the I/B jet makes less wake the faster it goes. In open waters I run double their casting distance if safe. If they are cat fishing, 50-70' off the wider side.

 

[PSG-1]

RiverBottomOutdoors » Today, 09:21[/url]"]I could be wrong.....but if I remember correctly, vessels restricted by draft have right away over non-powered vessels like sailboats, canoes, kayaks.

You are correct. Vessels constrained by draft do have right of way. It also applies to vessels engaged in towing, trawling, or other operations which affect their ability to navigate.

 

[bnt5]

well I will do my best to be courteous, however the rivers I will be on are somewhat narrow and shallow so I am sure there will be some ticked off fishermen...heck I would be too if my peaceful morning fishing was interrupted by a loud fast jet boat. :wink: I guess it's their fault for not owning a boat that can run the river gauntlet! hahaha


On the brighter side I can't seem to launch anywhere without getting the strangest looks and having to answer 100 questions about the boat, too funny. :LOL2:

 

[smackdaddy53]

Any boat creates a smaller wake the faster it runs unless you are running a barge, tugboat, tanker or a huge v hull booze cruiser full of people that can't get on plane. I kayak a lot and would much rather a boat run by on plane than the all too common wakeboard wake they throw like PSG1 mentioned.

 

[PSG-1]

"Booze cruiser" LMAO!! :mrgreen: :LOL2: You nailed it, smack daddy!
Around here, we call 'em "ocean cowboys", but I like "booze cruiser"...that sums it up perfectly.

 

[smackdaddy53]

"Booze cruiser" LMAO!! :mrgreen: :LOL2: You nailed it, smack daddy!
Around here, we call 'em "ocean cowboys", but I like "booze cruiser"...that sums it up perfectly.

If you fished the Texas coast you would know exactly what I am referring to.
When we wade fish and see one headed for us we act like the water is deep by kneeling on the bottom and when they run between us they run aground. We call them inconsiderate yuppies.

 

[PSG-1]

smackdaddy53 » Yesterday, 21:03[/url]"]

"Booze cruiser" LMAO!! :mrgreen: :LOL2: You nailed it, smack daddy!
Around here, we call 'em "ocean cowboys", but I like "booze cruiser"...that sums it up perfectly.

If you fished the Texas coast you would know exactly what I am referring to.
When we wade fish and see one headed for us we act like the water is deep by kneeling on the bottom and when they run between us they run aground. We call them inconsiderate yuppies.

LMAO!! You are evil, but I like it!! :LOL2: To quote Early Cuyler from Squidbillies: "That's funnier than hail!" :mrgreen:

I fish the SC coast, trust me, we have plenty of booze cruisers here. What's worse, most of the people with Captain's licenses are 'paper captains'....meaning, they had one of their buddies vouch for their time at sea, when they have no real boating experience. Their "time at sea" is going to the COLREGS line at the mouth of the inlet and turning around. :roll:

 

[dhoganjr]

smackdaddy53 » 21 Sep 2014, 20:03[/url]"]

"Booze cruiser" LMAO!! :mrgreen: :LOL2: You nailed it, smack daddy!
Around here, we call 'em "ocean cowboys", but I like "booze cruiser"...that sums it up perfectly.

If you fished the Texas coast you would know exactly what I am referring to.
When we wade fish and see one headed for us we act like the water is deep by kneeling on the bottom and when they run between us they run aground. We call them inconsiderate yuppies.

That is awesome, would love to see it. Need a video of it. :LOL22: :roflmao:

 

[PSG-1]

dhoganjr » Today, 08:33[/url]"]

smackdaddy53 » 21 Sep 2014, 20:03[/url]"]

"Booze cruiser" LMAO!! :mrgreen: :LOL2: You nailed it, smack daddy!
Around here, we call 'em "ocean cowboys", but I like "booze cruiser"...that sums it up perfectly.

If you fished the Texas coast you would know exactly what I am referring to.
When we wade fish and see one headed for us we act like the water is deep by kneeling on the bottom and when they run between us they run aground. We call them inconsiderate yuppies.

That is awesome, would love to see it. Need a video of it. :LOL22: :roflmao:

I second that! We need video! LOL

 

[smackdaddy53]

I think the word got out and most people quit running between waders at all cost. A jet could probably make it but the drunks are usually the idiots trying to run a deep v that drafts about three feet "tournament loaded" haha. Most of the flats here are 6-12" deep on a regular tide. It cracks me up that these guys are motoring along just fine gettin their buzz on cruising the channel and they just get a wild hair and try to jet off into uncharted territory and it usually does not end pretty. Either they have to wait for super high tide or have a souped up airboat attempt to drag them off.

 

[J Hartman]

Here in tennessee, it is the jet boaters responsibility to yield to anyone in the water, or any unpowered craft.

 

[lowe1648]

I don't run across much for waders but I do see plenty of tubers and canoers. On the smaller rivers I do what I can to come off plane and wait for them to come by. On larger rivers I just swing wide.

 

[bnt5]

On smaller rivers I can't imagine buzzing by some canoe since at most the paddlers are less than 40 yards away. I suppose a jetboater has to see that the coast is clear for a shallow section then commit to running it, at that point the motorized boat has control of the rapids/riffles and others will have to wait their turn should they suddenly materialize around a corner....common sense is king.

I am a definitely concerned about the bank/wading fishermen, last time I was out I waited for one guy, who thankfully let me through... then stopped upstream progress for a couple of fishermen who were fishing a riffle/run and would not leave that spot. I just started fishing the pool I was waiting in and then proceeded to float back downstream and let them have the upper section. The jet motor will probably mess up fishing for a few minutes since this may have been the first time a fish has seen or heard one on this particular river, so once I scoot through a spot whoever is fishing it may be "screwed" because of scared fish.

 

[user 6672]

J Hartman » Yesterday, 17:54[/url]"]Here in tennessee, it is the jet boaters responsibility to yield to anyone in the water, or any unpowered craft.

Same with here in MN..

 

[DONTHELEGEND]

I try to avoid the canoe and kayak areas. Sometimes there is only a narrow chute that a jet can get through. They cant/wont get out of the way. I cant/wont stop in 8 inches of water. What I cant stand is when im fishing a hole and a fellow jet boater passing by slows to half speed or slower creating a bigger wake for a longer time. Either slow to an idle or go full speed.

 

[Paul Marx]

LOL Smack , I'm not sure this is proper etiquette , but when I had my jet it seemed folks always wanted to follow me . I mean right on my tail . I guess they didn't realize I was running a jet , but I did . For some reason they never made it out into the bay . Their boats always ran out of water . :twisted: