11-04-2016, 04:57 PM
My dog is one of those dogs that likes to run over and see other fishermen if I don't see her taking off first and call her back. She distrusts every other person besides a guy with a fishing pole and will bark, snarl and rush just about anyone that isn't actively fishing if I don't watch out and heel her back. Otherwise, anyone with a pole in the water is an instant friend...sounds like I'm exaggerating but it's true. If you see a short hair, black and white border collie on the ice with a overactive interest in your fishing poles it's probably my dog and she knows all about what you're doing and thinks you're her new best friend.
Ice etiquette is relative...if you're in the tent city, there's nothing you can really say about what other people do around you. If I walk onto the ice from a ramp and head to the nearest point, I expect that if there isn't already a half dozen tents there, there will be. Once you get a half dozen groups around you, inevitably there's going to be a group with kids or some drunks pounding on the ice with chisel or something else that scares the fish off. Once the fish get scared off, the noise gets worse because the people who do that in the first place get bored, are usually lazy and won't move off, and start into even noisier activities. Really the best way to view the tent city next to the ramp is to look at it as a trap for all the lazy, drunk or noisy types.
On the other hand, if I've walked 400-500 yards out to a less-than-obvious spot, drilled a 8 or 10 holes around the area while looking for fish and settled down on some structure that I burned a few hundred calories looking for and someone comes over and sets up 30 feet away, I'm going to get a little annoyed. Sometimes I let my dog go berzerk and scare off all the fish, then pull out the iPad and watch a movie loudly while I wait for doofuses to get discouraged and leave. Sometimes I wait and try to fish, sometimes not, but anyone who squats next to someone who's done the work kinda deserves what they get in my opinion.
[signature]
Ice etiquette is relative...if you're in the tent city, there's nothing you can really say about what other people do around you. If I walk onto the ice from a ramp and head to the nearest point, I expect that if there isn't already a half dozen tents there, there will be. Once you get a half dozen groups around you, inevitably there's going to be a group with kids or some drunks pounding on the ice with chisel or something else that scares the fish off. Once the fish get scared off, the noise gets worse because the people who do that in the first place get bored, are usually lazy and won't move off, and start into even noisier activities. Really the best way to view the tent city next to the ramp is to look at it as a trap for all the lazy, drunk or noisy types.
On the other hand, if I've walked 400-500 yards out to a less-than-obvious spot, drilled a 8 or 10 holes around the area while looking for fish and settled down on some structure that I burned a few hundred calories looking for and someone comes over and sets up 30 feet away, I'm going to get a little annoyed. Sometimes I let my dog go berzerk and scare off all the fish, then pull out the iPad and watch a movie loudly while I wait for doofuses to get discouraged and leave. Sometimes I wait and try to fish, sometimes not, but anyone who squats next to someone who's done the work kinda deserves what they get in my opinion.
[signature]