# Non-fishing paddlers annoying



## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

After today's Cowan expedition, I thought I'd post a little rant on the annoyances of non-fishing paddlers. These fall into a number of groups:

The Power Couple - They are in a tandem, dressed like athletes and powering through the water so quick they have a noticeable wash. Because of their strenuous activity and seating arrangement, they talk to each other very loudly. They always talk.

Power Buddies - Two or more power paddlers who also must talk to each other. Again the strain means that they talk loudly.

Power Ronin - This solitary figure cuts a swathe through the water with his/her paddling. Having noone with whom to converse, there is a radio blaring nonsense into the serenity.

Tour Groups - This paddling neophytes have no idea what they are doing but are out to enjoy a day on the water. Unfortunately they haven't a clue about fishing either and will aim straight between you and that snag you are targeting or will paddle across your lines if you are trolling or drifting.

Family Groups - Without the moderating influence of a tour guide, these groups are anarchy in a plastic tub. They will commit every possible transgression on the water, smile, wave, say hello and ask if you've caught anything. They won't understand your answer.

Do you have any other types?


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Another few to add,

Pedaling prudes :

A few times on LBG I have had someone in a Hobie paddle over to check out my yak , when I get within range I notice they have no fishing equiptment and obviously NEVER intend on fishing... All this why they yell out as they pass 'You fish off that? Its no good for doing that this time of year mate, you will never get a fish!' ( I mean omg lol ffs! ).

Rowing roulette :

LBG is home to many Australian champion rowers along with some novice dragon boat racers, im not sure why but we recently had a group of rowers approaching from behind with the coach in a tinny yelling through his megaphone 'More bloody fisherman ahead, not like they catch anything anyway!' ( Funny thing is Claire and myself got a double hookup as the coach looked over his shoulder to give me a greasy while I was sticking my finger up at him! ).

I mean jesus, just stay out of my way as im trying damn hard to stay out of yours...


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## hairymick (Oct 18, 2005)

Bunch of fat old shielas in a outrigger canoe powering past me as I am sneaking along.

Nevermind, they allways say G'day and sometimes there are even a couple who are not so fat or old and at least they have the decency to be scantily clad. :lol:

Really though, other paddlers don't worry me too much. (we don't have very many) and none of those power types.

What I really hate, are morons on jet skis. I reckon they are a pox on society and should be put down. When I come back in the next life, it will be s an orca and I will eat the [email protected]


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## Jake (Sep 23, 2005)

Bloody private school kids in their 100m long skulls or whatever they are.

I have pretty much given up early morning pedals in the river, which is otherwise conveniently located across the road from my house, because of the mindless water-bound youth bludgeoning their way through the river. And when they DO notice me its all "Geez mate, you're taking it easy there arent you?" and "You've got everything but the kitchen sink".

Well, what they fail to realise is what they are doing is a sport, (which they can only afford because Daddy is an impressionable Architect/Doctor/etc), and what I am trying to enjoy is a recreation.

Im not really interested in performing at mach 1 (despite photographic evidence of having reached 11 knots in the old Hobie!  )

*steps down from soap box*


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Hey Guys,
The other rowers can be annoying, or just plain embarrassing like the girl singing amazing grace at the top of her lungs yesterday. But i can live with them.

But i really have to agree with Mick. Those bloody jet skiers go tearing about the place, Brisbane waters gets heaps of them now Sydney harbour has been banned.

Don't get me wrong i won't put something down till i've tryed it.

After half an hour on a jet ski i was like well this is boring what else do these things do than go fast and jump waves, so ok in the surf i could understand but not in a calm stretch of water. Trying to find boats to cut in close to endangering everyone.

The ferry's up here a fine the skipper will give you a wave and sometimes even slow down to decrease his wake.

Stinkboaters sometimes do the same, just the big ones moving fast that scare me cause i know they can't see the 75m in front of them under thier bow.

Even had comments i have heard like hey he's trawling of that thing.

cheers dave


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## deano (Nov 26, 2006)

Not really a paddler - but a menace nevertheless is the *totalitarian stinkboat driver*. You know the ones that think because your yak is smaller than their large, noisy and smelly powerboat you must be an annoying member of some cult-like group or someone who can't afford a real boat. They like to drive past your yak at a speed that is guaranteed to cause a large wake and at a distance designed to intimidate you.

I had one recently that flew behind me at full throttle at a distance of around 6m almost capsizing me with his wake. I'm sure I could hear him laughing as he went past - unfortunately I could not hear whether he was still laughing 100 meters downstream when his engine cut and he had to untangle my previously trolled lure and around 20 meters of flouro that was now well entrenched around his propeller shaft :twisted:


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## YakAtak (Mar 13, 2006)

deano said:


> Not really a paddler - but a menace nevertheless is the *totalitarian stinkboat driver*. You know the ones that think because your yak is smaller than their large, noisy and smelly powerboat you must be an annoying member of some cult-like group or someone who can't afford a real boat. They like to drive past your yak at a speed that is guaranteed to cause a large wake and at a distance designed to intimidate you.
> 
> I had one recently that flew behind me at full throttle at a distance of around 6m almost capsizing me with his wake. I'm sure I could hear him laughing as he went past - unfortunately I could not hear whether he was still laughing 100 meters downstream when his engine cut and he had to untangle my previously trolled lure and around 20 meters of flouro that was now well entrenched around his propeller shaft :twisted:


Should have pedaled over and asked for your lure back mate, I would, what a dickhead. :roll:


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

guys from what ive seen if they're ignorant a---h---s they do what they do whether theyre in a car,boat or kayak.although sometime i think those people with the big boats might be compensating for something.i guess it comes down to education and a bit of respect for others.what makes it worse for me is that i get spoiled working in the middle of nowhere and then go back home to bribie usually through that madhouse they call brisbane.
this morning was no exception,the girl and i went mackeral chasing in the tinnie and lo and behold and soon as we hooked one 3 boats suddenly decided our spot was better than theirs.fortunately i can throw the flyline 20yards or so so that gave us a bit of "space".
even when i was hand feeding a pair of dolphins some braindead idiot had to come rushing over just he thought id caught another fish.


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

We don't have to worry about the power paddlers in our prime fishing grounds; they keep to the bays. From what I've seen, the fishing and non-fishing kayak communities in San Diego manage to coexist peacefully. The biggest problem we have in the two local bays are the stinkboaters and sailboats. Everybody has had an unpleasant experience with stinkboaters, so I won't even go into that subject. I've had lots of problems with sailboaters during their weekly races. I never have a problem with the frontrunners, but the newbies bringing up the rear are a menace. I've had frequent near-death experiences at the hands of knuckleheads with the money to buy a 15m sailboat, but not enough common sense to pilot a canoe in a swimming pool. You can swear at them all you want; nothing is going to change that equation. 
As annoying as the touristas in the rental kayaks can be when they invade the local launch each summer; they do make for some fun moments. After coming back in from a long day on the water, it is awfully fun to watch the rental yak circus. Groups of 10-20 totally inexperienced touristas are set loose in the surf. On days with good surf the carnage is extraordinary. Nothing quite like the sight of a pearling kayak launching a tourist as if from some sort of medieval catapult. Sure, landing a heavily loaded fishing kayak in the midst of this floating slolom course can be challenging, but that is just part of the fun. The bikini clad tourisitas make it all worthwhile


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## d-man (Oct 14, 2005)

deano said:


> I had one recently that flew behind me at full throttle at a distance of around 6m almost capsizing me with his wake. :


Deano, I'd be willing to bet he didn't even see you and will be still wondering how that line got to chew up his seals. I reckon everyone has a right to use the waterways but there should be respect shown all round. The jet skis and kids in tinnies who can't help spraying you really get up my nose. I've heard they give away a full frontal lobotomy with every jet ski sold!


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## Dust (Sep 29, 2006)

There were plenty of a whole range of idiots up at Port Stephens this morning. The water was glassy smooth so I decided to take my daughter for a bit of a paddle. There is a small park where I launch from which is meant to have no power boats coming onto it. In the space of about half an hour I had two jetskis, two overloaded hire boats (with 5hp engines and a total of 13 people on board) and 3 privately owned boats land on the beach they weren't meant to. I found that paddling in the shallows among the moored boats kept me away from most of the idiots.

The madness wasn't restricted to those needing to burn some fossil fuels though - I was slowly paddling through some shallows showing my daughter some whiting which were swimming around when a kid on a SIK paddled up to me and asked if I had seen any fish. I pointed out the whiting which were swimming around when he pulled out one of those 4 pronged spears which must have been nestled up against his bare feet in the bottom of his kayak. I gently pointed out that these fish were undersized and his reply was "I don't care - I just want to kill one". Fortunately his ignorance extended to spearing techniques and he never had a hope of getting one.

I guess its just that time of year when all the morons have their week of glory... I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow for a quiet fish but if there's anything else on the water that looks untrustworthy, I'll just head on back home. Fishing's great fun but I'll live to fish another day rather than die at the hands of an idiot.

So I guess you can add to your list all those people (in all those different types of watercraft) on the water who are trying to cram 52 weeks worth of stupidity and deathwishes into a precious week or two over Christmas.

Cheers,

Dust


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Dust I hear you mate,
I went down to try my hand in the surf with the yak. The swell at little box gives a great wave in a southrely swell that long boarders love unfortunalty so did the the countless number of jet skis zooming around like maniacs. I couldn't count how many but just turned around and went home.

Cheers Dave


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

This is a bad time of year for idiots on the water, especially the ones on jet skis and those louts in tinnies that think because you are on a kayak , you need to be sunk or splashed, i paddle on the woronora river with some mates every wednesday in our tk1s, its really a pleasent outing normally with good company having some nice exercise and it keeps me fit for my SOT kayak fishing and paddling, today , i was almost run down by a big cruiser with the standard middle aged blokes wearing only the budgee smugglers and brandishing probably their 10th can for the morning, they almost took the back of my kayak off , and i had to really paddle pretty quick to get out of their way :shock: :shock: , needless to say i had to then try to brace to keep upright in the 3 foot bow wave that was thrown up , and again needless to say , much laughter from them as i struggeled to stop going in the drink, it would be great if the waterways guys saw this and caught up with the idiots, then wouldnt you hear ME laugh :x :x :x


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

A well-placed cast of a Raider 85 metal lure might be in order. :twisted:


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

It must be annoying to have Christmas break in Summer.
I mean the holidaze are a commercial circus anyway, I don't know if I could take Christmas AND Summer touristy season all at once.

It's amazing what a little frost can do to the crowds. Makes it much harder to motivate in the morning, though.

In the Summer months (here) we have dragonboat regattas between Newport Harbor and Dana Harbor. The 15 or so dragonboats are really no problem as long as your not in a direct line --they turn and stop poorly. But Jesus Cristo, the 10+ support and on-looker boats PER DRAGON is out of hand. If you've seen Caddy Shack the movie, the yacht club scene is fairly close to what I'm describing. Luckily that's once or twice a year. And those crew women, well, I watch what I say in order to keep my a$$ from being kicked.

Z

dgax, you going to be able to paddle this Saturday? LJ Shores to Mission Bay?


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Zed said:


> It must be annoying to have Christmas break in Summer.
> I mean the holidaze are a commercial circus anyway, I don't know if I could take Christmas AND Summer touristy season all at once.


I should let kraley take this one, but he is too busy enjoying our summer christmas. Its a fantastic time of year if you have the time to enjoy it. Ideally, I would take four weeks leave from Christmas. It does get busy on the waterways and there is a lot of idiots out there, but it is great to be out and about.

Before I met my wife, I had quite a few Christmases spent with friends who were either a long way from family or preferred not to be with them. Lunches out in the sun, or at least the shade, followed by a siesta and more often than not the generosity of the season from one of the ladies followed by more food and drinking. It was tough, but it had to be done


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

Peril, you're making that southern hemisphere living sound pretty nice 

Zed, LaJolla at first light then on to Tidelands for the Jim Sammons Fish and Feast. Bringing homemade tamales


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## Azza (Dec 25, 2006)

How about the proffesional newbie?
You can see him paddling up and down every day in the holiday period at a popular SA holiday river spot with all the gear, and every day his asymmetrical paddle is upside down.

My favorite was the prawn trawler that motored past me at triple ring (under 10m away) at the end of the Port Adelaide breakwater who must have been deliberately trying to capsize me - the whole crew was on the rear deck watching what would happen!


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## troppo (Feb 1, 2006)

*Near Naked Nellies: *

Positive: Amazon women in fast kayaks, wearing almost nothing and what they do wear is skin tight.

Negative: they paddle too fast for you to get close enough to appreciate their . . . ah . . . technique.

*Cuddling Couples:*

Negative: Him and her in double yak speed past and land on a tiny patch of sand beach which is the only available water exit point in 10 km of rocky cliffs. While they cuddle on their rug, you continue past, your bladder bursting but nowhere to go.

Postive: You decide you should do the same and buy a double and take ya missus and champagne and gourmet salads to the same spot (but when it is vacant).


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

aahhhaa Matt, now is ze time for de zuper unterzeaboaten mit sekret powerboaten scuttlers to klear de flats unt do us all a favour :lol: :lol:


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## Heno (Jul 3, 2006)

I wish I had annoying non fishing paddlers to contend with. Every time I go out it's either outriggers cruising past shaking their heads at me or powerboaties trying to swamp me.All the yaks I see on cars are heading south ??????? Tis a lonely place to be a yak fisho    .


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

DGax65 said:


> Zed, LaJolla at first light then on to Tidelands for the Jim Sammons Fish and Feast. Bringing homemade tamales


That's Monday. I'm talking SATURDAY!
Still on '06 license.

Z


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## Raumati (May 22, 2006)

Jetskiers-no contest there.They are a hassle when I surf too, I read a story once in an aussie surf magazine about a jetskier who was jumping over a wave and landed on two kids in a rubber boat killing one.Ever since I stay away from them and try and make sure they know I am in their vicinity.
Lately I've noticed a few jetskiers with rods etc on board, is that common is Oz too?


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## hairymick (Oct 18, 2005)

heya Raumati,

I haven't seen any jetskis with fishing rods.
the only ones I have seen are bloody morons tearing round the place on their big wet blowflies.

I would rather smack one of the riders in the eye than talk to him. I find myself snarling at the bloody things even when they are on their trailers.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Unfortunately it's each to their own thing. I too hate ignorant powerboats, jetskis, cruisers, hire boats etc but I KNOW that my preferred form of watercraft is OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR to all of theirs.... :wink:

I then paddle away with a smug grin and know that all of the boaties are secretly wishing they were paddling a kayak too.


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## deano (Nov 26, 2006)

Azza said:


> How about the proffesional newbie...you can see him paddling up and down every day...with all the gear


I think that's referring to me! :lol:


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