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As not to further hijack Gary’s thread. I was curious what y’all do when someone is fishing a creekmouth that you want to get in to. I understand not all creeks are the same. Some are small with only a bend or two and some are huge like stony bayou, deep and porpoise creeks, bear creek, chairs creek etc. Like the very polite Mr Stinson, we usually skip a creek if it’s small and someone is there. If it is a big creek that we want to fish or need to get through to access a cut through, we kill the engine and pole past the other boat, usually asking permission. Some of those creeks are way ( miles long with many offshoot creeks)to big for someone to “own” just because they were in the mouth. I believe they “own” the spot they were fishing, but not the entire creek. What do y’all think ???

^^^ this is usually how I go about it. Also if your fishing tournaments there may be something stated about this... bottom line ,It just ain't worth having a bad day over.

Agree with SG and GC. This ain't Tampa or Mosquito Lagoon. There are plenty of other places to target than to ramrod through a small creek. The bigger passageways like Stony still require courtesy, but if you're camped out in a main channel, expect some company. And if you want to hoard a tiny creek, get your butt out of bed earlier and get there before anyone else.

Gotta share the water, just because you fishing there doesn’t mean you own it. Most times of the year I will yield a smaller to medium size creek if someone is already there, obviously not bigger ones like Stoney, pinhook or dallus. Winter time though if I want in.. I’m coming in, the fish usual don’t care anyway. Depends on the situation and what the fish are doing, I’m not going to mess up you spot for my gain but if we both can fish an area with success, great.

Sometimes it's easy to forget how spoiled we are.. Having a 100yd buffer is amazing and we get that and then some.

Only thing that upsets me is when someone has to run 50-100yd of me on an open flat simply because they aren't considerate.

If you are on a creek mouth, on public numbers or in/near the channel expect company. I'm not saying i'd do it but someone else will.

If you want solitude I wouldn't fish St Marks.. Tallahassee is the largest city in the area and it's the closest place to fish... St Marks is extremely convenient so you gotta take the good with the bad and always remember when you feel there's too many people on the water that you are a part of that "problem".

I give yakkers/small boats more leeway with keeping my distance or getting into my space because they can't cover the same ground. I can move 2 miles away without any effort. Don't expect it though.

Winter time fishing in the rivers is around the corner and that's always interesting..

Nobody owns a creek mouth. "Ease on by" as quietly, as diplomatically and as politely as possible.

I try to avoid boats in close proximity even on the flats. Don't do much shallow creek fishing as they are a bit skinny for me especially in the winter but a little common sense goes a long way and is in short supply these days. Besides the airboats running back and forth seem to keep the creek mouths clear most of the time

Salty Gator wrote:As not to further hijack Gary’s thread. I was curious what y’all do when someone is fishing a creekmouth that you want to get in to. I understand not all creeks are the same. Some are small with only a bend or two and some are huge like stony bayou, deep and porpoise creeks, bear creek, chairs creek etc. Like the very polite Mr Stinson, we usually skip a creek if it’s small and someone is there. If it is a big creek that we want to fish or need to get through to access a cut through, we kill the engine and pole past the other boat, usually asking permission. Some of those creeks are way ( miles long with many offshoot creeks)to big for someone to “own” just because they were in the mouth. I believe they “own” the spot they were fishing, but not the entire creek. What do y’all think ???

Thanks for the clarification in Gary's thread....

This is how I proceed too, IF I even plan to proceed into creek with others in the area. Typically I will proceed onto another area that has the same conditions I would have fished in the original creek. I also, commented in Gary's thread, there is a polite or correct way to do things and there is a rude/belligerent or wrong way to do things. The ones I described in Gary's thread didn't have one ounce of respect for others. It's those types that will draw my ire. I didn't let it ruin my day, I never do, but such egregious behavior can not simply go unchecked. It must be called out so hopefully the offending person will learn what is or is not acceptable. I'm in my late 40's and these folks were older than me, therefor they should have known better... Case of simply not giving a *^*#...

There is s big difference between a small creek with 1 or 2 holes and a large one that goes on for miles. I would consider it rude to enter a small creek when someone was already there.

The logical solution to someone anchored in the middle of the mouth of a big creek is to simply ask the angler on which side of his boat he would like you to pass. I don’t think anyone believes you can hog a large creek.

Just a fyi. Most kayakers pedal or paddle about 2 miles and hour. Ruining a spot can truly ruin his day. I often put 8-10 miles on a Saturday and when I’ve spent a couple of hours getting to my favorite trophy fish spot. Yes it makes me a little mad when someone ruins it by running a boat thru it.

Winter fishing is awesome!!! There’s really no limit how far up the creeks you find fish and never see another angler. Kayakers who even consider fishing that mess in the river are just crazy.

My personal thought is I just expect common courtesy, I'm not going to swamp somebody to run by them to get up some long lost creek. Now a kakyer deciding to paddle down the main channel of the steinhatchee river deserves to be swamped. Fishing the river in the winter time I know it will be a crapshoot but I still am appreciative of people that come by on plane but not wide open if I'm fishing near the channel. People getting close on the flats annoys me much more than somebody trying to get by me to go up a creek. Worst experience I've had was fishing a small creek mouth near dallus and having someone run up on plane to get ahead of me while I'm trying to be sneaky and catch a small red and then run off wide open.

doomtrpr_z71 wrote:...Now a kakyer deciding to paddle down the main channel of the steinhatchee river deserves to be swamped...

A kayaker in the main channel of the Steinhatchee River is "asking for trouble" and should know better. But bear in mind some are newbies: over time I've seen some boaters (I assume they're newbies) do some dumb stuff, at boat ramps and on the water.

That said (and please correct me if I'm wrong), isn't the main channel of the Steinhatchee posted as "No Wake"? Motoring at a speed great enough to swamp a kayer would be illegal.

Folks on the water who put themselves in illogical places can be annoying- but no one deserves to be swamped.

SoberAngler wrote:

doomtrpr_z71 wrote:...Now a kakyer deciding to paddle down the main channel of the steinhatchee river deserves to be swamped...

A kayaker in the main channel of the Steinhatchee River is "asking for trouble" and should know better. But bear in mind some are newbies: over time I've seen some boaters (I assume they're newbies) do some dumb stuff, at boat ramps and on the water.

That said (and please correct me if I'm wrong), isn't the main channel of the Steinhatchee posted as "No Wake"? Motoring at a speed great enough to swamp a kayer would be illegal.

Folks on the water who put themselves in illogical places can be annoying- but no one deserves to be swamped.

It’s only no wake to the mouth of the river. There is a lot of channel that isn’t no wake

The channel BEYOND the mouth of the river is no longer IN the river, it's in the Gulf.

SoberAngler wrote:The channel BEYOND the mouth of the river is no longer IN the river, it's in the Gulf.

So?

SoberAngler wrote:

doomtrpr_z71 wrote:...Now a kakyer deciding to paddle down the main channel of the steinhatchee river deserves to be swamped...

A kayaker in the main channel of the Steinhatchee River is "asking for trouble" and should know better. But bear in mind some are newbies: over time I've seen some boaters (I assume they're newbies) do some dumb stuff, at boat ramps and on the water.

That said (and please correct me if I'm wrong), isn't the main channel of the Steinhatchee posted as "No Wake"? Motoring at a speed great enough to swamp a kayer would be illegal.

Folks on the water who put themselves in illogical places can be annoying- but no one deserves to be swamped.

I've seen a group of kayaks paddling down the main river channel past the safe operation sign, they deserved to be swamped, but weren't, they were just cussed even though they never figured out to get out of the way.