Winter Mooring Balls
 

With trolling season about to begin, lets hope all you mooring ownwers that have winter mooring balls, hanging just a few feet below the surface of the water, will get them out of the lake. It is inconsiderate to fishermen and, I believe, downright illegal to have these winter mooring balls in place during open water season. Thank you to those who remove them in a timely manner. To those who do not, if my lure hangs up on one, it may not be there when you go looking for it. By the way, these are considered a navigational danger also as outdrives could potentially become entangled in them.

PS. It would not be at all difficult to tie a sinking line to the chain in the fall and run that line along the bottom of the lake towards the shore and tie it off on a block or something that is easily retrievable in three feet of water or so. Then there's no rush for you in the spring to address the dangerous winter-mooring-ball-just-below-the-surface issue.

Contact MP?
 

A few years ago when we were in the midst of flooding during the active part of the season, I called Marine Patrol with my concerns of boat props getting tangled in these submerged hazards. They did not have the same concerns as myself.

Perhaps if Marine Patrol received enough e-mails and phone calls, they might change their position?

Why Trolling So Close To Shore?
 

??????????

That was my thought exactly. It seems unlikely that you'd snare a winter mooring ball/marker when trolling. Who moors a boat in the middle of the lake? More likely to snag a bottle marking a dive site! :D

Get a life, If your trolling close to shore, then you have an issu

I came up with a solution to the problem last year, after getting a rusty fish hook in the hand on an extremely windy day (the hook in my hand was the only thing holding me to the line in the water, I am sure you can imagine how that felt as my boat ws trying to drift away)...

I tie a piece of floating poly rope to the chain, drop it to the bottom, then run the line to shore and tie if off to a tree. I then tie ziplock bags weighted down with rocks at a few intervals between the ends so that it does not float up until it is close to shore.

No snags, no props, no issues. And no hooks in the hand!

I think the trolling is not just in the lake.

Not that I've ever had a real issue with Winter mooring balls, but fishing for salmon and trout this time of year, yes, you can be trolling quite close to shore. These fish are in the top 15 feet of the water column. Also, they're stacked up at inlets to the lake because the smelt are breeding (running up the rivers).

Now, back to your regularly scheduled bickering. :D

fishing for the un-informed
 

The salmon and trout, especially this time of year, are in shallow water (less than 5' deep), near the shores. That is where the food is (insect hatches, freshwater snails, etc.). Therefore, trolling shallow in 6' of water and close to shore is typical practice. Now, also typically, these mooring balls are more often than not in 10' or more of water and exeeding 150 distant from shore, so it's not just a matter of not fishing close to shore to avoid them. A fishman can still get hung up 150' from shore on these things. And lastly, and most importantly, mooring ball owners have no right to dictate to anyone where they have the right to fish in the public waters of New Hampshire as long as they are not breaking any laws. Last time I checked, fishing close to shore and shallow broke no laws on Winni, whereas leaving a winter mooring ball just under the surface does create a navigation hazard and therefore, is illegal.

While Fishing Can Be Festive, Too Many Lines Trolled Is Excessive...
 

On the bottom poly-rope is easy to see...but a trolled lure isn't likely to leave it "just be".

The winter-mooring-ball issue has increased the lakeside homeowners' knowledge...but so have the number of firms that will winterize the lakefront cottage. :rolleye1:

As a line to shore is such an easy fix...I've never used any winter mooring ball tricks.

In Spring—when the water is the clearest—the mooring balls are super easy to see...especially at the trolling speeds that you'd be.

With this high water, my concrete mooring collection (of three)...is working to keep my dock from becoming "debris".


:look: How's the above proceeding at po-et-ry? :)


Deliberately sinking mooring balls or leaving rusty hooks to catch the unwary...seems to have promoted a problem for fisher-folks into something scary.

:rolleye2: I merely navigate around any...a dangerous problem for many? :confused:

oh and by the way....
 

while your at it, can you please remove those obstacles right under the surface in shallow areas that I keep getting my line tangled on....I think they call them rocks

Holy Salmon!
 

There are all kinds of hazards in the water close to shore (trees & rocks to name the obvious). If you're trolling in really shallow water, your risk of getting hung up on all kinds of things is pretty high. Cost of doing business, as they say. I just don't get all the vitriol against people with mooring balls and how they "winterize" them. And if your reaction to getting a line hung up on a mooring line is to be so PO'd that you'd cut their line, then I'd say you are exhibiting dangerous "road rage" like behavior. Think about that. The lake doesn't need hot heads that grossly over-react to the minor inconveniences of life. Hakuna Matata as they say....

And BTW, I caught lots of salmon last weekend and was never closer than 150 ft from shore in 50+ feet of water.

Show off!! :D

Dan

Nightrider is right. Leaving these balls just under the surface is inconsiderate to say the least. As far as the fishing is concerned, don't post if you have no idea what you're talking about. I have been trolling for 35 years. In the spring, I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water. You can still have luck in deeper water, but shallow is best in the spring. Rocks and sticks etc, are a hazard we expect. Having a ball a foot under the surface is just laziness.

MI, very well put......

Now some comments of my own.... about salmon fishing and trolling close enough to shore for winterized moorings to be an issue. First off, the lake became open what let see 14 days ago.... a little over two weeks, and this post started 6 days after that.... I am sorry Nightrider your post was way premature. At this point, most people have now started the activity of opening there camp and getting these things taken care off. But fishermen need to be realistic on time lines. Give people a chance to get going. Now if your trolling that close to shore you should be keeping a dam vigilant eye on your navigation and be able to spot these things.... because if your that close to shore there are also, as others have pointed out, rocks that are more of a danger then any submerged mooring marker. But at last I realize keeping a watch out and navigating really isn't that important when you more worried about catching that record winning fish.... that is why almost every year, I scream at the top of my lungs as someone almost hits the rock in front of my house and then I watch as they don't listen and end up hitting the even bigger rock just down the shoreline a piece. Luckily no one has ever hit hard enough to cause any real damage. But some day I fear, I am going to have to rescue someone as their boat sinks.

I understand that fishing has its excitement, and its allure, the capt. of a fishing vessel needs at slow speeds needs to be just as vigilant and on the look just exactly the same as someone in a speed boat. The obstacle of avoidance my be different, but the attitude should not be. One most always maintain a vigilant lookout for any obstacles above or below the water that may interfere with navigation, not only of the vessel but in regards to any activity that vessel is involved with.

Now that I am really worked up here..... this would be like me saying hey don't leave you mooring balls floating if your boat isn't tied to the mooring, I might be water skiing, or tubing in that area, and what if the person behind my boat ends up over there. And then falls off, the could be thrown into it.... the fact of the matter is this.... not only do I stay 150' away from the shore and docks etc. But I also make sure I know the are well enough that if someone skiing tubing behind my boat has a disastrous spill there is no way that can end up in dangerous spot.....

Case in point.... I see people pull skiers and tubers through the six pack all the time..... there are rock I can stand on either side of the six pack and be waist deep.... there is a rock in the middle of the six pack that at low lake is only about 7 feet deep. In short, if someone spills in this area... especially if the splatter outside of the markers a collision with a rock is possible.

Bottom line here... fish, waterski, tube, where ever you want, remember as the captain, you and only you are responsible for navigating the vessel and water every is attached to the vessel safely around all obstacles above and below the water........ Don't cry because someone didn't make the obstacle bright orange with flashers so you couldn't possible miss it.

Dam now that my blood pressure is off, I have to find that post with the conversation with the animals it makes me smile.....

Relax!
 

Yo JoeG;

Get a grip will ya! I was just kidding with mink islander because he caught so many Salmon and I got skunked.

I could give a hoot about mooring balls...

Dan

Sorry. Wasn't meant for you. I just hit reply and you happened to be there. LOL. I understand everyone's views, but putting these things in is a direct hazard and shouldn't be allowed. I avoid boulders all the time, but when you're in 10-15 feet of water, you shouldn't have to expect to look out for a ball and chain that's a foot or two under the surface.. There are other means, like hooking a line and running it to your dock. :D

Could not have said that any better.

Alright I can't resist here.... so you just tie a line to you mooring line and tie it to your dock right?.... or well what if it is poly line that floats? Seems to me that causes just as much of a problem... sure you can sink it but what and can you be sure that your sinking mechanism will stay attached...

now what if you don't have a permanent dock, then you must bring the line up to a tree. well as the ice breaks up it can snag and break the line, then there is a line floating around in the water still something waiting for a fishing lure to get caught on.

ok then there is the suggesting that you tie a line, and attach it to a block in 3 or 4 feet of water, sure this works.... but is that 3 or 4 feet of water in the fall which is 5 or 6 feet of water in the spring or 3 or 4 feet of water in the spring which is 1 or 2 feet of water in the fall... now I would hate to be wrong here, because if the ice gets a hold of it where the hell is your marker going to end up?????

Now most people take a sealed container fill it about 1/2 full of water tie a line to the anchor chain let it sink to the bottom. The tie the jug on and drop it in.... That jug sinks about 5 to 6 feet.... plenty deep enough not to be a problem..... My uncle has been doing this for years.... I drive my motor boat right over it, coming into his dock....

Believe me this markers you people think are just below the surface are not... they would be getting caught in the ice, and broken off.... they are at least 5 or 6 feet down.... Now if you accidentally snag a lure on one, that sucks but that is life.... deal with it.... Because if you want to play this game...

How about the all the frigging lures I take off my dock, and out from between the rocks where they get snagged.... oh even better the one I find with my feet... or better yet the ******* that hooked my boat a few years ago.....

The world isn't perfect, we all have to deal with imperfections, get over them and just enjoy life.....

Fishing Limit?
 

"I have great success trolling within a few feet of docks and in very shallow water."

Is there a legal limit to how close someone can fish to your property?

No there is not. as a matter of fact they are allowed to fish even from shore up to the high water mark and allowed to step on and over your docks. The water belongs to the people of the state not the abutting landowners.

Almost all the fisherman I have encountered are very respectful and I welcome them in and around my docks.

Dan

Nope, there isn't a limit, the entire lake is a public resource up to the full lake line.... Most of how close people come is common sense. I am sure people come in much closer if no one is around then if some on is standing in the yard or on the dock. Personally I would say about 99% of the time I never have issues, I even talk with people as they paddle by or fish their way down the shore front.... even got offered a freshly caught fish one time to throw on the grill that I was starting.

I think the only time I really felt like someone wasn't being respectful was the day the guy hooked my boat.... I think too much sun, to much liquid courage, and to much clowning around with his buddies had something to do with it.... but he wrapped the line and lure around the bimini, and instead of waiting for me to come and help him get it unwound he started yanking.....

In short it is about common sense, you are at a state park so to speak... it just happens to be on the water. You wouldn't want someone pulling a picnic table right up beside yours so don't do it to them. Respect goes a long way. The only time I find myself yelling at people for being to close is about the time they get in between my dock and my uncles next door and are to close to the marker we put out, which is also about the time the see the rocks I am warning them about. We Mark the center of it, but well it is a rather larger group of rocks.....

Still More "Hazards"
 

Another "hazard" that needs some respect is referenced in the following report:

(The nesting platforms provided for Loons are located in shallow water, and this is the Loons' season).

I put my mooring back in yesterday. The setup I use worked fine.

When I replaced my mooring chain a year ago, I kept the old chain. When removing the mooring in the Fall, I tie a rope to the mooring chain and run it toward shore. I then use the old mooring chain for the last 15 or so feet and drop it to the bottom.

The chain keeps the rope on the bottom, and it's easy to pick up with an iron rake come Spring.

It doesn't sound like you do much relaxing. I would think the average person would assume that I was referring to a sinking line that would be tied and run to the shore. You have so many "what ifs" in your post that it's difficult to understand if you're serious or just haven't a clue as to what's going on here. Then you're assuming "most people" do what your uncle does. Then you go and contradict what Nightrider says about them being a 1-2 feet under the surface. I troll and see these things time and time again and they're just under the surface.
TIE A LINE TO YOUR MOORING BLOCK AND RUN IT TO THE SHORE. It's a very simple procedure and doesn't need your ridiculous analyzation about how you'll lose your marker. You won't lose anything if you just tie it to your block and run it to the shore. Have a clue.

You should let the Loons nest where their natural habitat is and not try to create a nesting situation for them. The reason they leave is just as you wrote. The platforms attract an ambush place for bass. The bass fishermen know this and cast as close to it as possible because it's an excellent place to catch a bass.The Loons see get scared off and may or may not have any more young for the rest of the season. I'm not sure if they seek a better spot, or abandon laying any more eggs altogether. Loons are protected, but flourish in our lakes. Putting a man-made platform is counter-productive in my opinion.

You are a wise man:D

I do plenty of relaxing and also a lot of quick thinking on my feet the problem is people just don't always see the point. And I see that you have missed it completely.... the point of my post was the following....

Everyone assumes that every person out there knows everything there is to know about everything. The problem is most do not. So many things are done by trial and error. Once some finds a system that works they don't like to change it because then they have to go into the realm of the unknown.

The problem is there are a lot of variable when marking a mooring. and even if you do the simple thing like use a line and run it to the shore you run the risk of it getting tied up in the ice at the shore line and broken......

Bottom, line is this... Fishermen need to have patience give people a month to get going on the lake. Just because your in a rush to fish, doesn't mean the camp owners are in a rush to get the mooring ball up....

As of current I am the only one on my road excepted for the person that lives there year around that has been up every weekend since Ice out....

GIVE PEOPLE TIME DON'T BE UNREALISTIC IN YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Mean Spirited
 

For the first time in 16 years I am late,( Two months) getting in my swimfloat and mooring ball. Within one or two days after I was able to get to the site, and went to install them, I found that someone had cut my markers. I'm sure it's not pleasant for a fisherman to loose a lure, but I think that April second is a little early to apply punitive measures and I'm looking into the legality. The lake is warm enough to dive for them now. When I look at fellow fishermen now , I wonder and I'm a little more wary than I used to be.