Slalom Course Warning Sign?

[Justin]

I am looking for any ideas for our slalom course we have on a public lake.

We've had a course on this lake for about 30 years in different areas, but the last 2 seasons our lake has been taken over by fisherman.

And there seems to be a complete lack of common sense or care going around so we have had a ton of problems with them fishing in the course or trolling through and getting hooked up, damaging cable and pipes. ( Instaslalom )

I have remained calm and tried to educate them case by case but its getting frustrating at the frequency of these interactions.

I'm thinking about making a floating warning sign, " Caution underwater cables and pipe " or to that effect.

Has anyone done so and was it effective and if so how did you build it?

 

Thanks !

[S1Pitts]

My personal experience is locating the course where there is no trolling taking place to try mitigate this. IE Shallow or weedy areas, but that can bring about a whole new set of issues. The hassles of public water is exactly why we no longer float a course throughout the entire season. 

[Justin]

Yes we have moved it to a more secluded area but still having issues.

No intention of taking the course out so just looking for anyone with experience making a sign and what it said.

[MitchellM]

Where would you put the sign?  How would you encourage fisherman to even read it?

[DvarianDan Johnson]

Certainly understand the problem but wouldn't signs require approval of some sort in order to be placed, and then also be just one more hazard on the water ?  On our lake many of the fisherman (resident and guest) are part of local fishing clubs. Connecting with them to get the word to their members may be a better way to reach the majority. If the club supports their members being considerate of the course etc. it will go a long way towards mitigating issues.     

[ReallyGottaSki]

Bassholes be Bassholin

 

they will fish it for 'structure' then cry foul when they get hung up and be punitive on it

[Wish]

Putting up a sign may be setting yourself and others up for liability issues. If there is a public launch you could meet fishermen there. Have a flyer, coffee and donuts ready hand out.  It’s a drag and a grind and may take a longer than you like but killing them with kindness is really the only way.
 

Always thought of doing this but never tried. Set up an email address just for those with concerns, comments or questions and write that address on the buoys/boat guides with a sharpy. Be kind with your responses and have some links, educational pics, canned responses ready to go. 
 

and if you’re not a into lake conservation,  look up what you can do to positively impact the lake’s echo system (ya know …where the fish live) and add that to the conversations you have with fishermen. They don’t think we care about the water or what lives in it. 
 

also the first thing I do when encountering a fishermen is to ask questions about fishing..if they have caught anything and if so how many / how big?? … nice boat..what type of fish are u fishing for…we fish but have no luck what do you recommend?. You get the idea. Get them talking about what they love to do. They don’t care what you love to do but they might if you care about what they do. 

 

[BraceMaker]

Careful what you wish for, I know of atleast one state that "requires" 4 uniform marking bouys on a 2000x400' rectangle there is no real solution.  

 

[MJE]

A course on public water near me has regulatory buoys indicating "ski area" (with the orange square I believe) on each corner of the course.

https://walshmarineproducts.com/product/regulatory-buoys/

[BrennanKMN]

I don't think there is anything you can do. Those that would read the sign are likely not the main offenders anyway.

As Wish eluded to, it's best to engage them on a personal level. I have to go chat with a fisherman close to 40% of the time when use our public course. I would say 90% of the time they're nice and understand we both want to use the lake, and unfortunately I cannot move the course. More than half the time, they don't even know what the course is or used for, and they thank me for explaining it.

On a different note, is your course deep/strong enough? I have never had an issue with someone trolling. The course will break their line and steal their lure long before any damage occurs. I have had someone forget to bring up their anchor and drag that across before. The course got a serious bow in it and needed to be re tightened (an anchor moved), but still no damage.

 

 

[foxriverat]

2 hours ago, Wish said:

Putting up a sign may be setting yourself and others up for liability issues. If there is a public launch you could meet fishermen there. Have a flyer, coffee and donuts ready hand out.  It’s a drag and a grind and may take a longer than you like but killing them with kindness is really the only way.
 

Always thought of doing this but never tried. Set up an email address just for those with concerns, comments or questions and write that address on the buoys/boat guides with a sharpy. Be kind with your responses and have some links, educational pics, canned responses ready to go. 
 

and if you’re not a into lake conservation,  look up what you can do to positively impact the lake’s echo system (ya know …where the fish live) and add that to the conversations you have with fishermen. They don’t think we care about the water or what lives in it. 
 

also the first thing I do when encountering a fishermen is to ask questions about fishing..if they have caught anything and if so how many / how big?? … nice boat..what type of fish are u fishing for…we fish but have no luck what do you recommend?. You get the idea. Get them talking about what they love to do. They don’t care what you love to do but they might if you care about what they do. 

 

This is exactly what we do. Works 98% of the time

[Justin]

Apreciate the responses, I'm not trying to tell them they can't use the area. It's more of an education of what lies under the surface so they dont get mad when they lose thier lures or worse break the PVC pipe or cut the mainline....

I've been nothing but friendly in every encounter but I think a little prevention will go a long way.

I'm not interested in a '' KEEP OUT''  kind of attitude,  just ''Hey caution there is floating cable and pipes underneath here, maybe fish elsewhere''.

Our course is located beside an island in a narrow so a floating sign on the entrance would be easy to read.

Like I said before Ive had the course out there for 30 plus years without issue until the last 2 seasons. Everyone knows who I am but unfortunately the fishing has been really good and new people are starting to flock to the lake now..

Thanks for the responses, have a few ideas.

1 hour ago, BraceMaker said:

Careful what you wish for, I know of atleast one state that "requires" 4 uniform marking bouys on a 2000x400' rectangle there is no real solution.  

 

That's exactly what i'm looking for actually. 

1 hour ago, BrennanKMN said:

I don't think there is anything you can do. Those that would read the sign are likely not the main offenders anyway.

As Wish eluded to, it's best to engage them on a personal level. I have to go chat with a fisherman close to 40% of the time when use our public course. I would say 90% of the time they're nice and understand we both want to use the lake, and unfortunately I cannot move the course. More than half the time, they don't even know what the course is or used for, and they thank me for explaining it.

On a different note, is your course deep/strong enough? I have never had an issue with someone trolling. The course will break their line and steal their lure long before any damage occurs. I have had someone forget to bring up their anchor and drag that across before. The course got a serious bow in it and needed to be re tightened (an anchor moved), but still no damage.

 

 

Ya they have towed anchors through it twice this season which snapped 2 pipes. And another caught his lure and cut the buoy riser line...

I've explained the course construction to every boat I've had the chance to come across but its not realistic to educate everyone which is why I'm on here asking for experience with these situations. 

We are not new to slalom courses on public lakes.

[BraceMaker]

That type of marker bouy does tell the story most people understand that those mean stumps or other obstacles, if I'm boating at night and start seeing those reflectors I know it means some navagational hazard and then you slow up and read them.

[DW]

Prior to adding signage or additional floating marking buoys, verify particularly with state regs but also any HOA regs that become part of the lake usage.  You don't want to create a bigger issue than you are experiencing now.  Good luck, it is a tough nut to crack.  Fish seem to hang around or under any structure that provides shade which includes slalom buoys so fishermen tend to migrate to rather than from our beloved patch of water.

[Mateo_Vargas]

Warning Slalom Course Ahead - Highly Addictive!

[Wish]

If you don’t have a good graphic of the course (there is probably better) search one out and get it on your phone (or in the flyer) so they can see what you’re talking about. 

[morfoot]

  The course I ski on is also on a public lake and you're probably wasting time with a sign. The best approach that I've found and the guys I ski with is just to idle up to the "violator" and kindly inform them that there is cabling, PVC and ropes from Ball to ball about 4 feet under water. You probably don't wanna get hung up or worse, wrap a 3/16" cable around your prop. Most are appreciative and will say, "Oh wow Okay, I didn't know that." Same thing applies to I/O's either running through the course or between the Course balls and driver balls. Most people don't know. We've even offered a pull behind our boat if they want to ski the course but please DON'T run down it with your OB or I/O. You are putting yourself, your boat, and your passengers at risk if you do.  The last thing you wanna do is piss em' off as they may come back when you're not there and sabotage the course.  

[jpwhit]

I would think the better option would be to switch your course to individually anchored balls. Then there wouldn't be any cables or poles to get screwed up. The viability of this just depends on how much you take it in/out or move it. But we were having the same issues and this is what we've moved too. And with the easy and cheap availability of high precision GPS, it's a lot easier than it once was. And even taking the balls off and then putting them back on is viable now with individually anchored balls with high precision GPS. 

[Broussard]

[Golfguy]

Warning: Entering these orange balls may cause addiction and life long poverty.

[Shell]

@Justin we live on a public (small) lake as well and have had “some” issues with fishermen, it is what it is and most ppl don’t know “ski etiquette” We encourage jetskiers and anyone to use the course, have ppl drug an anchor ? Yes, do we lose buoys? Yes, our course stays up 24/7 352 days a year , and it’s just something you have to deal/accept. If you create issues, that can create even more issues for you and get the permit taken away.  On a public lake you have to have that mentality sorry to say. We don’t have that many problems and are very fortunate to have a course and permit, think of it like that, nothing is easy an hope for the best?