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Today I went fishing on the manistee( did fairly well if you were wondering) and a group of people in a drift boat went past me. It was clear that it was a guided trip. I asked them how many fish they were catching, and all of them, including the guide, just ignored me. Finally one person felt obligated to talk and just said " a few ". This is the third or forth time I've been in this exact situation. Where I'm from, people have no problem talking to you about how many fish they are catching and even what flies they are using. Is it not proper to ask them? Are you not supposed to ask people? I'm just wondering because this is really catching me off guard. Thanks

 

Matt

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I see nothing wrong with asking someone if they are having luck but some people (not me) dont like to tell what patterns they are using in fear of everyone else overfishing that pattern. The only thing that ever bothers me is bad fishing etiquette ie fishing too close to someone else.

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Some people are just rude in general, I've had people on the river that have been rude before. Maybe it's because they expected a creek an hour away from a city of a million people was his own private creek, but for the most part the people I run across are more than happy to chat and sometimes even swap flies. I come across much more of the latter.

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Two thoughts.

 

The situation is fraught with tensions.

 

Drift boat fisher folk and waders often have conflicts based on control of prime waters. Drifters get one pass a day and for those on commercially guided floats, rounding a bend in expectation of access to prime waters only to find them occupied is a real downer. Some guides and their sports even see their access as taking priority over the 'wader/amateurs'. The waders on the other hand often get blitzed by a succession of drift boats which can unsettle the fish they are casting too, in some cases for good that day. Words get exchanged fairly frequently and a civil silence -- often just a knod -- sometimes is all you should expect.

 

Extremely rude situations -- like drift boats running past while waders are fighting fish, waders casting close to or even against the drift boats, waders taking hens off the redds or snagging fish, etc sometimes lead to stronger reactions and resentments that spoil a day on the water for both. Most guides want all fish returned to the water in good shape and over the course of repeated long floats see plenty of slob fishermen on the banks. Bad feelings build up on both sides and then sometimes erupt over fairly trivial things. There have been rare fisticuffs and even the odd case of gun waving in past years.

 

Being snubbed is a good thing.

 

Rocco

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a nice verbal hello or a friendly wave and how are you doing today would have been my first choice of questions of which they were under no obligation of replying.

 

some folks just say hi and some will give you their life's history in 3 minutes (not really that interested in that)

 

how many fish and what fly are you using seems to be the questions most fisherman are so secretive about that its just not worth asking.

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Yes, I think it is rude. Every time I have floated the AuSable people have asked me how the fishing was and I have had no problem letting them know how many fish I have caught or what fly I was using at the time. You have to understand that there are some really rude people out there, after all we are dealing with the public while we are on the river and anything can happen.

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You expected a friendly exchange, didn't get it and were left a bit disappointed. Expectation leads to disappointment. Not everyone I've met is friendly, even on the water.

 

Consider that the lack of exchange may have had little or nothing to do with you. It may be natural to take it personally, but you're excluding countless other reasons when you do. Without more information, any conclusion is conjecture.

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Yeah, people in boats are often disappointed to find a pool occupied - well guess what? Life's full of disappointments. Mature adults react to them with grace and spoiled brats don't. The behavior you described was rude by any standards, and I don't care how many passes they get in a day. About all you can do is laugh it off and not allow them to spoil your day.

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In some parts it is perfectly appropriate to lob a rock at a drift boat filled with snobs if they fail to answer. Provided you do not hit one. Splashing counts extra.

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a nice verbal hello or a friendly wave and how are you doing today would have been my first choice of questions of which they were under no obligation of replying.

 

some folks just say hi and some will give you their life's history in 3 minutes (not really that interested in that)

 

how many fish and what fly are you using seems to be the questions most fisherman are so secretive about that its just not worth asking.

 

 

Flytire LOL. I find bass fishermen will tell you how they are doing and the lure. You have to torture them for the color or depth they are fishing. Trout fishermen are usually polite. They will answer with some amount that is usually inflated to bolster their ego or down graded to preserve how they really are doing. They may tell you the type of fly. Carp and tournament catfishers would sooner denounce their favorite NASCAR driver or mother than to tell anything.

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a nice verbal hello or a friendly wave and how are you doing today would have been my first choice of questions of which they were under no obligation of replying.

 

some folks just say hi and some will give you their life's history in 3 minutes (not really that interested in that)

 

how many fish and what fly are you using seems to be the questions most fisherman are so secretive about that its just not worth asking.

 

 

Flytire LOL. I find bass fishermen will tell you how they are doing and the lure. You have to torture them for the color or depth they are fishing. Trout fishermen are usually polite. They will answer with some amount that is usually inflated to bolster their ego or down graded to preserve how they really are doing. They may tell you the type of fly. Carp and tournament catfishers would sooner denounce their favorite NASCAR driver or mother than to tell anything.

 

where in my reply did i say they werent?

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I think I met the same drift boat yesterday on the Manistee. They cut in front of me and drifted through the water I was fishing without as much as a "sorry about that" or a "how do you do". I actually had to move out of the way. They glared at me like I was an annoyance.

They were wearing Northern Outfitters t-shirts. I think I'll be sending them an email.

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Im sure lot of people think I'm asshole for not answering or say a word. Sorry I am deaf and can't help. :D

 

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I'm not a freshwater type at all and if you ever see me on the water I'll be poling or staked out.... I always make a point of nodding or saying hello to other anglers if they're not encroaching on me. For those folks - all they'll see is my back (and I'll be chewing on my knuckles to keep from saying anything at all...). I've learned the hard way to keep my replies about the fishing to a bare minimum most of the time (and I mostly end up with cause to regret it if I'm forthcoming...). I know stream or small river fishing is different but being courteous on the water is everything as far as I'm concerned. There ought to be a special corner in a really dark, hot place for anyone that ruins another angler's chances deliberately and I'll go out of my way to keep from doing that if at all possible. When I first started flats fishing in 1974 you were never supposed to get close enough to another boat to be able to see what color it was... -that's just not possible today but giving another angler a wide berth certainly is.

 

Folks who can't even bother to acknowlege a friendly hello have told you all you need to know about them, period.

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Nothing worse than asking what folk are catching when they're not! I'm sure if they had been having a good time they would have been very verbal about it.

The Flip is that they do reply, have caught loads and all on a pattern you don't have. Now you have an upstream area that's been battered and you don't even have the right fly. Id be happier if they kept quiet.

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