An interesting evening of fishing, or Stream Etiquette

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Ya, the fish were surface feeding, he was short line nymphing with some sort of bead head or other weighted fly. Wasn't working, he was probably trying to dredge up a bigger fish near the bottom but I think they were up top too.

 

That's ok , a few years later I saw a fish in that same pool, had worked on it for a while with no takes. I thought, bet an eagle could get that thing. No sooner thought that and an eagle came soaring over the tree line, turned down river, glided up stream and plucked that sucker out front in front of me. Flew back where it came from fish dangling below. One of the most awesome sights I've seen on a river. They hold the fish so it's aerodymic in the air stream, head first. Went off feeding it's young I imagine.

That would be an amazing sight to see! Very cool.

[shoebop 0]

I just came across this thread and I am jumping in with my 2 cents a bit late but here it is. My first reaction is I would have had a little instructional about etiquette early on when they first tromped upstream to your location. They didn't know they were doing anything wrong. Being teenagers, they probably didn't know that there was such a thing as stream etiquette (or any kind of etiquette for that matter). That would have headed off further incursions AND educated some young men in how to deal with a similar situation in the future. Waiting till you are hopping mad at their continued faux pas and then saying something when you can't take anymore, is not a good thing. Don't wait! It's better to be a educator than a grump (from their point of view).

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I just came across this thread and I am jumping in with my 2 cents a bit late but here it is. My first reaction is I would have had a little instructional about etiquette early on when they first tromped upstream to your location. They didn't know they were doing anything wrong. Being teenagers, they probably didn't know that there was such a thing as stream etiquette (or any kind of etiquette for that matter). That would have headed off further incursions AND educated some young men in how to deal with a similar situation in the future. Waiting till you are hopping mad at their continued faux pas and then saying something when you can't take anymore, is not a good thing. Don't wait! It's better to be a educator than a grump (from their point of view).

Shoebop, I do agree with you that we all probably would have been better served by me saying something earlier rather than later. I'm certainly not holding this incident up as a shining example for all of how How This Is Done--I just felt like I handled it fairly well for me, and much better than I might have not that long ago. I am pretty passive and non-confrontational by nature. As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread, my go-to response for years in this situation was to simply stalk off, angry and muttering to myself but otherwise saying nothing to anyone--a totally passive-aggressive response that benefited no one.

I don't think I ever reached a point where I was hopping mad--more like increasingly appalled. When I did speak up to the young men, I did so in a respectful, non-confrontational way while still making it clear that I didn't like what they'd been doing and asking them nicely not to repeat it. I don't think I was a grump about it--although you make a fair point when you say that they may have perceived me as such. While I didn't go into full-blown "let me teach you boys a thing or two" mode, I think it's reasonable to believe they might behave differently next time they're in the same situation because of their interaction with me.

Could I have handled it better? Yes, surely. Could I have done worse? Oh, most definitely. I think I did okay for me.

I appreciate your feedback, and others' as well--it will help me to do even better next time I'm in that situation.

[shoebop 0]

I hear you Byron. My 2 cents was aimed at everyone reading this thread not just at you. I've done it badly before and I've found that starting a conversation with the "offenders" that leads to a discussion on etiquette seems to work the best for me. 9 times out of 10 they were ignorant and appreciated the advice. There's no helping the other 1%. They are @ss***** and nothing will help them.

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

I'm glad you've started this thread Byron. I've been running through scenarios on how I might be able to better handle the same and similar situation in the future. I think most of the responses and comments have added to this....... thank you guys too.

[mikechell 0]

This is both a good thing and a bad thing about Florida. There are few wade-able waters, which is a missed option from up North.

It also means that rarely do I run into this kind of problem.

 

What I do have, are boaters with no sense of courtesy. I've cast a treble hooked crank bait across the bow of a jetski before. Only by luck did the crank bait whip out and not embed in the guy's arm, as I'd intended. After a few choice words, the guy took off ... you can bet he never got within casting distance again.

 

There are also gators here. While not actually saying anything ... incriminating ... let me just add that they can take care of those who don't listen to reason.

[bellevue.chartreuse.trout 0]

<lmao>... in my best 'Sargent Schultz' ... I know Nutttttt - Ting!

[FlaFly 0]

Mike's right... at least most fishermen seem to have some sense about preserving one's space, but our big problem in our lakes comes from water ski boats, personal watercraft, etc. I long ago realized that the best time to fish our public lakes was Monday thru Friday... can't even get in the water safely on weekends.

 

And for my money, those cast netters I talked about aren't fishermen.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Mike's right... at least most fishermen seem to have some sense about preserving one's space, but our big problem in our lakes comes from water ski boats, personal watercraft, etc. I long ago realized that the best time to fish our public lakes was Monday thru Friday... can't even get in the water safely on weekends.

 

And for my money, those cast netters I talked about aren't fishermen.

FlaFly, I solve this problem here in Michigan by fishing lakes that are too small for (and/or don't allow) motorized boats. I probably miss out on some of the larger fish, but the solitude and quiet are sufficient compensation for me.

[RickZieger 0]

Out fishing warmwater pond this morning. A guy came in with two kids.

When they saw I was catching fish, he told them to fish on each side of me.

Moved so I was right beside him and started fishing.

He did not like this and told me so.

I asked him what the problem was. His kids were supposed to fish right by me.

He decided that his kids would stay away from me.

 

 

Rick

[Tom Gibbons 0]

this is a great story and not at all why I came in this room, go figure, it was too irresistible.

[FlaFly 0]

I just found the solution to your problem! All you have to do is wear this shirt.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I just found the solution to your problem! All you have to do is wear this shirt.

LOL where do I order this FlaFly? :-D

[FlaFly 0]

The pic I copied was on Pinterest, but if you go to Google Images and search "fishing too close tee shirt" you'll get dozens of hits. Some of them are bound to be for sale.

[TableGrouch 0]

I haven't been on lately as it is the heart of trout season, but I was looking for a pattern I saw awhile ago and noticed this thread. I have to comment.

 

I believe respect for another's privacy and space on the water has deteriorated greatly, and I don't think it is just that I'm getting a little older. I primarily fish PA trout streams and I'm encountering more and more situations where etiquette simply doesn't exist. I appreciate those who have the patience to educate a younger fisherman, and try myself, but the vast majority of what I've seen in the past several years is other adult anglers. This past week I was fishing Yellow Breeches, a fairly popular and well known limestone in SE PA. It was a weekday evening, plenty of open water. In the first hour I was on the water I had two anglers step in the water 20 ft. ahead of me while I played a fish, one crossing to the other side. They completely cut me off from the run I was fishing - at least 50-100 yards of open water either direction. I had to walk behind the one to simply get up the bank to leave. He never said a word. I find an open pool upstream, I haven't made two casts another angler walks up the far bank, stops directly across from me and starts dragging a spinner through my drift. The stream isn't 20 yards across. What really frosted me was he wanted to strike up a friendly conversation about what I was using. Again, I simply left without acknowledging him. Eventually I found some empty water and had an excellent evening over a sulphur emergence, lasted well into dark. .

 

These aren't isolated instances. They're just very fresh. Somewhere early along the line I understood that if you're across the stream from another angler you leave their water alone. It is fine to stop and chat, but don't fish their run if you want any respect. Same is true of fishing behind someone. Jump them, but leave their pool and run alone and move on to the next section of stream leaving plenty of water behind you for them.

 

I think it is pretty clear I'm P****ed by the time I've left the water, but short of a confrontation I don't know what's to be said that is going to help anyone. I tend to go nonlinear pretty quickly and find I'm personally in a better mood 20 minutes later if I just get out of there.