Stream Etiquette

[stlfisher]

Rant on. I have an idea that could be beneficial. OAF Cards that we could give to fellow fisher persons. There need to be 2. One we give to the folks that are friendly and courteous. It would have the OAF Web Site on it. The second one would have a direct link to a page that explains river etiquette and lets them know they have been a jack *&^.

Thoughts

That is great idea.

[Trav]

Humans are selfishly composed. They are the reason why I don't fish weekends or holidays.

[flytyer57]

Rant on. I have an idea that could be beneficial. OAF Cards that we could give to fellow fisher persons. There need to be 2. One we give to the folks that are friendly and courteous. It would have the OAF Web Site on it. The second one would have a direct link to a page that explains river etiquette and lets them know they have been a jack *&^.

Thoughts

Great idea.

[Flyflinger]

Humans are selfishly composed. They are the reason why I don't fish weekends or holidays.

Amen brother..I am one of the lucky ones with days off durring the week. I can't remember the last time I fished on a weekend or holiday. It's just not worth the hassle.

[Tearin Up Topwater]

The worst behavior I have seen was at the Current. A friend of mine and I were fishing above Tan Van and ran into a couple in their late 40's or early 50's working downstream. The husband, was one of those know it all ultra competitive fly fisherman. He was of course giving his wife and us unsoliticed advice and generally treated his wife like like crap. I felt bad for her. Whenever, he would catch a fish (all 2 of them) he would then announce very loadly what he caught it on. Then he would make a comment about how stupid people are and how they can't fish etc. My buddy and I just left half amused, but mostly disgusted.

We took a lunch break and then went to Baptist. Well we got to Baptist and finished gearing up. Sure enough this guy and his wife pull up, jump out of their car like it was some kind of fire drill, grab their gear (without putting it own mind you), and actually took off in a full sprint downstream. It was so quick I wasn't sure they had time to actually turned the car off first. I just stood there dumbfounded watching two grown adults, flailing about, throwing water all over the place, attempting to high step it downstream. It was probably one of the most pathetic and funniest moments I have had while fishing. 30 seconds pass and my buddy turns to me and says "well you don't see that every day." I have to give them credit though...how one of them didn't eat it hard I will never know. This kicker is this was our first time at Baptist so we didn't even now where to go. They did all that running for nothing!

It actually worked out well...we went back to the hole above Tan Vat and tore them up.

What a bunch of losers! Don't you just hate humans when you are fishing alone? They ruin everything. These are the people that really don't know how to fish like the rest of us. They read a book on fishing and spent a few hundred dollars on gear at Walmart but they don't really have a clue what they are doing. They don't have fishin' in their blood. Their dad didn't teach em how to tie on a hook at age 4 and sit a wait all day for a single bite in freezing weather while loving it. They can't think like a fish. We can outfish these people every time. We just have to be patient until they get the hell out of our way and realize they aren't going to catch many fish anyway before they give up. People suck.

[bronzeback miner]

"...Unfortunately, common courtesy isn't so common anymore. I have witnessed unbelievable acts of rudeness in the past year alone. It seems everyone has a bad case of "me first" attitude. This is especially true in the trout parks where "combat fishing" is at it's worst"

I know, that is why I only fish the trout parks during the C & R season, that minimizes it somewhat although there are still numerous times I have had people plow right through my fishing zone, usually they are the sight fishermen, I guess they get "tunnel vision" and can't see anything but the fish, still that's no excuse

[Jason R.]

I was fishing the white bass run on the White (well, actually a feeder creek) one day and absolutely tearing it up. Apparently, the guy in the boat 50 yards down from me with his kid noticed this and decided to literally park his boat on top of the hole I was fishing, all the while commenting, "great hole ya got here." Needless to say, I put a dent in his Mercury with a double haul and a size 4 clouser minnow right above the M-(even had to change flies after it broke on his engine). I said "oops." He moved. I caught a bunch of bass. Sometimes you have to be a little more forceful. I also hooked a particularly obnoxious guy at roaring river once on "accident"- he was just lucky I like to fish barbless. One of these days I am going to get punched in the face but some people think etiquette is just a funny foreign word just like "courtesy" or "back-cast."

[Mark]

This topic is my biggest pet peeve. I've actually been wade fishing and have boats pull up directly in front of me and start fishing - and they have the whole river to fish!

My best response ever - it was summer time and I put my pole down and went for a swim - RIGHT WHERE THEY WERE TRYING TO FISH!!! My buddies on the bank got a laugh out of that one!!

[troutfiend1985]

One of these days I am going to get punched in the face but some people think etiquette is just a funny foreign word just like "courtesy" or "back-cast."

Or worse. I'm not sure intentionally hitting someone with a streamer shows good etiquette. It's one thing to go and talk to an individual about the fact they're screwing up your fishing, but actually trying to hurt another person is a whole different category.

If I'm at a trout park and I'm getting "crowded" I don't make a big deal about it. Why? Because it is a trout park and I expect a lot of people to be there. Now, if I'm on a backcountry stream and have some dumba** following me, then I'll talk to him.

My best example of this was two years ago at Crane when some guy kept wading right down the middle of the stream in an effort to follow me. "I haven't seen a fish all day" really? I wonder why? I ended up losing him for the rest of the day until I went back up to the park. I told him about wading techniques and how his wading not only affected his fishing, it was hurting mine as well.

[Indiana Trout]

Amen brother..I am one of the lucky ones with days off durring the week. I can't remember the last time I fished on a weekend or holiday. It's just not worth the hassle.

That was the best part of not having weekends off!