My buddy Benny, his father, Jim, the family dog (Sadie) and I... headed out to the river this morning. Two spey swingers had gotten up and on the water a bit earlier than we had.
There was a gentleman advising a lady flyfisher on the finer points of spey casting/swinging.
Said gentleman was friendly and greeted my friends and I with gregarious demeanor.
My intention was to move 100 yds. below the two and fish.
I was asked not to step in and cut off the swing.
I conceded but replied slightly defensively and made a remark about standing on the fish...
It was already set in motion.
Preconception versus preconception (?) Fly-guy versus Gear-guy...
I retracted back to the gravel bar, closed my mouth and opened my heart and mind a bit...
The spey angler expressed his willingness to share the water but in rotation style and I thought about it and took inventory:
Friendly folks
Greeted us warmly
Communicated clearly and kindly
Willing to share the water
and they were there FIRST
Time for amends.
I apologized to said individual and thanked him for being kind enough to share the run.
Not long after... three more pairs of Simms waders showed up (RUH ROH)...
Long story short.
One introduced himself to me.
Soon we were all talking and realizing we had much more in common as anglers and as humans than we had differences.
The fishing was less than stellar but what made my day was the lack of pretention and the abundance of mutual passion and respect for the river and the sport we ALL so know and love...
You know who you are guys/gal.
Nice to meet you and thanks for the positive vibes.
One of these days, I'll get by the shop and say hey~
This reminds me of Bill's simple yet wonderfully-profound... post the other day on steelheading ethics and coexistence of differing schools of thought and methodologies.
This is a veritable can of worms... Night crawlers? San Juan? Mad River fluorescent pink 'jellies' with chartreuse tails?
I dunno' but since I opened it... I'll bite.
Bill W.?
I was referring to Mr Kiene's words of wisdom as stated in the Russian River thread.
Here it is again in case you missed it:
"Don't get excited about any of this because we have had the same discussions for about 40 years now. I can't believe there are any fish left but there are.
There are so many variables in the ecology that I don't believe anyone has the answers to any of this.
Just try to enjoy the days you have here on earth and don't worry about what others are doing.
We have little control over what goes on here on earth so enjoy it while it lasts.
Politics and religion are the real proof that we don't know much......no body does.
Really wise people know they don't know much.
People with answers are the ones who are in the dark.........
I think it's time for my meds?"
__________________
Bill Kiene
As for the swing zone etiquette... When I stepped in to the river that morning, I was intending to walk 75-100 yards downriver BEFORE casting so as to NOT be spooking the water at the end of Adrien's or Sheryll's (SP?) swing. They had no way of knowing this but I am always respectful to my fellow anglers on the water whether I am first to it or not and especially since the 2 were there first... I would never have stepped in to their drift.
I opted to retreat completely when he kindly suggested I not cut off her drift...
Spoon fishing is indeed much like swinging... The sweets spots are on the drop (12 o' clock) during the swing (lifting phase of spoon) at 10/11 or 1/2 o' clock (depending on side of river...) and the dead drift (end of swing at 9 or 3 o' clock). One enters the water and moves downriver and covers near to far and quarters down... all very similar so I have a very good idea of where I can go and not screw someone up.
However... as any Amato Publication or old timer steelhead angler who fishes tight quarters with other folks would tell you... Rotation (from top to bottom) of the drift is indeed the most democratic as it allows everyone to cover 'new' water and to have a shot at the sweet spot/s of the run's...
Because I fish alone most often, I had forgotten the rotation bit but once I thought it through it made sense and I followed suit.
Is it ethical to ask someone not to step in to your swing route? I say yes and if you were there first, the newcomer should ask you if it's ok to step in period (within 100 yards) in my opinion.
I should have asked 'Big-A' that question and/or let him know my intentions before stepping in.
Ironically, after everyone left, a gentleman (with a fly rod) approached and stopped 100 yards down river and before fishing asked, "Am I okay to fish here?" "Are you drifting down this far") and he was well out of my swing. I thanked him for his consideration and told him to have at it. I have found that many to most of the downriver 'fly guys' as we say... are extremely respectful and congenial.
The lineup...
I used to be one of those guys in the lineup with a long leader and bead setup (salmon).
For many reasons, I abandoned that method and moved on to what I know are more skillful and believe are more ethical means to hooking fish.
Standing in a line up of 10-40 guys to floss or even legitimately fish for and catch a steelhead... is for me about as enjoyable as having a root canal and I haven't seen the dentist in a long time.
Though I do have my opinions about 'liners' I will say that nothing is black and white, completely ethical or completely immoral. Many of the liners I know (or used to know) do release most or all of their fish. Further... it is true that steelhead will move from a hold to WILLFULLY eat a corkie, yarn tuft, and yes... even a bead.
Unfortunately, those same fish are often PULLED off their redds by a counterbalanced snare (1/2 - 1 oz piece of lead and a leader 8'-30' long) over and over and over again.
Ask the basin 'purists' (who hate/curse me for sometimes bonking a hatchery fish) about all the fish they release.
They have names for them 'cuz' they've hooked them and dragged them up and down the river so many times...
For many of those guys, it's more about camaraderie and being with their bro's.
I can respect that aspect.
I fish the 'secret spot' at Nimbus a few times a year. Sometimes, it's the place to be but usually' for me anyway, it isn't.
I covet fishing as a mostly solitary venture and by choice.
I'd rather walk miles of scenic river alone and get 1 quality fish or 1 quality skunk than listen to a bunch of crap, ego, animosity, and bs while breaking off on line snags in frog water every other drift, surrounded by; concrete, steel and trash.
And as for the idea that "gear guys rarely move"...
Not so... when I fish spoons, I will often cover 2-5 miles of river.
Unfortunately, with the river at 1000 CFS or less... holding water is in very short supply and was even more so when the upper river was closed... so locking in to a hole did have increased utility/appeal...
I'd say that liners take the #1 slot in not moving from their favorite perch. I know a guy who names rocks after himself...
With that... I think this has come full circle on the original thought as echoed by Bill Kiene...
Whether you fly fish, bait fish, bead fish, lure fish, plunk or even floss... there is one commonality between us all and that is that we each are in awe of and consumed by our passion and pursuit of the mighty O. mykiss.
It would be Utopic if all anglers/all humans in general... had an unyielding credo of mutual-respect which they never abandoned both on and off the river...
But since we are only human... we should simply strive to keep these ideals at the forefront of consciousness as much as possible while we each, in our own best way possible...
"...Just try to enjoy the days you have here on earth and don't worry about what others are doing..."
I know I will~
PEACE
M
Happy New Year To All~
M
No comments:
Post a Comment