Combat Fishing Etiquette Revisited!!

[G-Man]

You can come up with all kinds of guidelines for bank/ river fishing, however I think that most of it is intuitive if you give it more than a microsecond of thought. The people new to the "game" are going to fall under two categories, as all people do in the rest of life's interactions, those that care and those that don't care how their actions affect others. If a person cares, it will take but a few outings to get the hang of it and any grievances by other fishermen will be quickly forgiven. When a person doesn't care, it is obvious, and these are the people who get involved in the altercations you hear about. My advice to those that are new river fishing, observe, ask questions, don't get offended if you run into a surly person and go with the flow. Above all you use brain!

I personally have written off combat bank fishing for two reasons. Number one, I don't have a beater vehicle anymore and I like to keep mine unmolested. Number two, the crowds I've come across lately don't seem nearly as pleasant to be around than they were a decade ago.

[jerrysgonefishing]

Maybe we all need to take a lesson from Alaska. At the top of the trail to the fishing area on Bird Creek there are two signs. One how to get along with your fellow combat fisherman and the other how to get along with the bears. Break the rules and there is no forgiveness. They don't play games the bear will eat you and your fellow fisherman don't have a problem turning you into bear bait.

[jens]

Maybe we all need to take a lesson from Alaska. At the top of the trail to the fishing area on Bird Creek there are two signs. One how to get along with your fellow combat fisherman and the other how to get along with the bears. Break the rules and there is no forgiveness. They don't play games the bear will eat you and your fellow fisherman don't have a problem turning you into bear bait.

LOL

[natetreat]

My Rules of Politeness:

DON"T SNAG.

1. Be friendly. And polite. We're out in the water and cold frigid hot sun to have fun.

2. Don't mess up the casting order. It's physics. The current carries long thin lines at the same speed downstream. If one person casts over a line, it's going to get tangled.

3. Be nice to new fishermen. It's embarrassing when they get caught up in your line. If they are new to close quarter fishing, they're gonna get snagged up. But most likely they're not going to catch any fish and they're going to learn nothing. A good fishermen will be polite and help.

4. Yell FISH ON! Loudly.

5. When FISH ON! is heard, be aware that if it is near you you should reel up stat so that someone can get a fish. That's why we're all here.

6. Don't stomp through all of the fish holding water. Self evident.

7. Don't cast at boats, and the boats shouldn't be jerks. It's not really fair for bank fishermen who can't drop thousands on a sled to have the only few holes they CAN fish ruined by rude boaters. But for the fishermen who did spend his hard earned livelihood on a great boat, it's not nice to deface their property.

8. Keep your kids and dogs close and in control. A random 8 year old running around cast over people's lines trying to snag fish with a bass catching spinner bait is really irresponsible. They are small people and could drown. Dogs tromp through holes and scare the fish away and can get snagged painfully by stray hooks. I don't know how many times one or the other has been terrorizing the river unattended and ruined a hole for me and everybody else. I loved fishing when I was 8, but my father made me cast into a tin can at 20 yards in the back yard before I could cast in the water.

9. Don't litter. It's bad for all of us, and the WDFW will just stop planting fish like the legislature already wants if we keep turning the Skok into a landfill.

10. If you're hung up, break off swiftly if it's in vain. It annoys other fishermen. If you've snagged a fish on accident and know that you are, break off.

11. Don't longline. Your presentation is sacrificed, at the price of the aggravation of fellow fishermen. Be wary of float fishing when everyone else is drifting, it can screw everything up for all involved and nobody will catch anything.

DON'T SNAG FISH and if you see someone doing it, call the authorities. It's against the law. Just don't do it. Gives fishing a bad rep.


Other things that shouldn't be rules, but guidelines. Don't steal other peoples stuff. Stealing is one of the ultimate disrespectful things you can do to your fellow man. But keep your own gear close, because it's true, not everyone will read this thread, and there will always be bad apples.

[flinginpooh]

My Rules of Politeness:


2. Don't mess up the casting order. It's physics. The current carries long thin lines at the same speed downstream. If one person casts over a line, it's going to get tangled.

Ok pretty much everything ya said is great. This one here doesnt work 100% The current does not take everyones lines down stream at the same rate of speed. Different people using different size weight will result in varying speeds of drift. Too light of weight = faster drifts. I cast a half ounce weight and the guy above me casts 1/4 oz 5 ft behind where I cast. That guy has a good chance of drifting into my line causing some sort of tangle/line bump. So even if your casting in order keeping weights in check is also helpful. If you notice your line drifting faster then everyone else, add a lil more weight to see if it slows ya down and keeps you off others.

[natetreat]

My Rules of Politeness:


2. Don't mess up the casting order. It's physics. The current carries long thin lines at the same speed downstream. If one person casts over a line, it's going to get tangled.

Ok pretty much everything ya said is great. This one here doesnt work 100% The current does not take everyones lines down stream at the same rate of speed. Different people using different size weight will result in varying speeds of drift. Too light of weight = faster drifts. I cast a half ounce weight and the guy above me casts 1/4 oz 5 ft behind where I cast. That guy has a good chance of drifting into my line causing some sort of tangle/line bump. So even if your casting in order keeping weights in check is also helpful. If you notice your line drifting faster then everyone else, add a lil more weight to see if it slows ya down and keeps you off others.

That's really true. I didn't really have the time to explain the physics. But you're absolutely right.

[curado]

and remember to not every one is casting the same weight everytime. pencil lead, slinkies arnt always the same lengthor shot size, and there is different size pencil leads to 1/4 and 3/16

[returnofthefish]

Nate Treat - Good set of politeness rules you listed:cheers:

[Anonymous]

Natetreat ,your rules of politeness are 100%great. I can agree with all of them . Now have it printed in Russian,Polish,Vietnamese,Korean,Latvian,Pinoy,Japanese,Hebrew, and post it out on the river. The peeps here all follow your rules of politeness. Its everyone else who dosent. Again your rules are great .Cuz that wont happen on the Skok,Nasty,Puke,or Green Sky,and Snoqualmie.I hate to be the poison pill but I've fished these rivers all for over 45 years and I havent seen it in the past 20 years go that way. Thats why I fish elsewhere. I fish the Skok where no one else does.

[natetreat]

Natetreat ,your rules of politeness are 100%great. I can agree with all of them . Now have it printed in Russian,Polish,Vietnamese,Korean,Latvian,Pinoy,Japanese,Hebrew, and post it out on the river. The peeps here all follow your rules of politeness. Its everyone else who dosent. Again your rules are great .Cuz that wont happen on the Skok,Nasty,Puke,or Green Sky,and Snoqualmie.I hate to be the poison pill but I've fished these rivers all for over 45 years and I havent seen it in the past 20 years go that way. Thats why I fish elsewhere. I fish the Skok where no one else does.

I just went out to the Skok today, because I've been wanting to get fish on! in a big way, and it's been sloow up here. And I have to say that there was a lot of chaos. I got my spot stolen by a dude in carharts more than once wet wading up to his chest in front of me as I retied, still in line with my vest. The saddest thing was a whole hole was taken up by people lined up casting straight out, letting it sink to set the hook. You couldn't even get a drift because everybody was snagging. Cast out, set the hook, reel back up. If you actually wanted to fish you got your drift torn to shreds. Funny thing is I ended up fishing the sides where all the fish ran away from everyone else. I'd just start casting, and before you know it, 20 guys would elbow up to me, even though I knew there was no fish. I dunno, the Skok is special people sometimes. Even on the worst day at Reiter at the Sky, I haven't been skoked.

I have my secret spots where I go to catch the solace. I'll put an extra 3 hours on the driving time to catch my limit in solitude sometimes. Sometimes I wanna go fishin with the guys, so we try to follow the rules and see what happens.

[Gringo Pescador]

Even on the worst day at Reiter at the Sky, I haven't been skoked.

A new one for the phrasebook. "How was fishing today honey?" "Eh, I got Skoked.."

[Anonymous]

Sad , Funny, True !!!! Nice new saying.I like that

[natetreat]

Hahahaha! So true