Rude encounter

[Big Bad Wulff]

Was flyfishing this weekend and we happened on a strech we usually fish. There were 3 people fishing it. I fished the top of the run where there was no one. I could see the fish weren't there, so I decided to fish the bottom of the run, again where there was no one. As I started behind the three fisher(persons) and telling them I was coming behind them, the middle guy comes out of his spot and proceeds to the bottom of the run. I thought, well I will take the spot he vacated. As I did the person below(a woman) rushed upstream to block me off. I thought, well that sure wasn't nice.
I proceeded to the lower section, below the fella that just left that spot and I fished for a while. I decided to head back up because that middle section was open again. As I entered into the spot...AGAIN.. the woman rushed upstream to block me. This time I held my ground and started casting. Then she says "A little close aren't we". I responded with "I wasn't until you rushed up here". With that she backed off a bit.
Later she came up to me to apologize and basically I ingored her.
What a ..B....!
If you are that person and frequent this site, I will tell you one thing. If you were a guy, I'd have decked yer a..!
We ran into a local guide and friend and he told us who it was(without as much as a description) because she is known for doing that kind fo thing as they own the land next to that spot and think it's their personal stream. We were fishing from the other side of the stream from their land, if you are thinking we were on their land. Seems to me, they'd clear the area on their side and fish from there and avoid such.

[dunfly]

Later she came up to me to apologize and basically I ingored her.
What a ..B....!
If you are that person and frequent this site, I will tell you one thing. If you were a guy, I'd have decked yer a..!

Now who was it again that had the rude encounter?

[Big Bad Wulff]

Thank you very little.
Should have expected as much............
It wasn't an invitation to fish that spot, it was meant to defuse the situation and a further attempt to gain control of me. That wasn't going to happen. You had to be there.

The very next day my buddy and I were fishing a very productive run and a fella came up to us. We invited him to fish with us and moreover told him what we were using that they were hitting on. He thanked us and we all SHARED the stream and enjoyed each other's company.

[hap]

Salmon bring out the worst in folks... And sometimes you have to put up with them to be in salmon, but I still cannot imagine moving in on a group of folks fishing a hole.

Understand my Alaska prejudice is likely my motivation. Flyfishing for trout has got to be fun or I am not interested. Dealing with crowding is not fun...

[MontanaMoose]

Usually when I see three ppl fishing a run I just watch for a while then I leave. If it's a place where stream etiquette is practiced and I want to froth some water I'll start above the nearest fly caster downstream from me but not before exchanging signals with that angler. This is most always met with the invitation to wade in and work behind the one and/or the others as they work their way downstream.

As the casters work the run and if the most downstream angler runs out of river but still wants to cast, they'll move to the top of the run. If I'm there they'll wait until there is some distance between and they'll now signal me and I'll give them the nod. This works out fairly well until someone plunges into the middle of the string of casters, which is not usually met militantly but with patience and perhaps a conversation about stream etiquette. Volumes have been written on this but no need to read up, it's all available right here in FAOL !

MontanaMoose

[jsmartt]

One thing I'd like to add is that fishing manners differ somewhat depending on the geographic reigion and the type of water. In areas like Alaska or most of the western United states I would never attempt to fish the same hole or usually even within sight of other fishermen. There are other areas mainly tailwater fisheries where there are only a few miles of trout water availabe. For those waters people have to fish near each other. It sounds like that was the situation discribed above. You still have to be considerate but you sometimes have to fish close to others if you are to fish at all. Most people in these conditions understand the situation and accomodate each other, but others behave rudely. One encounters all kinds while on the water as in all aspects of life.

[John Rhoades]

If you enter the stream to fish and can see someone fishing you may be too close.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

I was fishing the Lochsa river at the last fish in when a fellow Faoler arrived. At first He tried to scare me into thinking he was a wild animal in the bushes. When that didn't work we had a laugh then He asked permisson for himself and his dad to fish the same large pool as I was. He knew that I am limited by my bad knees to the easy to fish from beach so he cleverly left that spot to me while He and His dad did some bushwhacking and fished the harder parts of the pool. Thats how it should work. Thats how it usually does work.

Sometimes you run into idiots and rudeness and you have to learn to just give a deep sigh and walk away. I fish for pleasure , if it becomes unpleasant, I leave.

[hutjensmpg]

I'm admittedly not big on crowded waters, but the few times I've gone to places like that (mostly Lake MI tribs for steelhead), the etiquette seemed to be to let a group of two or more have a run to themselves so they could shift around a little bit. Singles seemed to usually partner up on a run with other individuals.

To me is would seem like BBW encroached first - maybe things could have gone a bit more smoothly if you'd first asked about fishing the upper or lower end.

But situations like this are why I like to walk until the trail peters out to barely there and then start fishing.

[ducksterman]

I think I've been into most of the situations described...over the years....elbow to elbow and whatever....IMHO on this one it seems to me BBW was dealing with 3 individuals who were trying to claim those fishing waters as theirs...and discourage folks...I think I'm on his side...who owns the waters is always an issue but probably not in this case and it seems to me those people shouldn't be accorded the usual stream etiquette.