An Olympic Lesson for us all...

[Andrew Mann]

As many of you may know by now, the Norwegian skiing coach gave the world a lesson in sportsmanship. During an Olympic cross-country skiing event, a Canadian skier broke a pole on an uphill climb. Without hesitation, the Norwegian coach rushed forward from the sidelines and handed the girl a new pole. She and her partner not only finished the race, but won a silver medal (I believe the Norwegians failed to make the podium in that race). Is this not the true spirit of the Olympic Games?

So what does this have to do with fly fishing...

Well, what if we were all such "good sports" on the water? If a nearby angler broke a pole, could we let him borrow our back-up that's in the truck? What if the fly we're using is catching us a mess of fish, but the guy beside us hasn't yet figured out what's working? Could we offer a little advice, or give away a fly?

I think the best way for Canadians (and for us all) to thank that Norwegian coach to is to perform our own act of kindness in return - whether it by on the river, or on the street. What a world it would be.....

[MPW]

What goes around comes around.

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**MW**

[fcch]

Andrew, ...

Over here, ... the salmo salar "fellowship" is pretty small. We all know the Guides from other rivers and they know who we are too.

Friends fro our home waters will travel around and visit other rivers. What goes around DOES come around.

We are ALL embassadors for our river, city, region, sport when we travel.

What would you rather have your region known as:

• A bunch of drunk, garbage spillin', foul mouthed poachers or, ...[/*:m:d8802]
• a kindly group of respectful and helpful fellow anglers who went out of their way to meet 'n greet strangers.[/*:m:d8802]

Easy choice eh !

Tight Lines ...


p.s. ... Somewhere, there's a group getting together funds to send a couple thousands litres of Maple Sirop the Norway

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Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/Forum1/HTML/015738.html:d8802]2006 FishIn Ste-Marguerite River[/url:d8802]

[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:d8802]Fishing the Ste-Marguerite[/url:d8802]

[mtb4jc]

Love your neighbor as yourself. We are all neighbors, even the ones we don't like.

[Jeremy]

Yup...what Tyflier said! That's the only way to be.

Andrew, thanks for bringing this to the forefront again. That's real sportsmanship! They should be proud of their coach.

Jeremy.

Andrew;
Well done!!

[gqualls]

Andrew,

Great thread!! What you are advocating is such a simple act of kindness and generosity. It get to the essence of living right side up in an upside down world. I'll never forget the first time I went trout fishing and I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing. A man well into his 60's motioned for me to join him. He explained the "runs", deep holes, and holding areas. He suggested a certain fly and when I told him I didn't have any (I had maybe 8 flies in my box) he gave me a couple. He left me there to work things out. I didn't catch a fish, but I'll never forget that random act of kindness on his part. I've been fortunate to repeat that same act of kindness to several others through the years, and I know many on this board have done the same. As Wilford Brimley used to say "It's the right thing to do". Thanks for the post.

[ohiotuber]

Yep! That's the way things should always be. I never fish without an extra rod (or more) in the Jeep. As much for the use of others as for me.
Mike

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This site's about sharing!

[RG/AR]

Andrew, the only way a person can't get assistance from me is if they're rude or discourteous (are these the same thing?). I give away many flies streamside, probably even more than I lose, and I almost never fail to give advice or assistance if it seems welcome.

[BSwan]

The Golden Rule works.