# River Etiquette



## buckhunter14 (Oct 10, 2007)

Help me out guys, writing an article for a paper on river etiquette and I have my pet peeves, but just wondering what your guys' are?

Not here to start an arguement or anything, just state the facts.

Thank-you!


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

#1. People who crowd around you, because you hooked or caught a fish. Sometimes I land a fish, and turn around to find that someone is standing right in my bootprints from when I hooked that fish. I love moving to the spot that person left, and hooking another fish in short order; but it still bugs me that they just HAD to stand right where I had been fishing. You asked.


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## buckhunter14 (Oct 10, 2007)

Isn't it hilarious during good times of fishing, when fish are EVERYWHERE in the river, and you hoo into one and people are surronding you all of a sudden.


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## nmufish (Sep 11, 2007)

Fishing with people that continue to make casts close to you when you have a fish on and they know it. When someone has a fish on and they warn you about you should lift your line out of the water. no reason that you cant wait a couple minutes to continue fishing.


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## fishonjr (Feb 16, 2006)

#1. Exactly what Fishindude said. People that crowd you right after you hook into a fish or two. That's just plain rude, and laziness on their part. I've gone as far as asking people if they want to borrow some flies, or weight....they usually don't know what to say after being confronted about it. Now, some people are new to the sport and I try to take that into consideration, but when it's the same guy, day after day, that you see do this, it's time to speak up and say something to them.
#2. When a boat sets up right where your targeting fish and you were there first. Now I know it's public water, but dangit, you have x amount of miles of river to fish with that boat and you have to fish right in front of me? 
#3. People deliberatly lining/snagging fish
#4. People that walk out onto the beds and push fish off of them. I don't know how many times I've seen people not pay attention to where everyone else was standing and just waddle right into the middle of the river, pushing the fish off the gravel and in turn making everyone else adjust their drifts.


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## Vicious Fishous (Sep 12, 2006)

What about when you go walking up to a spot and someone who had just moved down stream sees you coming and comes booking back up to keep said spot for themself. Or watching someone (usually the same spot runners)stand on a gravel run and not fish unless they see the fish, even if it means not casting for a while, even though the fish are in the dark water behind the stone. I know that sight fishing can have it's "perks", and I'm not above or below doing it on occasion, but it seems like if they only fish to fish they can see, then aren't the chances of them being a confident/skilled fisherman, able to get a fish to bite while NOT fornicating a bit slim. 
Leaving Litter on the banks is evil in itself, but all of us walking by it without picking it up is just as bad, and landowners are happy to see a person picking up after the others who give us a "bad name".
Not taking care of the resource that they enjoy, either from lack of rerspect or unwillingness to learn the proper way to do such things as handle fish gently, or not climb erroding banks, etc. 
Wishin' I was Fishin'
Pete


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## steelheader3 (May 31, 2007)

#1.One of the things i can't stand is when people snag or keep fish in a no kill zone.
#2 when people snag fish any where.


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## skipper34 (Oct 13, 2005)

My biggest peeve is the attitude of fishermen in general. And that is the competition among the ranks. Hey guys, they are only fish! There are enough to go around. I think in this day and age, the competition in life in general is sickening. People are always trying to outdo you in every walk of life. Same thing applies in hunting. This is why I fish and hunt alone, or with my son or best friend. If there are any people around the places that I fish or hunt, I move on to the next spot until I am alone. By doing this, I don't have to put up with the idiots.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Streamer fisherman that row right over your water and cast the whole time. Especially when you have 40' of good water in front of you and 80' behind you of bad water. Heaven forbid they go behind you and stop casting for 2 minutes.


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## FISH (Jul 14, 2002)

Obnoxious drunks.....i think we all have experienced encountering these kinds of people on the rivers at one time. learn your limits! no one wants to fish by you.... except they are a good laugh at times..


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## thousandcasts (Jan 22, 2002)

TSS Caddis said:


> Streamer fisherman that row right over your water and cast the whole time. Especially when you have 40' of good water in front of you and 80' behind you of bad water. Heaven forbid they go behind you and stop casting for 2 minutes.


Otherwise known as the Muskegon River standard Fly Fishing technique. :rant:


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## SpawnSac27 (Mar 3, 2008)

Here's your perfect answer...I just LOVE the guys that gets their panties in a bunch because I bring my buddy's little brother, who's like my own brother, fishing. I bring a 12 year old boy with minor autism fishing on the river banks, deliberately taking him on a weekday to avoid the big rush of folks, and I have 3 guys get all up in my face because "He's just in the way". Well, my theory is this...He is no different than me or you. I am trying to get him involved and in the past year, I have to a great extent, and he loves steelheading more than anyone I know! This was before he knew anything, and I was trying to show him the ropes. granted, it took a while for him to get the hang of things as he was 12 years old and his social skills were a bit behind(autism). But come on people, is putting fish on your stringer really more important than me getting this little man involved and showing him a good time? Some people are just a** holes i guess. Feel free to give your opinions on this, good or bad


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## Steelhead Addict (Dec 16, 2004)

SpawnSac27 said:


> Here's your perfect answer...I just LOVE the guys that gets their panties in a bunch because I bring my buddy's little brother, who's like my own brother, fishing. I bring a 12 year old boy with minor autism fishing on the river banks, deliberately taking him on a weekday to avoid the big rush of folks, and I have 3 guys get all up in my face because "He's just in the way".


your doing the right thing by bringing your buddy out fishing. not many guys have that kind of patience. sounds like you've seen that first hand. You might want to consider what kind of situation you put him in...you might not want to put him around crowds were there always seems to be an raging a-hole or 3.


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## Steelhead Addict (Dec 16, 2004)

my favorite is when people only fish the 2 or 3 most crowded weekends of the steelhead or salmon run. then go on the Internet and complain about the following:

- too crowded
- too much water
- too not enough water
- not enough fish
- jet boats
- pike boats
- dift boats
- waders
- fly fishers 
- snaggers
- spin fisherman
- litterers
- foul language
- loud music
- people who keep fish
- people who let fish go
- people at the launch
- people who use too heavy line
- people who use too light line
- people who cast out of turn
- people who stand too close
- locals
- out of staters
- down staters
- red necks
- snooty people
- yoopers
- Canadians
- guides
- first timers
- hole campers
- people who move too much
- people who drive boats/walk too slow, fast, close, far

I probably missed a few but you get the idea.


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## scotchass (Jul 10, 2004)

how about the guy that is casting spinners with one pole and then has another pole rigged with a slip sinker that he has shotputted 50 - 75 yards down stream. Of course he is casting the spinner upstearm. So thats basically 100 yards of river to himself. And he never catches a fish ( well maybe a sucker).


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

I agree with Steelhead Addict for a lot of those. I also hate it when people fish steelhead during those couple super-packed weekends during the year with the totally wrong set-up all together and then complain about terrible fishing and not ever catching anything. If you want to get good at it and catch fish, then you have to put in the time to learn the ropes. JMO


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

skipper34 said:


> My biggest peeve is the attitude of fishermen in general. And that is the competition among the ranks. Hey guys, they are only fish! There are enough to go around. I think in this day and age, the competition in life in general is sickening. People are always trying to outdo you in every walk of life. Same thing applies in hunting. This is why I fish and hunt alone, or with my son or best friend. If there are any people around the places that I fish or hunt, I move on to the next spot until I am alone. By doing this, I don't have to put up with the idiots.


*That could not have been stated any better*. There really is enough to go around and people always have to be jerks and act like they own a river. Just look in the NW forums on any post about the Boardman River. It's my hometown stream and I am totally open to giving out *honest* reports on the river. There is enough fish to go around because new fish enter the river pretty much every day. Everytime I see a report there, it gets bashed around like crazy. I don't even dare start a post on there anymore but I do finish them.


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## Ultra-Light (Oct 4, 2007)

Steelhead Addict said:


> *then people go on the Internet and complain about the following:*
> 
> People who drive boats way to fast, close, to people wading


I have seen many complaints about this issue on other websites. There is a no wake zone law within a 100 ft of other boats or anglers for that matter. The only thing I can say is, there are some all mighty boat gods that are pretty damn ignorant of this law. Regardless of the size of boat & motor, idling the boat is the only respectful way of *passing a wading angler in the water*, regardless of which way your driving the boat on the water. No matter where I fish, I practice this method every time I am out in the boat. 

The argument of my 4-stroke at full throttle leaves less wake & noise than a drift boat with a 3 horse is not the point here. It's *the speed* at which these boats ascend upstream & how close they come to wading anglers in the process. If it is a must to plane the boat out at full speeds in sections of the river because it is too low, then you should not have that kind of boat in the river where well know wading area's are present. Years ago, when I used to wade the Muskegon on a regular basis, I had several boats a day come within 15-20 feet of me screaming upstream full throttle with a 16+ foot boat. I would say that is well within the 100ft rule limit.

This obviously is a huge problem from Croton Dam down to Thornapple on the lower Muskegon during the fall runs. When the river is at a all time low, I don't see the need for a 20ft jet boat blasting upstream at full throttle, when most anglers either drift or wade this section of river at this given time of year. Seriously, there should be some boat restrictions put in place, particularly on this section of river.

Some can look at this as a complaint, but I look at it more as a *safety factor*. As a boat angler myself, I still have respect for others around me, & I encourage some of you to do the same. Slow down when passing wading anglers in the water.


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## sea nympho (Aug 7, 2006)

thousandcasts said:


> Otherwise known as the Muskegon River standard Fly Fishing technique. :rant:


:lol:

*ONE* time I put the _Sea Nymph_ in @ "censored", to try the famous Mo!

WOW, it sucked! Fish everywhere, but even more jet sleds.

Jet boats are VERY loud when they're 10 FEET from you! I swear, full speed, 90hp jet sleds not so much as slowing down 1mph as they went by me when I was anchored on the shallow side of the river fising a run. And the guides' displayed the worst ettiquitte of all, IMO. 

Couldn't stand it, ain't been back since. If that's "you're bag", you can have it. If I'm fishing that area, I'll be ABOVE croton dam!:coolgleam


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## zfishin (Dec 19, 2003)

piss me off BIG TIME!!!! :rant:
why would they trash such beautiful places????


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