You are fishing a medium to large western river populated with so many bank anglers seemingly every strech of holding water is being fished. You float past one ggod run after another leaving your fellow anglers alone to fish the water they were in first, but the river miles are dwindling fast. Do you blow your day of fishing off, or, do you go to the opposite side of the river and fish the same holding water someone else is fishing, and to the maximum extent possible, fish downstream behind them after they have fished it?

I'm currious to know what the consensus of opinion on this subject is because I've been verbally asaulted more than once for doing the latter on a couple of BC's large and ever more popular rivers.

Sol_on_the_Duc:

No easy answer.........Guess if I knew that the river had that many bank anglers.....boat would stay home and I'd join the rest of the crowd.

Same thing happens in a local river that has summer run steelhead. Boaters get there early but every hole that holds fish has at least 1 bank person that has probably gone in with a flashlite to "get his rock to stand on".

The problem you decribe is only going to get worse......more people retiring, more people that have $$$$$$ to spend, and more that want to "take up" fishing and being in the wild.

Ohhhhhhhhhh for the "good old days"!!!! When I could winter run fish and see maybe 10 people all day or my summer run fishing and some days not see another fisherperson.


"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

you learn to fish the water inbetween holes.. i know its not the best water to fish but it beats hassling with everybody and their dog.

I should have been more specific: The rivers I speak of are open to bank angling ONLY. Most folks use boats of one kind or another to access holding water, however, angling from them is illegal. The primary problem in recent years is, due to the prolifereation of low cost mini pontoon boats, six to a dozen guys each with their own, hop scotch each other down the river occupying the prime bank for holding water in a mile or two of river.

My question is, would most consider it to be unethical or rude to fish these runs from the opposite side of the river when the river is so wide you can barely cast across it? I do not believe it is and in the past have passed offended individuals comments off as, shall we say, less than credible. But I would like to know what others think.

Anchor up behind the boat that is in your favorite hole. Let your plugs run while you wait for them to move. They will, and you'll probably catch fish while you wait. This is one reason I try to stick to upper stretches of local rivers to stay away from sleds that will work a hole relentlessly.

There is no right answer. In the last few years the river traffic has grown exponentially. You can't stop it. Part of the problem is the NET, the other population growth.

A few years ago, on the Sauk/Skag, river etiquette was top notch. Now it has gone to shi@t. This year I was corked by guides three times, and private parties numerous times. I have just learned to grit and grin.

If you feel comfortable pulling over and fishing the opposite bank then do so, just as long as you don't mind if it happens to you.

Good luck,
LT

When fishing crowded areas I treat people how I am treated.

Chromeo

Don't know. That is a question you must answer irregardless of the replies here. In my younger more aggressive days, being a despised "bankie", I would fish with the boat guys, fishing the same holding water without crossing their lines. Had a few incidents that only resulted in an exchange of foul language and a testoterone rush. Looking back on it; I'll admit, I was guilty of invading the other guys space. Naturally, when I was the first to claim my prime "rock", I would be outraged when a boat would invade my supposed space. It goes both ways.

Personally for me, I will avoid such a situation; its just not worth the aggravation.

When fishing a hot hole and everyone is fishing from the same side I've been known to slide to the other to get a different angle with great results.It's there fault if they didn't think of it first.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I'm for if you are there first then it's your hole. Especially if you are on the bank, you are limited to travel. If it bunches up and people start being a-holes I will got to a heavier line and start cutting until they quit throwing over me. Either that, or just fish an area where they ain't. I'd rather have solitude with a fish here and there, than catching alot but fighting like a dog just for the right to fish.

I'd say F-it...Grab the hiken boots and start rock crawling...Fishing in W. Washington is getting pretty lame as far as crowds go...Wish i could have been around in the "good ol' days". No maggots, no traffic, ample room and fish

SOTD,

You mention that these large rivers are in B.C. I haven't fished there in a while, but when I did, the fishing etiquette was completely different from here.

The pool belongs to the first angler to arrive, whether by foot or by boat. You didn't fish a pool being angled by another. I had the problem you mention, floating mile after mile of occupied pools and passing them by, out of respect for the local etiquette. In such a case, the rule was that you could stop at a pool being fished by another and wait until they finished, and then it becomes your pool. This was not the Thompson, but further north. I stopped going up there, partly because it was too long a drive to only fish a half day, spending the other half waiting for other anglers to finish.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Your input is apreciated, Salmo.

I typically excercise the ethic you descibe. In the past when pressure has gotten really high I have pulled up short on the oppisote bank and fished down behind an angler/anglers in the same run or hole. I may rethink that philosophy. I will add, on occation I have had others do the same to me and even go so far as to fish through the holding water below me before I could get there.