I'm a farly new boater but think of myself as farly coutious on the river. Was floating the Green on sunday with the wife when we came in to a hole saw two bank fishermen waded in about 5ft off shore. We pulled out and just drifted though. When I was drifting through ask him how it was going and he proceeded to chew me a new one for oaring in the hole. Said I ruined his whole day and had some other remarks. It kind of erritated my question is should I tuck tight against him or should I give them some room I was about 10ft away from them the green is a small river but I wasn't in the main slot any info would be appreciated
thanx Kevin

Kevin, When your in a boat, try and give the bankie the right of way, If you can't pass behind bankie tell or ask the bankie to step out for a minute so you can pass through without "fuzzing up" the water they're trying to fish, especially in low clear conditions. Whatever you do, don't cast your line in as you pass and start boondoggin' trough the slot they're tring to fish.

I agree that it’s appropriate to accommodate bank anglers by not floating over the area they are fishing as best you - especially in small streams and in low clear water. In some situations you might ask them if they prefer whether you go in front of them or behind them. After all you have the whole river to fish, and they’re usually very limited to the water they can access. I don’t think this is as much of an issue when the flow is up and the water has some color to it, or if the hole is deep. Under these conditions the fish will not spook easily. I also think some bank anglers tend to be overly concerned about the effects of boat traffic on their fishing success. I can recall a time a jet sled ripped over the hole I was fishing from the bank at full throttle in a relatively small clear stream. I caught a fish my very next cast. Its funny that you mention your incident on the Green. A few summers back I floated through a hole that two bank anglers were fishing. The river entered the hole through a fast narrow shoot and I took my boat through the only path available. One of the bank anglers threw himself on the his back with his arms up in the air kicking and screaming (literally) and shouting obscenities and something about that their was no reason to fish from a boat in a river this size. According to him drift boat fisherman had no right to fish this stream. We assumed he had a few screws loose. If you spend a lot of time drifting rivers, you’re eventually going to run into one of these tomato faced bank anglers, regardless of whether or not you practice proper boating etiquette.

As a flyfisherman I would like to get in on this. I believe that as long as you are courteous it makes no difference how you get through. I often have boats going both in front and to the rear of me while fishing and as long as they make some sort of attempt to not get caught in my cast I have no problems. I don't expect that my limit will be affected by the 30 or 40 seconds it takes for them to pass. I was, however, involved with a driftboat beaching with 3 lines dragging right over the top of three of us doing the bankie thing. The occupants of the driftboat were priveleged to hear my thoughts on their IQ and other matters. (the KALAMA Sept. 98) That was downright irresponsible. All in all, if you can't handle a few other fishermen on the river with you, buy a river in Russia and move, there is no room for whiners here in America.

I bank fish more than boat these days as the boat is a hassle. I too have caught many steelies right after a sled has stirred them up. But also have had drift boats anchor right in my tail out, float by casting away and have the nerve to say "how's the fishing?", had them oar up the entire drift just to look at the fish I just landed not realizing that maybe there was another one in there, on and on. In my opinion if you make an effort to be courteous and try to stay on the far bank as much as possible then you are a friend of mine. Besides, there are alot more bankies that are inconsiderate numb skulls than there are boaters.

There isn't a concrete answer to this one ... but the rule of thumb is to avoid the water that the wading angler is fishing ... for a gear angler, that may mean a slot in the middle, or on the far side, for a fly angler, it may mean the water just out and below that he / she is swinging through. Try to observe where the angler is working the water and pass accordingly. If in doubt, ASK!!!! I've heard lots of guys think that I'm mean because I have given offending boats more than gentle reminder that they've run over the water that my clients are trying to fish ... personally, I do think it makes a difference, especially in clear water ... besides that it is just plain rude whether it bothers the fish or not! And a hint for those I (as well as many other guides) pass on the Peninsula rivers, figure that we just ran over the spot where the fish are LEAST likely to be ...

Thanx for the advice hopfully it'll keep me from getting yelled at again. tight lines
Kevin