Washington Fly Fishing Forum banner

Corked again!

1K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  Bob Triggs 
#1 ·
Whatever happened to River etiquette? I have been corked by anglers(gear heads)the last few outings! They have fished below, on top of, and across from me. So far I have remained civil, what are some other alternatives?

Mcronariver :dunno x(
 
#2 ·
Fish someplace where the gear boys aren't. I have fished the Sky for the last 2 days, and was basically alone for both of them.

I spent last year working out places where the rest of the gang doesn't go, mostly because they may have to walk for 10 or 15 minutes. So now, I go there, cause they ain't there.

Rob
 
#3 ·
The runs where I have hooked steelhead this year are places that do get some pressure(moderate)from other anglers. I respect the water they are fishing but I guess it is a one way street. Considering I hiked three miles of river today and got corked twice I guess thats not bad, maybe I should quit complaining.

Mcronariver
 
#4 ·
Hey MCR,
Sorry to hear your day was ruined. Maybe our earlier comments about banjos and Deliverance weren't so far off. base. I hope the river stays in shape and you get another shot at the Steelies. We stopped by today around 2:15 pm, but no one was there. I drove over the Skagit and Stilly today and they both looked like they were in ok shape, though sort of brownish. I will give you a call later this week to see how your doing.
 
#6 ·
Commercial fishing it means that some SOB just ran his or her boat over your cork line and laid their web(cork and lead line) over yours..hence corked
I'd say in the description that was given by the first fella says: fishing line thrown over his line,he was encroached upon, and basically pushed out of the hole he was fishing. Those reasons are why I either like floating or hiking; either way you can remove yourself from crowds.
QUESTIONS: 1. Is it true that "fishermen" have pulled weapons on each other at the ponds on the Sky (don't know the names of the ponds)? 2. Does this happen in other areas in Washington?
I would just like to know as I love to fish but will avoid confontation of that sort at all costs. I've been down barrel of people before and its rather tense.:hmmm
 
#7 ·
Or laid their cork line directly infront of yours - basically ruining your drift.

I've recently had some experiences on some chum estuaries that taught me that if everyone has a good level of skill and knowledge of how to fish a drift and respected others fishing zones, all of us (gear and fly) had a good time and rarely had tangles - even playing fish in very tight quarters worked well.

I was corked from behind and the side by a few fellow flyfisherman at an estuary - so laying it on the gear guys is not completely fair. They were simply not paying attention to how everyone else was fishing and stood right in my backcast zone, or would drift their fly in such a manner that caused everyone else to get out of synch.

Jim W
 
G
#8 ·
Elbow room.

The best approach I know of is the angled back cast. I pivot myself while false casting so as to "accidently" almost hook anyone who gets closer than forty feet to me. This works especially well on little lakes where my float tube allows 360 degrees of range. As for rivers, I don't think you can really stop someone from fishing across or below you. It is getting bad out there. Last year on the Lewis my wife was playing a Salmon and some guy on our bank threw over her line and tried to snag it. I cut his line with a big fillet knife and was glad he didn't up the ante. He yelled a little in Russian but seemed to realize he was wrong. It wasn't worth it and I don't reccomend it at all. Haven't been back since. Give me my pack and a 5wt travel rod. :dunno
 
#9 ·
to answer your question, yes. It's happened at reiter, the combat capital of the sky. But nothing compares to blue creek on the cowlitz. A guy got shot a few years back. Some scary stuff. I've seen sidearms on the sky a few times, but no puliing of gats in anger. Hell, I've seen gats at Chopaka.:dunno anyway, maybe a post about river eddiquite(?sp) is in order. Calling it "corked" is new to me, I've always said "low-holing", a big no-no. If anyone low holes me, I'll find a few choice words out of my bag of tricks. But I think a lot of guys just don't know. If I'm fishing a hole and some guy comes around me and asks me, "hows the fishing" or "can I fish here" I ussually say sure and be friendly, start at the top and work your way down. Keep'n it civil works best.:beer2 YT
 
#10 ·
Here is my dollars worth. I am out on the river almost every day and it happens to me a lot. It does not do any good to talk about it with each other here, in fact that behavior borders on passive-agressive. If we want to cause any change we have to be willing to talk to the offending party. This is a big risk as far as most anglers are concerned. I find that lots of Bubbas just don't know that folks fish differently than they do and if they understand what we are looking for many seem to try to work things out. I make sure and talk to Bubba when he comes into my hole and if they stop then I engage them in conversation and explain that I am fishing the pool and how I plan on fishing it. This gives Bubba lots of options to fish without leaving the pool. Especially on small rivers like the Snoqualmie we cannot just tell Bubba to get lost, there is not enough water. We have to find ways to fish together on a river, then we can find ways to become advocates for fish together and we will have huge numbers and much power.

Surely some corkers could care less what they are doing to you and your day and that is another issue. AT least you have made the effort. Also, when the corker is a guide his clients will hear what you have to say and will become more enlightened in spite of him. I even had one the other day where the clients insisted the jerk move off after they heard what I had to say.



Speyman
 
#11 ·
Well, you could always just lose your temper and act like a jerk too... Or maybe you had it right to begin with: set the example. Sometimes a little polite communication goes a long way toward better on the water relations. Once, back east, I was fishing in the dark for striped bass. A guy shows up at about two in the morning and stands beneath a light and casts directly toward me. I was pissed. I moved thirty feet to the right, he casted right at me, within inches, with a big treble rigged plug. I moved a few yards to the left, he casted right on me again, almost hooking me. I was going to kill him I was so mad. When I finally made my way across the creek and up the bank he was astonished to see that I was not a piling or a tree, but a human. He was very apologetic. I still wanted to kill him. Well we talked allot over the next few months of fishing in the dark together and he has become a close friend.All it took was a little willingness.
 
#12 ·
I think this subject does need to be talked about, especially since people from all over the states log on to this web site. I thought the "fly fishing forum" was to discuss issues related to fly-fishing?

Maybe fisherman/women will read these comments and think twice before disturbing another anglers water(gear or fly). I do not buy the passive aggressive comment, I think this topic can be very informative. There are many people who are new to fishing and do not have a clue what respecting another angler's water means.

I am going to try to make this topic a little more clear:

1) When you aproach a run and find someone is already fishing it you wait for them to leave, or--

A. Ask them politely if you can start fishing at the head of the run(do not fish below them).

B. If there are more than two people fishing the run--move on, do not try to squeeze in!

c. Have respect for a persons fishing space, get off your lazy ass and hike to the next run.

d. Just because you are on the opposite side of the river does not give you the right to fish that person's water.

e. If you are fishing above an angler do not try to long line them--keep your distance until they have covered the water and stepped down river.

These are just a few that come to mind here, if anyone has any others to add to the list feel free! You will be helping the fishing community understand River etiquette! It is important!

Why would so many authors take the time to address this issue? Steve Raymond, Enos Bradner, Ralph Wahl--the list goes on.

Mcronariver
 
#13 ·
Interesting story...When I come around a bend and see someone in the hole, I simply go out and as far around as possible so that I do not spook the hole at all..

Good topic as I have seen many occurences of "unproper" etiquette on the water. I guess I have never really thought about it cause its just seems like the common sense thing to do???? But then again my common sense is not the same as the next guys and who is to say my commonn sense is the correct common sense :dunno ....bla bla bla...im tired and rambling..good night all

~Patrick

><> Matthew 4:19
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top