Kinda funning thinking back. Fished the Barrier Dam in the late 70s with no success but no real problems. It certainly was easier to boat across the river but even with the crowds it seemed calm and orderly.

Fished the Kenai a few years ago for sockeye and that was a very "crowded" fishery. But, the understanding was that everybody fished essentially the same way. Don't thing I saw but a couple tangles and these were almost always caused by an overly exuberant sockeye.

On that same AK trip, though, I went off and fished grayling by myself and that was perfect. The crowds were for collecting food to feed my body, the grayling fed my soul.