It baffles me how proper river etiquette seems to be a thing of the past...

Take for example this evening. I decided to run up to the river for a couple hours after work...

There were two trailers at Sultan so the river was more or less desserted compared to what it has been.

I was swinging my fly through the begining of the prime spot of a great little slot when 1 of the 2 sleds on the river runs up just downstream of me (just outside of casting distance...if I would of taken a quick 10 steps or so downstream, I would of been able to dump a fly right on his bow) and starts freedrifting through the slot.

It is pr*cks like these that give sleds a bad rap...it is people like these that will also create a large enough uproar one of these days that sleds could eventually get limited or banned on the river.

On the other hand though, you have guys like ReiterRat who are about as courteous and polite as they come...

Back before the large influx of sleds onto the Skykomish, there was your typical number of driftboats and bankies...among those at the sticks and those on the bank, there were a certain number of rude fishermen BUT because they were in a driftboat or were on the bank, they could only get in your way once a day.

But now, a number of those morons have purchased sleds...so now they can run up to a hole, be a d*ck, run back up and be a d*ck again etc. etc. etc.

So it really is not as much the sleds' fault as it as the faults of those who run them and just the fact, that the river seems to be much more crowded then ever.

It seems that if those who are creating the problems on the river can not slow down and be courteous to their fellow fishermen, certain actions might have to be taken.

One such idea would be a system that is in the place on the Deschutes. On the Deschutes there are "No Powerboat" days...they are a block of days where powerboats are not allowed on the river. This has reduced the fighting, complaining and brought civility back to the river.

Just a thought, as it would be sad to see such a stoired and treasured river such as the Skykomish, turn into a river full of pissed off, rude etc. etc. fishermen.