Lunch time,

I typically fish more populated areas...but then cougars can hang out there too, BUT, were I in your shoes I might do much the same and go armed.

I do all my hunting with longbow and cedar shafted arrows. Haven't had a handgun since I quit trapping a few years ago, and it was a cheap .22 that couldn't hit the same spot twice in a row if it was more than 15'.

As for the bear; fishing in fear does not sound like much fun. I think I would have given him his chunk of the river and moved on. If he didn't agree......you might have to poke a hole in his keester to get the point across, and if such was the case I would be sure to kill him and not leave him wounded in the woods.

Mike