I just wanted to start a message board to see what everyone thinks of this issue, Does it lead to trouble? or is it Honest fun? A lot of people have seen the results of this problem, litter along our streams, and rivers. I always try to pack out garbage I see, that someone carelesly dropped. Have you ever had an experience with a drunken fisherman, tell us your story

[This message has been edited by Gutt'n Fish (edited 03-08-2000).]

Try it on the Duc in a drifter, hopefully your tackle box and rods float, so I can grab them!

Its like anything else, some people can't handle having a beer no matter where they are, and they are usually the last ones to realize that. If your not one of those people, and you can be responsable and not get drunk and drive or throw cans all over the place it should be no problem. In many years of fishing I have pretty much figured out who I can take out in my boat and who to leave home. Some guys use fishing as an excuse to drink.. same guys get drunk when they golf or watch T.V.. or anything they do. It has been an observation that drunk people do and say things that they normaly would not. Like step on one of your poles. Bottom line, its up to you.

I would say that depends on if you're pack'n, what your definition of a "few" is, what happens to your personality after a "few", what you do with the empties, If you have to drive after a "few", and if you are legal. You get the idea, consummed responsibly I have no issues with having a couple.

thick

I agree wholeheartedly with the responsive posts, above. The only problem I've actually encountered with folks "having a few" are the damned bottles and cans that are littered all over the riverbanks. I wonder if the sample people who favor us with the leftovers from their drinking are the ones who leave those damned Styrofoam bait boxes all over the place. And big wads of line.

I have been trying to bring some trash out on each trip I make these days. I fish mostly on the Kalama, up in the canyon, and in picking this stuff up I've met several others who do the same. I actually think its made a difference, as the stretch where I fish now seems a little more clean that it used to be.

A little more on this. Do any of you have a particular incident that sticks out in your mind when you took some one out and they turned into a giant pile of [Bleeeeep!] right before your eyes. Lets call him "cousin fred" He shows up at the launch at 06:30 a.m with one of your other buddys. He has no gear but is hauling a 28 pack "extra value" case of Schmidt in one hand and an open can in the other.. Having never meet you in his life, he greets you with "hey you old asshole" hows it hanging. When you suggest that if we put all your beer in the cooler, we won't have room for your fish, he says "well, you know what they say, you can't drink all day if you don't start early in the morning !!!" You ask your buddy what the hell this guy is while he is down there rooting around in the boat and making a mess of things and he explains that it was the only way he could come is if he brought this guy with him. The day starts off well when the dork steps on a loomis GL3 and snaps it.. Thats O.K he says, I'll buy you another one. Looking at his taste in beer you know that if you told him how much it cost he would have a heart attack right there on the spot (you concider it) So during the day, you get to know the guy. Beer after beer..smokes about three packs. And talk about knowledge !!! this guy knows everything about steelhead fishing.. and boating and hunting and building space shuttles etc.. And handy with the ladys !!! wow.. how the entire north west is not pregnant with his children is a mystery. The it happens, you hoped it would'nt but it does. His pole gets slammed hard, Fish on. No matter how hard he trys to screw it up this fish is on for good and it makes it into the boat. 34 inch hatchery and of course he wants to keep it because he is also a "Damn good cook" So you listen to the story about that fish over and over the rest of the way to the take out. Its growing by the second and your pretty sure that by the time he gets to work on monday it will have came into the boat with a 4 point buck in its mouth "non-typical" 35 inch spread. You get to the take out and he falls out on his head and puts a nasty gash on his chin. He don't even feel it. Sticks out his hand and says that was great, we gotta do that again next week, and what did you say your name was.. You just shake his hand and say "you can just call me asshole" and I'm moving to wyoming tommorrow so I won't be fishing any more. He stumbles into your buddys truck and I am told burnt 3 holes in the seat with his smokes on the trip home.

You know, maybe, just maybe they could sell beer in those styrofoam bait containers and there would only be half as much trash..

Alcohol has its place. And it is not in a boat or on the beach while engaged in anykind of water sport. And the trash it leaves behind gets me stirred up too. Not on my boat anyway.

Fishing and drinking are two great sports best enjoyed one after the other (fish by day, drink by night). I've fished a lot of different places -- mostly the tropics -- and have yet to pop a cold one in the boat simply because I'd never forgive myself if I missed a strike or dropped a fish because of some avoidable mistake I'd made after having a couple of beers. Maybe that's paranoid but I don't have fighter pilot reflexes to begin with so why give the fish an even bigger edge?

My favorite fishing and drinking story was told to me by legendary guide Warren 'Wazza' Smith who fishes Crocodile Dundee territory in Australia's Deep North. Seems he had two clients for a week who started drinking at breakfast and usually were back at the camp by 2 p.m. as they were too drunk to fish any more (or had already gone through a case, and wanted some more 'foaming neck oil', at which point Warren stayed ashore). Over four days these characters lost 7 rods and reels over the side. Some times there was a fish on, or a fish striking. Sometimes the sweat/ sunscreen/ bug repellant made their hands so slick that ended up throwing the rod over the side when they cast. Dragging the bottom with a snag rig retrieved 4, leaving these bozos with three US$400 combos to pay for when they left (which they did).

Wazza said the most frustrating thing was having torn down the same Calcutta 250 two nights running only to lose it for good on the third day. He didn't charge for rebuilding the reels, and true to Australia custom these clowns didn't tip him either.

Other Aussie guides have had similar experiences. A couple of them have gotten wised up. If you fish with Russell Kenny (another top gun guide) every barramundi (musky) rod has a Bass Pro foam sleeve Velcro'ed around the rod right above the grip. Doesn't impede the casting any (adds a couple of ounces weight to the rod though), but the rig retrieval rate is 100% as it floats. If I had a drinker in my boat, if he borrowed any of my gear it would have one of those floats on it. Somebody telling you they'll replace a lost rig doesn't help much when you're in the bush.

Last I heard it was illegal to drink in public. I think that means beer and fishing. I don't care one way or another, as long as no one gets smashed or leaves trash every where.

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Just because I look big, dumb, and ugly, doesn't mean I am. It means I can stomp you for calling me it!

did anyone see the two guys in the red drift boat (Bogachiel River) last Sunday make complete asses out of themselves as they spun in circles down the river? I saw them run right over the water of some guys plunking, thought they were done for.

These are Great Stories, keep'm coming

[This message has been edited by Gutt'n Fish (edited 03-09-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Gutt'n Fish (edited 03-09-2000).]

I say this is a free country if they are not bothering anyone let them get DRUNK!!!!!!!

If the beer is left at home in the fridge the cans won't end up on the banks and at the boat-launches. But then again, the same can be said for the pop cans, wrappers,styrofoam bait tins, etc. I say let's just be responsible. I don't drink and I don't have a problem with those that do. The empties don't belong on the riverbank. Keep your tip up!

I believe that a cold beer on the river is a great treat. But if you are drinking so much that you are being a pain to others and they have to clean up your mess ( pick up your trash, drive you home, help you get off the river) then you are drinking to much. T Dodge I fish the Kalama alot also. I spend alot of time cleaning the river up also. One thing I allways bring is a garbage sack. My son and I almost allways are able to fill it up on the way out. I will keep picking it up and will ask others to do the same. LETS KEEP OUR RIVERS CLEAN. PACK IT IN PACK IT OUT.

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dank

After reading these posts I feel that I have it figured out. I'm willing to bet that the majority of you that think it is acceptable to get wasted on the river are the same guys that head to the woods every fall to blast deer with high powered rifles. The same guys that leave everything from beer cans to your stained underwear scattered everywhere. I suppose that it also acceptable to have "a few brews" and walk through the woods with a rifle. Personally, I don't want to be either in the same woods with you or on the same river!
All of you that this pertains to (you know who you are).....I have only one thing to say to you.......BITE ME!

[This message has been edited by Paranoid1 (edited 03-09-2000).]

What does deer hunting have to do with drinking beer? You really are paranoid.

Geez, Paranoid. Where the hell do you do your hiking at, UW frat houses? Stained underwear everywhere? Probably do to the skyrocketing cougar and bear populations. They're scaring the [Bleeeeep!] out of everyone these days, but I didn't know people were leavin' their britches in the woods. Have you ever had a psych eval??? You probably outta just give up on fishing and stay locked in your house with a loaded gun, on account of all the fish screaming when guys set the hook.

I want a six pack, my .300 mag, and Paranoid in the same patch of woods on the same day. By the way Paraniod I will be in the Forks area on the 10 and 11 and then in Southwest Washington possibly the Kalama the next weekend.

Paranoid- where did you get the idea from reading these posts that anybody on this board wanders around in the woods drunk on their ass with a gun??? Thats pretty insulting dude. As for my posts, I myself do not drink at all. Just relating what its like to be around someone who does when they take it to the excess. I also stated that it will only happen once as far as I am concerned with anybody I fish with. Still at the same time, some guys want to have a beer so what. I don't assume that they will be wandering around in the woods with guns in their hands throwing dirty britches around.

Funny stuff