O.K.,
We have had so much fun discussing the pros and cons of small river co habitation between sleds, drift boats and the not to be forgotten bankers. What I would like is the boards input on what you feel is proper etiquette while we are all enjoying life on the rivers together. I have been river fishing and sledding for 4 years (2 years with friends and 2 years as a sled owner) have learned alot by trial, error and observation (and the occasional irate person who I really didn't mean to p*** off ) and have tried to be courteous to all. I am just trying to learn more and to stimulate some good debate.
Tight lines, Jeff

River etiquette is common sense. If you think you are going to screw up someone's day, you probably are. If you do all you can to avoid the situation, you have good river etiquette. Really think how you would feel in their situation. If they are being jerks, being a jerk back won't make you feel any better in the end. ><>

You missed a real opportunity to learn by boating in the Cedar Creek hole on the NF Lewis in it's hey day. There were plenty of instructors around to assist in the process. Seriously, common sense need prevail. If you are going to fish a popular spot, your chances will increase of meeting the owner of the river or hole on a given day. Given the tighter regulations as the years go by, it will not get any better. Just keep smiling and do unto others.

Salmonhead your the kind of guy we don't worry about just your post tells me that. I own a drift boat and bank fish a lot probbably close to fishing my way out of a marriage. However I can't tell you how many times iv'e been on the river fishing a hole and guys in a sled just float right thru where your casting dragging bait and running their motors. And in most cases when I voice my displeasure they have not a clue what they have done.

I walk a 1/2 mile into a hole to fish and after I'm ther a while some idiot in sled comes along runs thru the water your fishing dragging bait or powered up over and over. I have the one hole to fish and these guys have 5 miles of river they can fish? why here?

I'd just like to add that when I'm maggotting it, I like to make really long casts accross the river to bluffs, riprap or deep slots. With my calcuttas and chronarchs, brakes off, I can easily reach these long-distance holding spots. What burns me is the "assumption" (Giving the perpetrators the benefit of the doubt that they aren't just outright toasting me) by boaters that the far bank is out of my range and therefore fishable territory. So many times they'll row right over the slot and drag their baits through. So far I've refrained from depositing my slinky into these boats. But so far noone's boondoggled one out of a hole that I've been fishing either. Am I hogging up too much of the river? Should I wade out to my waist, in order to claim the opposite bank?

Hohwaiian, you are not being selfish,even though I love my Catraft I still spend as much time being a maggot as I do floating,when I'm floating I will give bankers all the room and more because I would expect the same from them .I have on more than 1 occasion voiced my displeasure with boaters for this very reason sometimes they appolgize sometimes we just exchange sign language,it doesn't do any good but at least I voice my oppion...There is plenty of River for all of us...Never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience!!!

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Row Quietly and fish a Cataraft
( formerly Steelheader boy) ----<'))>>{

[This message has been edited by Osprey (edited 05-19-2000).]

Ron Bob,
The reason I started this thread was to learn more and not be the idiot that screws up someone else's day. It is just as important to me to be a safe and courteous operator as well as catch fish. I fully understand the boater/banker action as the bank is where I started. Even when I am out in my sled I still will stop and fish from the bank just because I like the serenity of standing in the river with just the flow of the river and the sound of the birds. I do like to boondog and there are places that I would like to but will not because it is a banker area and the access for bankers is limited. Thanks for the input, any words from other sledheads???
Tight lines, Jeff

Salmonhead I hope we meet up on the river sometime no mater what we're in boots,boat or under power.

Stop whining!! Ron Bob, every time I read one of your posts your bitchin about some guy in a sled floating through the water you are fishing.If you don`t want boats floating through the water your fishing then go fish the raging.(Although, I suppose that before long there be sleds there to) Being bitter is no way to live life "Bob."
P.S.Go buy a sled!!!!!

Seems like the obvious answer is courtesy and common sense to others fishing on the river, (bank or boat). Remember gentlemen that what you may think as common sense others, (beginners) may not be aware of or understand. I have been past people on the river before I even knew they were there, eventually you learn. Screaming at someone is no way for them to learn, but I also understand that for some, it is the only way they learn. Not everyone is out to be rude, some just make honest mistakes. Remember, if they can see you, perhaps you just need to give a little direction as to where you would like them to pass you, flailing your arms and then yelling doesn't show me where I need to run if I don't know the river that well. Have a good day!
Doubletake

I think I know why some people shout first and ask questions later. They met a couple of the people who drifted past me on a recent trip. I was at the head of small hole, my buddy was 60' below me in the meat of the pool and a drift boat comes past. As the boat goes between me and the run, two anglers flip out jigs under floats. I say as politely as I can "Guys, we're fishing this hole so give us some room please." The fellow on the oars looks over at me so I know at least he heard me. Now the boat is about even with buddy Slick (who is retying at our anchored up boat) and the guy on the oars feathers them while his two passengers throw their jigs out again. I couldn't hear what Slick said but the next thing I see is the oarsman leaning into the oars and the fishermen reeling up. Later I asked Slick what he'd said and he replied "I told them to get the f#*k out of the hole and then I got really rude." I could only shake my head and wonder what goes through some people's minds. I know that this isn't a justification to be rude to everyone, but if I was on the river a lot and this sort of thing was happening frequently I can begin to see why people start going postal on the Oly Pen.

One thing that no one mentions in these threads is how passing boats can help you catch fish, or at least spot them. If I'm anchored up and out of the boat pounding a spot, and a boat comes through I'll often ask the occupants to stand up and tell me if they can see anything 'Over there by the downed log -- the one with three Corkies wrapped around that little limb.' Sometimes they'll offer some very useful advice like 'There are 4-5 fish but they've dropped down below the log now.' I know that the boat may spook the fish, but the fish seem to have a memory of about three minutes. As long as no one bangs the side of the driftboat as they pass over I'd rather have the boat go over the meat of the hole and have someone look straight down than go behind me and learn nothing. (I guess the viz isn't as good in most other rivers but even jet boats have a role to play in waking up otherwise lethargic fish -- but only on request, please!)

[This message has been edited by Snagly (edited 05-20-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Snagly (edited 05-20-2000).]

One of the biggest areas of mis understanding that I have encountered is when a boat pulls in tight to the bank as they go by a bank fisherman. I do this so that I don't go over the top of the hole. The problem is that the bank fisherman doesn't always understand this and thinks that I'm trying to take him out. A simple "I'm going to pull in tight so I don't go over your hole" is usually appreciated by the guy fishing the bank. Be sure you're good on the oars/motor so that you A)don't hit the guy or B) hit the rocks and make more of a disturbance than you would have if you would have just floated through the hole. Also be sure to keep your lines in the boat for a respectable distance.

J, what works well for me is to pull into holes with others bankers or boaters already there and simply tell them they have to leave for a while so I can fish. NOT. The good fundamentals of common sense mentioned are essential of course, but I think proper polite communication is really lacking. If a novice or rude veteran does something out of line they should be told in a very nice way what the proper etiquette is. I think more guys respond favorably to that than being yelled at. - One of the most common infringements is other boaters (happens on the bank too) pulling in too close down river of your established position. This is where the polite communication is needed. If a boater blatantly ignores someone's polite request to go above or move far enough down the river, some boaters will show them how it feels by pulling up on their lines. With so many crazy people nowdays this could be risky. Because of that and concerns for the environment, I won't ever try my favorite fantasy response for such incidents- that would be to pour a wide swath of bright red oil based paint into the water to drift down and coat the offenders boat and fishing lines, and thus rod guides and reels. Would be a good idea to be up around the corner before they noticed the "red tide". - Steve

Just rolled in from another great weekend of tournament fastpitch with my daughter (first place 16U in Redmond, yaaaaaaaa!!!). Thanks for all the input from everyone, I hope to meet up with all of you sometime on the rivers. If I do make a mistake, talk nice, I will listen!!!
Tight lines, Jeff

Hey Snagly, your buddy Slick did the right thing, and strongly suggested to them that they should get the F*** out of the hole, in these days and times, we have got to expect that from time to time, people even sportsman need to be reminded on etiquette!!!, your right on the boats that swing by helping out sometimes, i would rather have the drift boats pass behind me, and i usually step forward into the hole so as to let the drift boat know that they should get behind me, do you do the same???
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[This message has been edited by Steelystud (edited 05-23-2000).]

I've come to expect that sleds will boondog through a hole with bankies; I just let them pass. I WILL say something to a drift boat thats plugs through at 1/2 mile per hour.

I'm also of the opinion that boats passing through stir up stale fish into becoming more active. My largest summer-run last year was hooked ten minutes after a glow-in-the-dark-where-your-sunglasses-neon-yellow raft past through the hole. I've also hit fish, particularly nates on hardware, after sleds motor through at full throttle. I just seems to piss them off (the fish that is).

Granted I fish larger rivers where the fish probably don't feel so confined; this may not be the case on say, the Nooch. In general, I think people get more worked up about it than its worth.

Obsessed,

I think you're right. It IS aggravating when someone encroaches on your fishing "zone", but I'm not sure you could say it costs a guy many fish. It's like being cut in on on the freeway. You're pissed about it (at least I am), but in reality you're only one car length and .32 seconds behind where you just were. Is it worth getting all bunged up about? Of course not, it's just the lack of common courtesy that gets you off-kilter.

There's going to be pricks wherever you go, the freeway, river, or grocery store (yeah, I know it's 10 items or less, but I've only got 16 items....blah,blah). I know a lot of strokes could be avoided if you didn't let those vermin under your skin, but it's a challenging world out there. Hell, I'll let some guy into traffic as a courtesy, and then find myself getting aggravated at him for doing the SAME THING I just did if he slows to let someone in. Go figure.

All I can say is a lot of anger could be avoided if people would just talk to each other. "Hey, man, I'm planning on FISHING that tailout....." will usually get a guy out from below you. "How far you want us below you before we start fishing again?" The dude you pass will likely just say " Oh, a ways down there should be fine......" and nobody gets ticked off. If he says, " Oh, the takeout should be far enough...", then maybe he's a guy you wouldn't feel that bad about pissing off a little.

"Common sense" only IS common sense when you know the river protocol. You know: pass to the inside of drifters unless they ask you to pass in front or don't give you enough water to pass. Don't start fishing immediately below someone you just passed. Don't pull into a 100 yard long hole during fall Chinook season and think you're going to have it to yourself.....Pick a section and work it. Don't move up or down to stand closer to someone who just landed a fish. Don't look down into a hole someone is fishing from the opposite bank, you think they want the fish they're after to see you? And last, never go up to a guy who's gently handling a fish he intends to release and say, "Hey, if you're not going to keep that fish, you mind if'n I keep it?" Do that, and you'll be called a cracker for life!

Sorry to ramble,

Fish on................

Even the Cracker knows...... If someone is in front of you on the river, no matter whether they bank, drift, or motor, they have the right of way. Ask them where they would like to be passed. This is not like the freeway. The freeway is where punks get shot, we're trying to have fun, remember????

Dan S...Well put. I couldn't agree with you more. Hopefully others will have the same attitude.

I have a question regarding what to do when someone is floating and you are standing waist deep in the river. Does the drifter have to avoid the person standing in the river or does the fisherman who is wet have to avoid the drifter? Who has the right of way? I would think the person who is already fishing a hole has the right of way and should be avoided and not run into by floaters.