Is it me?

[Stagger_Lee]

This afternoon I headed up to the LL for a gorgeous day of fishing. I originally had the entire day and was going to explore a new creek further North but my better ½ had a change in AM plans so I played the good husband. I decided to ‘explore’ as much as u can on the LL and hit a stretch outside of the X distance up and downstream of the fly shop.

I settle in and start working my way up stream. I come up to a nice run and there is another fisherman on the opposite bank. We exchange the usual pleasantries “how’s it going … did u get anything” …. etc, etc. Couple of minutes later he gets a nice one and asks “Hey u want to know exactly where the fish are?”. I tell him “yea cause I would love to land one like that … nice fish” and he says “here u go .. this one is right there”.

He proceeds to throw the fish ¾ across the stream (closer to me) in a fashion that the fish is did a flip or two. I gave a quick but subtle WTF look and a quick smile and kept my mouth shut, In my head I was thinking that I would prefer someone illegally take a fish from a C & R area to eat then do what this guys did. I'm the furthest thing from some PETA nazi but that really rubbed me the wrong way ….

Would that annoy anyone else or did I just internally overreact?

 

[BrookieChaser]

Someone acting that way would annoy me too.

 

[salvelinus]

I'd be pissed, but I would ask the guy why he felt that he needed to do that. Of course that would probably elicit some smart-*** answer given what he did. So you just do what you did. There's plenty of nitwits out these days and you can't be too careful about your personal safety.

 

[troutbert]

He probably thought you were crowding him, and that was his way of expressing that.

 

[Swattie87]

troutbert wrote:
He probably thought you were crowding him, and that was his way of expressing that.

That was my initial thought too when reading it Stagger. Not that it was justified if you were just passing the run he was working by and asking him how he was doing though.

 

[Stagger_Lee]

I don't know. I'm pretty conscience of that and was always a big etiquette guy when I played golf. Also consider the guy was making small talk with me and there was was a dad with 2 young sons closer to him on his side.

I don't think I was that close at all when i think abt the how many people and how they fished this section today. Then again if it was my bad he could've just said something instead of chucking a fish 3/4 across the stream.

 

[rrt]

No matter what: he had absolutely no respect for the fish.

 

[beadhead2]

I would have made sure he saw I was carrying !!!!!!!!

 

[Fishidiot]

Stagger,
From what you've described...it definitely wasn't you.
The guy was a jerk. (And perhaps not sober.)

 

[gfoledc]

I would just move on. Life is too short to deal with idiots.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Little Lehigh, Sunday; bound to be some morons. Great stream but has always brought out some of the dregs in terms of anglers. I thought exactly what was posted immediately above. I fished a suburban stream today that was absolutely packed (fish and fishermen) yet no one ever crowded us despite the fact that we were obviously catching trout. Talk about a pleasant surprise; especially since I was mentoring a less experienced fly fisherman.

 

[RCFetter]

That is strange. Maybe he was already angry b/c of the dad and two kids.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Stagger - There's 17 miles of stream to fish on the Little Lehigh. It's actually pretty easy to find long stretches of stream where you likely won't see another fisherman, and if you know where to park, the walk isn't all that long.

Next time you go there, gimme a call, and I'll hook you up.....

You think your experience was bad - just ask da Fox about his experience there. :lol:

 

[blueheron]

You were crowding him, at least in his mind. I'll exchange pleasantries anywhere but actually on the stream when I'm in the middle of fishing. People walk away from the popular spots to be left alone and pretend that they're not in the middle of a city park. I'm usually more subtle and just walk away. I love when guys set up 30' down from me , with fly rods, and don't have a clue why I'm upset. If you were across from him how were you going to fish the same run and not cross his line. Take turns? I understand you're new to this but give other guys some room, better yet stand back and watch and maybe pick up some pointers.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah,

Guy perceived you as crowding him. That was his (poor) response to it.

Whether you actually were crowding him, I dunno. It's not an easy thing to gauge. You have less expectation of "room" in a crowded place like the LL than you do on many other streams. Some people used to less crowded streams fail to adjust, and in cases where someone has unreasonable expectations there's not much you can do. But also, you're fairly new to the game, and it's possible you misjudged an appropriate buffer.

It definitely was a poor response on his end. Having been on the recieving end of "crowding", it's not something that's easy to bring up in a civil manner, but I try. Some people just leave but I prefer to find out whether they're a beginner not understanding what they're doing, or an ****** who does. Usually it's the former, in which case it is a teaching moment. I make it known that it's not normally acceptable behavior, but that I'm not upset. Sometimes I even give them the hole and some pointers.

I've been on the giving end too, sometimes from lack of choice. For instance, many instances on steelhead streams. If every hole is taken, I may slide into the head or tail of a pool, trying to leave 50 yards or so to the guy in the middle. I usually ask him if it's ok and what he considers a comfortable space.

Other times, if there's like 1 guy in a stretch you like, you ask which way he's moving. If he states up, you step in below him and fish down. Or vice versa.

 

[Foxgap239]

Heritage-Angler wrote:

You think your experience was bad - just ask da Fox about his experience there. :lol:

I'm not sure my experience was worse or not but it definitely helped me decide that the LL is not a weekend stream for me, at least not in the Heritage section anyway. I'm just glad DD wasn't there, I think he would have been a tad less restrained than I was. :hammer:

Essentially what I've come to realize is that there is virtually no etiquette on the LL. Most guys couldn't spell it and even less could define it. Unfortunately another favorite LV limestoner not far from the LL is becming the same way.

Thank God for remote brookie streams. At least the wild creatures out there give you a wide berth, well at least most of them, right Jeff?. :roll:

 

[mcwillja]

I agree with the others who said you were crowing him. However, to treat a trout that way was very disrespectful. I would advise to not fish directly across from someone. Solitude on some of these streams is damn near impossible and people are edgy this time of year so your best bet is to walk and fish away from people as best you can.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Foxgap239 wrote:
I'm just glad DD wasn't there, I think he would have been a tad less restrained than I was.

Restrained? Is that what you call that? :lol:

I thought you were gonna throw that guy in.

This is what you looked like:

 

[FarmerDave]

Stag, that was me.

Next time give me some distance.

OK, I lied. It wasn't me. I don't usually fish "special" waters.;-)

Would I be annoyed? Probably.

But I'm also annoyed that this kind of thing never happens to me. ;-)

The guy was a dick, but it likely didn't hurt the fish.

 

[blueheron]

" show him I'm packing" wow brilliant. Let's get into a gun fight.