What would you do

[ryansheehan]

A buddy and I went to the yough and fished a little bit of the tail race this morning. As we were walking out the water to switch rivers a spin fisherman (not that's there anything wrong with dunking wax worms) started yelling at us from 40 yards away. I couldn't really understand him at first but he wanted us to walk back down the snow covered river bank and then wade 40 yards of water to net his fish?! We saw the fish jump it looked like a nice fish but it but not something you couldn't hand release. My buddy and I looked at each other in shock. I would never ask someone to do that. If the guy said help I'm hurt I would be down and in as fast as possible.
Anyway we got into the truck and relocated to another river where there were no people and had a pleasant afternoon catching some wild browns.So are we a$$ holes?

 

[Swattie87]

I woulda netted the fish then immediately release it. Then I woulda walked up to the spin jockey and snapped his stockie slayer over my knee for the aggravation.

 

[krayfish2]

I try to avoid all human interaction.

Swattie,
How about then tossi g the guy in the river and stabbing all 4 of his tires with a screwdriver on your way out?

 

[Swattie87]

krayfish2 wrote:
Swattie,
How about then tossi g the guy in the river and stabbing all 4 of his tires with a screwdriver on your way out?

Screwdriver? I'd use my $20 pocket knife if I was so inclined. (pcray's $1.5k knife would also likely work in this instance...hehe.)

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, that cheap $20 thing would break in a tire if your not careful.

I don't carry a net, so I don't have this problem very often, lol. Seriously, though, I'd have probably helped the guy land his fish. May not have been a true trophy to you, but it obviously was to him.

 

[McSneek]

ryansheehan wrote:
(not that's there anything wrong with dunking wax worms)

There are so many things wrong with dunking wax worms....

 

[PocketWater]

I would of tried to help the guy out. Who knows when you will need someones assistance for something you find important, and they will roll their eyes at you, finding your plight trivial.

 

[TJones]

I'm not sure what I would have done... But in all honesty you guys probably did him a favor. Any fisherman should learn to land his own fish. I would not want a stranger to assist me in landing my fish, especially a trophy... If something goes wrong I don't want to be able to blame it on someone else doing something dumb thats out of my control.

 

[pcray1231]

I've asked for assistance before. I can't say ever on trout, though. I remember fishing the Tionesta spillway with ultralight spinning gear, 4 lb test, standing on the high rocks catching a bunch of smallish smallmouths on minnies. I hooked a large 30" catfish. Fought it for a good 20 minutes before getting it to the base of the rocks, but there was just no way to land it. A musky fisherman, thankfully, was nearby with a big arse net. I requested his help, and he came to my aid and landed the thing.

As I was about to release it, he asked why I was doing that, and I said I didn't want it. He asked, so I gave it to him.

 

[AFISHN]

Depends on the water /wading conditions.
In this cold weather a slip could be very nasty .
Bottom line:good weather and good wading I help;in todays conditions I would not.

 

[Swattie87]

Couldn’t pass up the chance to use terms like “spin jockey” and “stockie slayer” in the same post above…but…

My serious response is that I also rarely carry a net, unless fishing a big stream (the Yough would fit my definition of big!). So I think it’s likely I would’ve had a net in this case. Under those circumstance and having a net, I would’ve tried to help the guy, within reason. If the fish was headed my way or in a place I could safely get to, I woulda helped the guy. At this time of year if it involved walking into deep or heavy water, or out onto shelf ice no way…just not safe or smart.

I’ve been fishing on bigger streams (think Penns/Pine size type stuff) in a group of 4 or 5 guys before during a hatch. If a decent fish is hooked and runs right toward one of the other guys, he goes ahead and nets it. No big deal.

 

[krayfish2]

I would have given the guy my net to use. As someone else posted, gotta learn to do it yourself. I'd also have offered to snap a photo of him hold the fish....if landed successfully. I'd also ask if it's ok for me to use this story on my blog that doesn't exist...but he doesn't know that.

Option 2 is to wade out with the net, scoop up the fish and bread it before reaching shore. LOL

 

[rrt]

My gosh, you guys are harder guys than I am, and I'm pretty misanthropic.

 

[JackM]

Fishing Erie for steelhead once, I had a guy across the creek call out to me as I was tangling with a decent fish to tell me he was hoping to take a few home for the pan and asked if I was planning to keep or release. I said I release them and he asked if I would let him have my catch. I saw he had a net, and told him if he wanted to come net it for me, I would let him have it. He did and I did. Never have been asked to help net a stranger's fish, but I don't carry a net, so there is that.

 

[Char_Master]

For me it would be dependent on how big the fish was and the location. If it's opening day and a guy on the bank next to me latches in to a broodstock sized trout and I'm not currently catching one, then I'd definitely help him. If I'm on a wild brookie creek (and let's just assume that I actually run in to somebody) and a guy 100 yards down on the opposite bank wants me to net his 8" fish, hell no! If I was able to land a 28" stocked rainbow without a net by myself a few years back then that random guy should be able to land his 1/2 pound trout without assistance.

 

[Chaz]

I'm not going 40 yards downriver in the water to help someone who's not in a life threatening situation. However I would have tried to go down a help him land the fish, but it would come with a warning. I'm not the best at landing other peoples fish.

 

[ryansheehan]

McSneek wrote:

ryansheehan wrote:
(not that's there anything wrong with dunking wax worms)

There are so many things wrong with dunking wax worms....

Going with a little Seinfeld reference there...

 

[gfoledc]

I would have tried to help the guy land his fish if successful said "nice fish" and go home

 

[gfoledc]

PS. At my age that is best case scenario

 

[ryansheehan]

Looking back I would not have done anything different. The guy was not able to come to us and we would have had a tough time getting to him. I have helped many people on the river at different times but this seemed to cross a line for me.