What are the rules on stream fishing

[Kabutt]

Haha nice map I love it!!! For a second I though you were fishing via mule-driven cart or something.

FWIW, I enjoy solitude when fishing and I assume most others do as well. I give other anglers as wide a berth as possible relative to the type of water and the number of other peeps about. There's a completely different etiquette involved when you're fishing, say, Spring Creek during the sulphur hatch than somewhere like Clarks during a weekday afternoon... If I feel someone's intruding on my space on a stream, I just fish elsewhere. Although, I've probably let my disgust be known a time or two. Most of my negative human encounters are on rivers and have involved non-fishermen: renegade Amish kayakers, goose hunters in a jet boat flying past me ten yards away, non-Amish renegade kayakers, etc...

 

[krayfish]

Considering how long I've been fishing, I've had very, very few problems. This guy got in so close to me that he was going to hear me mumble so I just aired things out. Maybe he was looking for me to tap my foot under the bathroom stall or whatever those guys were doing. I just wanted to fish.... Alone. Nobody asking stupid questions and crossing my line. I normally fish with a group so it's not that I'm antisocial. Just wanted some alone time that day.

 

[salvelinus]

renegade Amish kayakers

Now there's a visual I won't soon forget.

 

[Kabutt]

I think we all have our moments out there.

salvelinus wrote:
Now there's a visual I won't soon forget.

I wish someone else was with me to witness this. There were five of them on the Juniata, yelling in Pennsy Dutch or whatever, paddling upstream. Then back down, then up again, then across to the other side and up and down that bank. Two of the kids were even standing up and paddling, making them seem even more menacing... In all seriousness, they didn't bother me too much. I actually wanted to be friendly and say hi, but they ignored me. Guess they ain't got no time for us heathens...

 

[Hook_Jaw]

I never get within vision of a fisherman let alone something like that. That's total bs and I would of told them about it all though it's hardly worth it.

 

[Tups]

Sorry to bring this back up, but I've been away for a few days. Krayfish, based on your map and story, your antagonist was looking for a confrontation - going out of his way to provoke one. Which brings us back to the original theme on this post - occassionally, very rarely, you meet bad actors on-stream who are itching for a fight for whatever reason. This sort of intense rude behavior happened to me each and every time I fished the Salmon river in NY, which is why I haven't been back for ten years. I was also chased once in PA by a man with a shotgun and german shepherd. In most cases, I just simply and very quietly move on, but in that particular case I fled in great haste.

I have never been approached by a WCO while in the act of violating the rules, but I have been asked to show my license twice. Most contact that WCO's have with the public is routine and not associated with any violation, but they still carry weapons because the agency is aware that you just cannot predict what a person might do. The same is true for the average person fishing on the stream. When someone aggressively approaches and enters "your space", you just never know what he might do. I'm not making a judgement about the OP's behavior, but I can see his point in carrying his weapon.

 

[Tups]

So no one misunderstands or misconstructs what I have said here, I am not in any way suggesting that fisherman should take it upon themselves to enforce the state's rules and regulations. I am merely commenting that aggressive people on-stream, or anywhere else, should be handled with caution and with a mind toward self-defense.

 

[lv2nymph]

^^ Disclaimer ^^... 😛
( It's a shame ya gotta have one )