Would you have turned Around?

[Streammagic237]

Last Sunday I found myself on white clay creek, enjoying throwing dry flies for fallfish and sunnies . I started from the bridge at London tract road and exchanged helloes with another FF's coming off the water as I started under the bridge heading up stream. Great weather and fish that were just picky enough to pretend my dry fly casting was improving just a bit, on a few successful takes . Eventually I end up at a very small set of falls with a 8 ' plunge pool under and nice seam. So I re rig to nymph and start make what would be the first of many fruitless drifts. While I'm happily fishing , a guy appears on the far bank , the bank I need to go up as I'm standing on the other side of the stream on the shelf that drops off into 8 feet of water and is impassible. So this guy about 15 yards away never says hello and kinda does the 1000 yard stare past me (he for sure saw me ) , but he has a back pack and I figure he is hiking and think , no biggie let him pass and be on my way around the falls. So after the 30+ fruitless drifts I start to wonder why he has not moved on and is just milling around looking at the ground and I mean it was strange ,his demeanor at least to me. So this goes on for like 20 minutes, and I park it on a rock and just decide to watch him. I think maybe he is looking for mushrooms or foraging, maybe he is Sheed hunting , maybe he is on drugs . Then he starts up the trail a bit but he keeps doubling back after a minute to right in the area I need to go to get around the pool. As we cross there half hour mark and he is still standing on the far bank milling around , I decided to stay on my side of the creek and to wade back to the bridge, calling it a early day and we never say a word to each other .
So I want to know, have I just watched to many scary movies ? Was it all in my head ? Would you have turned around ?

 

[Cougarbaby]

Me personally I have an attitude and would of kept doing as I planned if that meant walking right up past him so be it ,then I would of dealt as necessary

 

[Esoxbum]

S&W bodyguard 2.0. Always in my chest pack….the whole ‘it’s better to have it and not need it thing’

 

[tomgamber]

That's your call. Whatever makes you feel safe. Not everyone is comfortable killing another human over a stare. Better safe, than sorry doesn't require a firearm. Just common sense.

 

[Esoxbum]

S&W bodyguard 2.0. Always in my chest pack….the whole ‘it’s better to have it and not need it thing’

Maybe .380, and I’m not talking about the diameter of my tippet, would have been a more appropriate’fishing’ response

 

[tomgamber]

If I thought packing a weapon was necessary just to fish, I wouldn't fish. I'd just fteaking quit. A .380 is my choice for concealed carry however. Which I have yet to find necessary, ever.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

If the person acted that weird and didn't verbally acknowledge me, I'm walking away, checking with my boys, and checking my backtrail to the car.
If you're packing, why wouldn't he be packing as well. Is he all by himself, or distracting you while someone else moves in? Does he just want you to leave so he can strip down and take a bum bath in the pool you were fishing in? Too many unknowns to deal with for a few fish.

 

[tomgamber]

If the person acted that weird and didn't verbally acknowledge me, I'm walking away, checking with my boys, and checking my backtrail to the car.
If you're packing, why wouldn't he be packing as well. Is he all by himself, or distracting you while someone else moves in? Does he just want you to leave so he can strip down and take a bum bath in the pool you were fishing in? Too many unknowns to deal with for a few fish.

Exactly. If it bothers you that much. Yes, you can turn around. If it doesn't...

 

[Esoxbum]

The whole time the ‘other guy’ was probably thinking ‘why hasn’t this guy acknowledged me.’ I would have just assumed he was waiting for me to leave so he could fish in that spot.

 

[5footfenwick]

Somewhere on Paskinnydip.com there is a guy posting about this weird fisherwoman who sat on a rock watching him and it was freaking him out. Yeah, I guess she side-holed him 😉

 

[Esoxbum]

If I thought packing a weapon was necessary just to fish, I wouldn't fish. I'd just fteaking quit. A .380 is my choice for concealed carry however. Which I have yet to find necessary, ever.

A lot of times it goes with me just so it’s not left in my vehicle. If you’ve ever been to the Betty Knox area of Dunbar Creek you’d understand. I’d put my truck in my chest pack if It would fit…

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Somewhere on Paskinnydip.com there is a guy posting about this weird fisherwoman who sat on a rock watching him and it was freaking him out. Yeah, I guess she side-holed him 😉

I forgot that streammagic is a woman. It may be unfair for me to say but the husband/father (of a daughter)/brother/son in me makes this an entirely different situation.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

A lot of times it goes with me just so it’s not left in my vehicle. If you’ve ever been to the Betty Knox area of Dunbar Creek you’d understand. I’d put my truck in my chest pack if It would fit…

Dunbar creek in Fayette county? Are they still bleaching holes and fishing with m80s over that away? I recall it as a scary place when we lived in uniontown.

 

[ntallen]

I guess if it feels weird, go with it.

I’ve had some strange encounters from time to time and I’m fortunate enough to say that I’ve been most worried about a methy fisherman ruining my time or stealing my property. So far, I’ve left spots mostly due to nuisance.

On about mushrooms:
encountered a guy as I was walking in to Poe paddy at dusk with my wife and a friend—we could see the whites of his eyes clear as moonlight, even under the canopy as he swaggered toward his car. I swear he was wearing waders with toe shoes somehow.

The guy is wide-eyed and spaced. I greeted and asked how it was. All funny, he’s like “OOoOh mannnn it was somethin!”. He said a few other strange remarks and proceeded to hand my buddy every last drake pattern that he had—like a dozen or so flies. He went on to say how he was car camping for some odd amount of time and this that and the other thing that made no sense…and just like that, he was outta there like he was running away from something. Hilarious.

 

[rustbeltwilds]

Well YOU could have said hi first maybe then a conversation would have started then you could have found out the plans of this individual..jus sayin

 

[Bamboozle]

I'm glad you turned around...

 

[tomgamber]

Dunbar creek in Fayette county? Are they still bleaching holes and fishing with m80s over that away? I recall it as a scary place when we lived in uniontown.

Ive been. And I don't. The idea that I might have to shoot someone just to fish a certain hole kinda takes the enjoyment out of it. I'll just fish elsewhere.

 

[wildtrout2]

The whole time the ‘other guy’ was probably thinking ‘why hasn’t this guy acknowledged me.’ I would have just assumed he was waiting for me to leave so he could fish in that spot.

He didn't mention this stranger as having a fishing rod, just a backpack. Either way, that was strange behavior, and I would have put a lot of distance between him and me.

 

[CinnamonJoe]

Always trust the Spidey sense.

Joe

 

[salmo]

The most lethal thing that I carry while fishing is my combination bottle opener and corkscrew. I don’t feel it necessary to carry the extra weight of a firearm.