Boat etiquette

[MikeA]

Boat etiquette

Waders.

I’ll go behind you if I can.

If I can’t go behind that means I can’t even walk it behind you so then I have no choice but to go in front of you.

I’ll take every precaution to not make any excessive noise while over your run.

I’ll look you in the eyes and be friendly even though I know full well you're upset with me. Just keep this in mind, boats disperse the crowds and if not for them everybody would be standing in the same access areas shoulder to shoulder fighting for a spot. Saw it plenty on Sun. It looked like a steelhead run was going on in a few places. While a boat might disturb your run for a few min three noisy waders can ruin your whole day.

I realize I can’t make everyone happy and I accept that. Some people are going to be mad no matter what I do to not disturb them. All I can say to you is I’m sorry, I don’t like it anymore then you do. I bothers me to go through a run that’s being fished because I don’t like making people mad. But,,, I like fishing in a crowd even less so I am going to have to go up or down stream from the access areas and that will inevitably put me in the path of another fisherman sooner or later.

People motor/paddle through my runs all the time too, nobody is immune to it.

Boats

Slow down when passing this isn’t Priest lake and different rules apply to river boating.

Absolutely no wake past any and all paddle craft. Keep in mind that your responsible for the wake your boat makes. If you flip someone and drown them you could held be liable.

Try to be extra friendly to others. Boaters already get a bad rap on the river don’t make it worse on us.


I think most people who have boated with me will agree that I do try not to disturb the waders. I have even scared a few who had no idea I was behind them till I was right there. My boat is new and I am still trying to figure it out right now. I might do something stupid that I normally wouldn’t have done. I’ll continue to try not to do something disrespectful but we all make mistakes sometimes. I've been boating the Caney for years with little or no complaints.

I hope this turns into a good discussion between the boaters and the waders. I’m open to suggestions so if you feel strongly about something by all means post it here.


See ya on the water
Mike.

[TWiles]

Mike,
I'm glad you wrote this post, and I'm glad you are resposible and considerate when you are on the water.  I've fished those Arkansas rivers with heavy traffic, and have personally witnessed some of the most disrespectful, disgusting river etiquette I've ever encountered.  About 3 months ago, on a stretch of the Little Red River, I actually had a guide (with a client)  blast his jet boat downstream, across the line of a fish that was being fought.  It was in 2 1/2 feet of water in a trophy section of narrow river called Mossy Shoals.   This guy was a total jerk.  He even had oars on the boat, and made no attempt to slow down or even to quiet the engine.   This was one of Crystal's 1st trout on the line, and all I can say is: I'm glad he didn't stop when I was exploding my obsenities....I would have surely gone to jail if I got my hands on him.....it still gets my adrenaline going when I think about it...I never knew I could become so angry.
Crowded fishing, in general,  can create stress and competition.  That's why I get away from it, and like you, I always walk the boat behind people casting when possible, and appologize if it can't be done.  You should ALWAYS idle or shut off the motor when approaching other anglers, and try to keep a good distance...And for God's sake, get out and walk the boat up of you're banging into rocks and gravel when going upstream.

I  guess I've been spoiled, because we just don't have the boat traffic on the Holston and Watauga rivers in low water (yet..... ).  I do know of more than one occaison where fisherman have pulled guns on disrespectful boaters to let them know they were getting too close .
The rivers are always going to draw in crowds, and as we each seek our own solitude, and escapes into wild, wet places; we're going to have to learn to respect others' space, and do what it takes to explore more to fully enjoy good flyfishing.
1) Walk downstream a little further
2)Try new spots on the river, you've never fished before
3) Accept the compromises if you fished crowded shoals

In the past four years, I've fished 1/10 the time as I did during my teens and early twenties: and I've caught more fish over 24" than all previous years combined.
This is all because I've chose to explore new water(escaping crowds), that I previously neglected out of laziness.

Travis

[dleo6446]

I agree and try to subscribe to those etiquette "rules" and standards when ever it is humanly possible.  Being both a boater and a wader as most of us are, I have been on both sides of the fence on "boating Etiquette" and on waders etiquette as well.  There are far to many people that forget those standards and mandate their own rules and guidelines when they are on the water.  We have all seen them and they are all the same...most always.

The rules of the river are pretty much common sense and that applies to waders as well.  I couldn't count the times when I would be wading and a boat would come through either heading up or down river  and someone would have something negative to say about it.  the bottom line is that if you are boating and either going up or down river, and there are waders (or another boater) there, give them berth, as much as possible and be courteous and even apologetic if necessary.  But at the same time, If a person is wading in a shallow and narrow part of the river and a boat is going either way....that type of traffic is to be expected as there aren't too may ways of completely avoiding a wader and the waders need to be cognizant of that fact as well.  Many just think the river is theirs, unfortunately.

[MikeA]

Leo I heard thru the grapevine that I offended someone Sun. My boat stands out like a sore thumb now so I’ll take the brunt from the anti boaters. I did "idle" over a run at Lancaster that was full of waders but nobody said anything about it, to me anyway. This area is a funnel in the river and I think the right thing to do would have been to walk the boat thru (Just curious, how did you and Ron get thru there without pissing the guy off?). One has to determine how much work he is willing to do to be overly polite. If it involves walking a 800 pound boat upstream for a mile just to avoid disturbing anyone well,,,,. I just aint that strong, but I won’t blast thru it wide open either.

Boats spook fish and disturb the tranquility that many waders are seeking. This goes for kayaks and canoes as well. A shadow overhead is what puts the fish down, it matters not what made the shadow. We should all do our best to respect others quality experience on the water. I’ll try harder to not piss anyone else off… But understand I have to get from point A to point B and the river is my only means available.

[toddro]

Great post - I've never had a problem with any boaters on the Caney.  If I'm wading and there's an option, I'll often point to the side I'd like the boat to go and it's usually met by a friendly wave or thumbs-up.  If there's not an option, I'll make way and pull my line out ahead of the boat and cast right in behind it - I've found that a small wake can sometimes stir up a big fish to strike!  To me, it's nothing to be upset about if common sense and courtesy are followed (rare these days, I know...)

Now the folks that wade in and low-hole me, that's a different story!
 

I bet those "Steelhead" runs were in the same place I was trying to fish the last time I was out!  I gotta get me one of them floatey things!!!!

[DavyWotton]

Mike,

Here is my view on this one having run boats world wide on both moving and still waters.

There are a few golden rules here.

The first is that you should give way to a boat moving downstream.
In the case of your self being downstream of that craft. It may well be that there is only one way to navigate a channel and it is way easier to do that moving up stream.
The downstream craft may also be dealing with fast water and will have no way as such to back up.
Being down stream you can hold the boat against the flow of water and not move as such, and allow that craft to pass you.

Do not cause or create excessive wake, which will in any way cause a another craft to become unstable.
I have to deal with this shit on a regular basis here on the White river, and some of the culprits are guides.
And l have to say in many cases they are running jet motors. Running at excessive speeds and so on.

Like they own the river attitude.

When navigating around others anglers in boats avoid as much as you can disturbance to them.
When navigating around wading anglers do same, but that is not always possible.
Often waders will be standing in a channel that you have no choice but to use, and they should allow you passage, if they do not they are ignorant.
Boats will as a rule not disturb trout, if so it would be but a very short time.

I have at times clients who cannot wade and are restricted to fishing only from a boat. I also have some clients that are in wheel chairs. It is not a question of getting out of the boat at all times, in many cases you cannot do it and it would be dangerous to do so.
You will lose your degree of momentum, and in a fast water riffle, that is not good.

It is as simple as this, any one with sense, should also realise that there may well be boat traffic on a water.
There is no right as such to claim a section of water as yours.

But there is the issue of common courtesey for other users of the resource.
Sadly something that many do not posess.

I guide out here on the White some 200 plus days a year, believe me I w have seen it all one way or the other.

I will of course try to eliminate as much disturbance as l can to other rivers users. I will apologise for the fact that l have to move through that zone.

Ironically it is wading fly fisherman that are more pissed off than the bait and spin guys.

[DavyWotton]

Lost my post here.

I certainly have had some serious confrontations in my time.

Here at Rim shoals a few years ago a fly fisher who was stood right in the middle of the only way to navigate down stream when we had a low water scenario refused to move, after polite requests to do so.

I informed him that if he did not move he could be written up by the Game and Fish for not allowing boat passage.
He then started to give me some verbal, and l do not take care of that kind of thing.

To be honest about this, l did tell him that l would if need be move him myself, l started to get out of the boat to do so when a further boat backed up behind me, this guy was not so polite and told the wader to move or he would run him over. He moved.

I have also had instances when anglers have cast lures into the boat, as well as doing same at the feet of wading clients.

Bottom line is this, you aint gonna make em all happy, that you are there.
But by acting in a more civil manner you will lesson that factor.

Davy.

[dleo6446]

Mike, those guys had the whole river covered there at Lancaster.  There were four of them in the channel to the right and we went to the left of the gravel bar only to encounter 4 other fishermen that were at the end of the gravel bar.   We weren't within 100 to 150 feet of but one chap and he was an elderly guy (like myself) and didn't really have a problem.  we drifted through using the paddle most of the way until we were clear then started fishing down below the shallows again.  We obviously took the most shallow of the venues that we had just to keep from disturbing them.   But sometimes, to Davey's point it is almost impossible to do so.   

As far as you disturbing someone, I have seen you on the river far too many times to know the respect you afford other fishermen, wading or in boats, I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you, everyone knows how you feel and act on the water...( 'course you  are a redd hog!!) hehehe.

I couldn't count the times when I was wading and a flotilla of canoes would come through.  Most of them not having any clue as to what they were doing.  Strange as it seems, I ALWAYS caught fish right behind them as they spooked up fish down stream

[RonS]

If it's the run I'm thinking about, we took the small shallow side around the bar. To the left coming down stream.

I had barely any trolling motor that day.  Interesting observations though-After passing by two different anglers two different places, they both hooked up. 

Same thing when I was coming upriver. Same area. I cut the outboard motor and ran the trolling motor, painfully slowly, upriver. Probably took me a half hour. There were only two anglers at the bottom end of that run. They both caught fish as I was trolling up behind them.  The next guy was standing in the shallower water. I moved over the far left against the bank. His casts weren't reaching that far but as I went by him, he also caught one.

You've all covered all of the bases quite thoroughly. It's about common courtesy. I think we also have to maintain a realistic perspective of expectations for the particular body of water we are on.

 If you are in search of solitude, don't seek it on the Caney on a warm Sunday afternoon. You'll catch fish, but you won't be fishing alone.

Obnoxious behaviour irritates me a little. Dangerous behaviour gets me arm waving yelling angry.  Rude behaviour just makes me roll my eyes. It's just fishing. They are just fish.

I wouldn't want to harm a human being for rude behaviour, nor would I want to be attacked for accidently floating over a guy's fishing hole, which I did Sunday.

I was fooling with the trolling motor and drifting down river. There was a guy sitting on the bank with his line in the water and damned if I didn't drift right over his spot because I had my back turned and wasn't paying attention. I embarrassed myself and was embarrassed for Caneybuff as he was my passenger ergo guilty by association. Caneybuff saw the guy first and apologized. I echoed. The guy said no problem.

If only all of the situations on the river could be resolved with an "I'm sorry",  a "no problem", and "have a good day".

[MikeA]

Great response guys! It's pretty damned obvious the boaters here are conscious of waders and respect their water. However that respect has to go both ways for this to work. Ron you nailed it buddy. The Caney is not now or ever going to be, a place to seek complete solitude on a warm weekend day. We should expect to share the river with others. Hell, stop fishing every now and them and talk with these people. You might meet a new fishing buddy.

Nothing about fishing is worth hurting someone physically or verbally. I used to get pissed about other boaters/waders until I realized I was staying mad more then I was enjoying myself. That’s not why I go fishing. Now I just shake my head, shrug my shoulders, and keep casting. If I do something you think is wrong go ahead and let me know about it. Just do it in a way that’s not so confrontational.

[dleo6446]

Hey Mike, the good thing about good friends is that they think enough of us to tell us when we are right, and more importantly to tell us when we are wrong.  I would hope that my friends would do the same for me!!