Drifting From A " Bank Maggots" Perspective

[mkm]

The closed topic was very entertaining. For the first time in many years I got the chance to drift rather than sitting on the bank. My opinion is sitting on the bank I get a better chance to cover the water. Rowing the boat for the first time made me understand how hard at times it is to yield to the people fishing from shore. Sometimes you don't see them in time, other times the boat was not positioned to quickly row away. I felt bad floating too close at times but a genuine apology went along way. We drifted on last Sunday and every EPIC hole was being fished and sometimes you get anxious to hit that great water. Is it really a big deal if you are fishing a hole for an hour and one boat...one fisherman...passes his fly though "your hole". for gods sake you put your line through it 100x and if he by some odd chance hits a fish the one time his line crosses your hole then good for him...ask him what he's using.

 

I have spent many years annoyed at drifters but now I see it's not that big of a deal. if they drift over your hole...spoil it...go sit on the bank and enjoy being on the river...wait 5 minutes...and go back and catch your hawg...carma is on your side.

 

Once that trip we were on the outside of a great seam...I didn't want to cast into his water but my youthful spirit got the better of me. i tossed my dry on the outside of the seam and sure enough hooked into a pig. i felt bad (still do) but carma played its role and I lost the fish. I apologized when I hooked up..the guy responded (jokingly) "your not sorry". If the guy is on the board...i really did feel bad.

 

mkm

 

 

[Ulmo]

i cant agree with you here, you're comparing apples to oranges, try and think of it this way - if you were walking along the river and in passing a juicy hole that some other wader was already working, would you think it was okay to just toss a dry into his hole while you passed it/him by? i think not, i think it would get ugly actually, apology or not.

 

the great thing about drifting a large river like the Bow is that not only do get access to both banks, but you can nail those juicy seams and islands that are just out of reach from us guys wading, we have 50' of one bank, you have several miles of whatever part of the river you want to hit...

 

imho, it sounds like you want your cake and hope to eat it too, so speaking of karma - dont be getting all greedy now... ;-)

[ÜberFly]

I too...

 

A HUGE difference between a newbie on the oars and a seasoned vet with 20 plus years!! The vet should be able to manouver a drift boat like nobody's business!!

 

P

 

i cant agree with you here, you're comparing apples to oranges, try and think of it this way - if you were walking along the river and in passing a juicy hole that some other wader was already working, would you think it was okay to just toss a dry into his hole while you passed it/him by? i think not, i think it would get ugly actually, apology or not.

 

the great thing about drifting a large river like the Bow is that not only do get access to both banks, but you can nail those juicy seams and islands that are just out of reach from us guys wading, we have 50' of one bank, you have several miles of whatever part of the river you want to hit...

 

imho, it sounds like you want your cake and hope to eat it too, so speaking of karma - dont be getting all greedy now... ;-)

 

[Mykiss]

If I choose to bootpack an hour into a run on the bow balls early and a boat/or boats come down and slowly "work" and when I say work I mean the rower is slowing the boat down to allow multi-casts through my water yes I get worked up. I really get worked up at this time of year as adult stones are coming off and if I'm working up the bank picking off fish. If I'm bobber fishing (which I rarely do) I'll just inform the boat/rower that they have a nasty habit that needs to be adjusted. If I'm swinging my spey I'll land one in the boat so they know they did wrong.. I have the leisure of choosing to bootpack or drift some and most people don't...boaters need to understand this and give walker and waders the right of way. Unfortunately some people never had to bootpack in for an hour and understand what it actually was like being a "Bank maggot"... Dutchie I disagree with the locked out thread that you say guides are not professionals...Like it or not you are a mentor to the people around you. If you can't stand the heat......

[egocop]

The one comment which sticks out to me from that closed thread is that waders do not have the right of way and should that they should get out of the drift boats way, and head to the bank to wait it out.

Hopefully that was a joke.

 

[reevesr1]

Is this all a bit of a mountain out of a molehill? Maybe it has something to do with the times I fish, but in my 4 yrs of fishing this river I've only had a couple of times where I thought a drift boat got too close. Once was when they stopped and fish the run just upstream of me (that I was going to fish as soon as I finished the run I was in), and once a guy cast pretty close to where I was fishing. But other than that, no real problems. In both cases it wasn't a big deal. In the first case I caught a fish 5 minutes after the guys left the run and in the second there was no impact to the fishing I could see.

 

So while I understand it can be frustrating (and I have been frustrated before) if someone drifts through your water, it doesn't really happen that often and from my limited experience doesn't really adversely affect the fishing. All that said, I do believe boats should give waters some berth. But that's because I wade all the time. My opinion could change if I had a boat (see post #1).

 

Anyway, that's my pollyannish opinion.

 

 

[Brad29]

Rafters annoy me more than drift boats. Sreaming, yelling, and splashing through the run that you are fishing. I don't even fish the city section during the summer months.

[bcrules]

Rafters annoy me more than drift boats. Sreaming, yelling, and splashing through the run that you are fishing. I don't even fish the city section during the summer months.

 

i agree. people out to have a good time annoy me also. BTW nice avatar.

[Smitty]

Rafters annoy me more than drift boats. Sreaming, yelling, and splashing through the run that you are fishing. I don't even fish the city section during the summer months.

 

Clearly some of us have to re-visit the concepts from Kindergarten. Re: "Sharing".

 

Folks, its a city of a million. One million. Not Bozeman, not Jackson Hole, not Coleman or Fernie. Calgary. All types of folks want to have fun on the water.

 

But I will "wade" - har har - into the debate with this; it would seem common courtesy would dictate some room for the waders, giving them some priority on some stretches. And, from a safety perspective, it just makes sense to avoid wading fisherman/bathers completely. They're not going to win in an encounter between person vs boat.

 

Having said that, I'm not sure I agree with Dutchie characterizing spin-fishers and using the trick questions catch poachers. On the other hand, I sympathize (thinking about it more), and I guess if the shoe fits, right?

 

Having said that, if I encounter someone fishing a bank and I'm drifting into their spot, and, realizing my mistake, trying to row away and apologize, if that bank fisherman ever casts his line/fly into or near my boat out of immature anger, I'm putting on the filet glove and ripping the fly off the leader. Hopefully a re-tie will teach that person a lesson.

 

Clearly trying to be a moderate here. Don't know if that makes sense or not, but its an old debate.

 

Smitty

[LynnF]

Rafters annoy me more than drift boats. Sreaming, yelling, and splashing through the run that you are fishing. I don't even fish the city section during the summer months.

 

Allow me to take you out sometime and demonstrate how I mistakenly and sloppily and full of remorsefully cast into the back of a raft as it drifted through the run I was fishing some 10 feet away from me at the Douglasdale bridge. And how I used my outside voice to let the young gentlemen and ladies know that next time my cast would be a little more accurate and they'd need a foot pump when I was done. Sometimes the best lessons for ignorance are through illustration.

 

And just a question regarding drifters vs waders. I've been rowing for 8 odd years now, but just still getting used to my drift boat. I've never had an encounter with a bank angler - always looking downstream and planning my route dodging boats and trying to hit good water and avoiding the waders. But....is it wrong if a guy is standing on the bank, casting to the inside of a run/seam and I drift through and put my angler in the front in position to cast to the outside of the run/seam? There is plenty of distance, the lines/hooks will never meet and, really, the same water is not being fished. I would never do it if a guy was working the middle of the run...but I think it's OK to work the other side of it. Am I wrong?

[reevesr1]

Am I wrong?

Usually.

 

[LynnF]

Usually.

 

You sound like my kids.

[bigbowtrout]

Usually.

 

 

[LynnF]

 

You both suck. And now you owe me coffee.

[Tungsten]

Its funny how some people will say "I didn't see you".Ya its more like you didn't look.People are easy to see from 200yds away,put your glasses on.

On a side note if anyone see's a green jon anchored on the bank and i'm sitting under the umbrella taking a break.Go ahead cast doesn't bother me any.

[bigbowtrout]

Its funny how some people will say "I didn't see you".Ya its more like you didn't look.People are easy to see from 200yds away,put your glasses on.

On a side note if anyone see's a green jon anchored on the bank and i'm sitting under the umbrella eating my cured ham and grey poupon sandwich and drinking a nice glass of German Rieslings from the Saar valley taking a break and waving at others with my pinky.Go ahead cast doesn't bother me any.

 

 

FIXED

[Tungsten]

Ya funny.Don't you ever go on holidays.Oh and sorry about that 60' stream of water that hit you.I didn't see you there.

[SilverDoctor]

 

No joke at all, I often extend drifters the courtesy and opportunity to fish my water, it don't happen much at all (I can count the times this year on one hand). I have developed many a nice streamside visit that way. We all fish the same water so why not share.

 

 

The one comment which sticks out to me from that closed thread is that waders do not have the right of way and should that they should get out of the drift boats way, and head to the bank to wait it out.

Hopefully that was a joke.