Drift Boat Etiquette

[bhurt]

Ya but no grayling over 18"

 

 

[SteveM]

Good advice. Then don't bother taking me up on the float. I would get frustrated and you would get annoyed.

 

Ba-zinga!!!

 

[KevinC]

Although some of this I am sure is just venting, but it is good to read as I am planning a drift boat purchase and will always do my best to respect others on the river. Some of it seems like it should be common sense however in my line of work i have learned this does not exist. Anyone looking for an apprentice?

[Flash]

There is no excuse for intentionally floating over the water that a bank angler is fishing, particularly when that angler is fishing dries, upstream, in low, clear conditions. In fact, there is no excuse for floating close to the bank when approaching even a spin fisherman. If I can reach your boat with an halfhearted flick of my 3 weight, you are way too close! Simply not casting while passing directly through the water that someone is fishing is simply not good enough. Even accepting the faulty premise that; fish always return to feeding 5 minutes after you have violated someone's space, why should we have to wait 5 minutes for the fish to return? Sure "excrement happens", for example; you don't see an angler on the bank ahead. There are also occasions when high dirty water conditions reduces the need for distance or when extremely crowded conditions alter the distance you feel you can afford to give to any one individual. No doubt some amount of good judgment is required. Just keep in mind that nobody likes to be crowded on the river.

 

My comments are not meant to be applied to the hoards of pleasure floaters in all manner of inflatable or other floating contraptions. Nor do they apply to the many newbie members of our fraternity. These people are blissfully ignorant that they are trespassing on our experience. There is no sense being angry with them, just let them have their fun and pass in peace. My comments are meant for the rest of you, the legions of experienced drifting fishermen and professional guides that know better. I too have been appalled by the behaviors of some and most recently by the "special" individual in the Blue Powerdrifter. Upon realizing how these individuals upset us we should make note of their behaviors and strive to avoid replicating their actions. Imagine how small the river would be if everyone acted in a similar manner. Instead we might consider embracing the old saw, "do unto others as we would have them do unto us". Lead by example and give your fellow anglers as much room and respect as you can manage. If we all do what we can to avoid intruding on the experience of others in the pursuit of our own pleasure and the river will be a better place to for all of us.

 

I'll get down from the pulpit now!

 

 

[Guest NamasteMushroom]

If I can hit the boat with my fly; they're floating too close.

 

And there is never any excuse for floating down a side channel.

[softhackle]

If I can hit the boat with my fly; they're floating too close.

 

And there is never any excuse for floating down a side channel.

If they can hit my run with a lure their too close!! This happened to me, in a side channel, boat was 10 feet from me and I was just about to hit the top part of a very fishy run. I told them it was bad form and bad etiquette and was promptly told that they were new and were not aware. I said ignorance is no excuse but perhaps it is, IDK...Unfortunately this is not uncommon anymore but happening more and more and I guess we better get used to it...

[Guest NamasteMushroom]

If they can hit my run with a lure their too close!!

 

Agreed.

 

[SKIDBITCH]

Ignorance and arrogance is a bad combination!!!

[Flash]

If I can hit the boat with my fly; they're floating too close.

 

And there is never any excuse for floating down a side channel.

 

While I appreciate your thoughts, I'm hoping to offer sound advice to anglers who are struggling with this ethical dilemma. I am concerned that what you are suggesting is not practical.

 

I can cast the better part of my flyline and some of you cast much better than me. For the sake of this discussion let's call it 90 feet. If there is an angler on the bank opposite me the river would have to be 180 wide, plus the width of a driftboat, for that boat to be outside of casting range. The situation becomes even more untenable when we consider spin fishermen who can often lob a lure across the river. If a drift boat moves 40 feet off the bank in very fast water when passing my position, I'm happy. In slow shallow water where I'm working rising fish I'd like at least 60 feet if practical and undisturbed water for a couple hundred feet upstream of my position. I don’t feel that I can reasonably expect more than that.

 

Alternately, when the dark side takes over, I wish that everybody else would stay off my river but, that’s just not going to happen.

 

 

[Guest NamasteMushroom]

While I appreciate your thoughts, I'm hoping to offer sound advice to anglers who are struggling with this ethical dilemma. I am concerned that what you are suggesting is not practical.

 

I can cast the better part of my flyline and some of you cast much better than me. For the sake of this discussion let's call it 90 feet. If there is an angler on the bank opposite me the river would have to be 180 wide, plus the width of a driftboat, for that boat to be outside of casting range. The situation becomes even more untenable when we consider spin fishermen who can often lob a lure across the river. If a drift boat moves 40 feet off the bank in very fast water when passing my position, I'm happy. In slow shallow water where I'm working rising fish I'd like at least 60 feet if practical and undisturbed water for a couple hundred feet upstream of my position. I don’t feel that I can reasonably expect more than that.

 

Alternately, when the dark side takes over, I wish that everybody else would stay off my river but, that’s just not going to happen.

 

I'm speaking within reason of course. If you take the bottom end of the bleachers for instance - a boat shouldn't go in there if there are shore anglers, and its about 90 feet across (I've seen a lot of boat anglers do otherwise, especially some of the so called 'legends' that used to have boat access a few years back at 'must be nice'.

 

It's also important to remember, a boat has a lot more accessible water to fish than a shore angler - even on a short float.

 

I guess the word we should all remember is "reasonable".

[softhackle]

Personally I am ok with boats in the side channel as long as they are not casting to potential fish in the immediate vicinity of where I am fishing. I find that fish that are rising will go down for a few minutes and resume once the "danger" has passed, that being said, I would be/do get PO'd when the boat hooks a fish that I have worked hard to get a good angle on. Boats/dogs/anglers are all on the fish radar these days and I believe are tolerated...However I think it will be a few hours to a day before a hooked fish will return to feeding once hooked, played, and then landed...

[DaveJensen]

Since SJW let the cat out of the bag who owns this site, and considering that this issue is an ongoing one, what a great opportunity for a FFC project that would cost a few $ but provide a great service to the FF community in Calgary and show that the magazine involved cares about its home community.

Why don't you guys get together and put up BIG ettiquette signs at the boat launches? You'll need 3 signs total that tell folks the stuff being discussed here. About $3K worth of design time and production/installation. A HUGE PR opportunity for the board, to get more folks interested, to be more visible in the community/on the water. Partner with TUC as a community stewardship program.

Since Streamwatch is dead, here's a perfect opportunity for the forum to fundraise. Maybe the owner of the forum's business could match raised $? So too TUC? - for a community stewardship/involvement plan that educates, includes, and invites people to get involved in this community.

 

Pretty solid PR exposure. Literally everyone wins.

[Guest NamasteMushroom]

Since SJW let the cat out of the bag who owns this site, and considering that this issue is an ongoing one, what a great opportunity for a FFC project that would cost a few $ but provide a great service to the FF community in Calgary and show that the magazine involved cares about its home community.

Why don't you guys get together and put up BIG ettiquette signs at the boat launches? You'll need 3 signs total that tell folks the stuff being discussed here. About $3K worth of design time and production/installation. A HUGE PR opportunity for the board, to get more folks interested, to be more visible in the community/on the water. Partner with TUC as a community stewardship program.

Since Streamwatch is dead, here's a perfect opportunity for the forum to fundraise. Maybe the owner of the forum's business could match raised $? So too TUC? - for a community stewardship/involvement plan that educates, includes, and invites people to get involved in this community.

 

Pretty solid PR exposure. Literally everyone wins.

\

Good idea.

[Guest Grinr]

Alternately, when the dark side takes over, I wish that everybody else would stay off my river but, that’s just not going to happen.

Bwaaaaahahahahaaaaa!!!!

.......and that single sentence right there folks sums up this thread quite nicely,LOL.In fact,I'd say it sums up a good many of the foolish topics posted on this forum?

-Ban jets!!Their operators are inconsiderate aholes that put down MY fish,nearly swamp MY canoe,and erode MY riverbanks.

-Ban rafters,those drunk fools are having too good of a time!I come down to MY river to fish,not to have a good time.....just who do these clowns with their bikini clad girlfriends think they are,raising a ruckus,laffing and all?

-Ban dogs,they are running up and down the backside paths(trampled barren by anglers?)and eroding the banks.

-Limit and/or licence the number of guides on MY river....it's getting to the point that I can barely book 5 trips/week anymore cuz of too much competition.If this keeps up I might have to get a REAL job instead of getting paid $2500/week to go fishing.....waaaaaaah.

-introduce a drift boat etiquette course!!Why just yesterday I was walk/wading at Mallard Point and looking both up and down river I could see not only ONE but TWO drift boats on MY mile of riverbank!!One was lowholing me where I had planned to work a streamer back down thru later on,and the other was only 60 ft offshore from MY bank 300m upstream,obviously to screw up the water that I was working upstream towards with my dry.

-ALL spinfishers and 3/4 of the flyfishers on the far bank are POACHING!!

......and while were at it,let's initiate a Pelican suppression program,I have a sneaking suspicion that them big mouthed,overstuffed,white bassturd seagulls on steroids are eating far too many of MY trout!!

 

Really?You guys are hilarious!I mean,I tune in here to the FFC comedy network every other day or so to read up on Bow conditions and what not,maybe even stir the pot a lil,hehe,but the entertainment value of these ban,ban,ban threads alone is often worth logging in.Whine,whine,whine.......for chrissakes,you guys don't know how good you've

got it!Mind you,I've only lived in CGY for 15months now,so obviously I wasn't around to watch the population double over two decades and correspondingly watch the fishing,manners,etiquette and common sense go to he'll in a handbasket(?),but in my relatively short time here I've fished the Bow probly 70-80 times(?),both full days and short cpl hrs outings included?During that time I've walk/waded every inch of riverbank from LaFarge/Deerfoot to below

Chapparal/Inland,most of the bank between Hwy 2 and Policeman's,Must Be Nice to the powerlines a few times,and the mile or so above Highwood on several occasions,and NEVER ONCE in all those times have I witnessed a fraction of the BS that some of you would have us believe is a daily occurrence on the Bow in terms of ignorance and selfish aholes??What's up with that anyhow?Do I just have broader shoulders than most?Does bullshiite just flow off of me like water off a duck's back?Is it my thick skin,weathered from the Fundy tides,wind and salt??

You fellas go on and on and on and boast about the Bow and it's 1500 catchable fish/mile or wutever da hell the number is,yet if a boat drifts within 100m of where you are fishing,obviously they are trying to poach the very same trout that you are working right out from under yer nose?For chrissakes,ya'd think they was trying to steal the bite from right outta yer mouth?Seems like an awful lotta whining over a bunch old sewer trout that ya can't even eat anyhow?There's plenty a river down there boys....what.....70+ km of world class trout water below CGY?I don't have a drift boat nor even a pontoon,walk and wade for me,but I've never seemed to have any trouble finding some space to fish,and I sure as he'll don't biotch because over the FACT that 20 sum watercrafts with anglers aboard are gonna float past me during the course of a day?Have ater boys I say,it's only a drinkn old sewer trout anyhow,fill yer boots.

You biotchs want something to whine about,give great lakes steelhead trib fishin a go......now THAT is ugly!!Shoulder to shoulder combat fishin at it's finest,lol.Or maybe you should just NE thankful that you have 60 miles of blue ribbon trout fishing in your backyard where you can essentially launch a boat and fish anywhere and everywhere you damn well please,unlike on my homewaters of the Miramichi,where the main stem(the Main SW) is 90% privately owned,reserved for wealthy foreigners that are willing to pay $4-5K week for private stretches.Now that's something to bitch about!When you have the most productive Atlantic salmon river in North America,arguably the world(?) in your own backyard,where you were born,raised,worked and paid taxes all yer life,and some big feelin Yank tells you your trespassing in HIS pool!!

Yep,you guys don't know how good ya got it.

...........cry me a river.

[Guest Wrecker]

I have to agree, these topics are A+ for the entertainment value.

 

Virtually the only topic that gets people posting on this website are the whining threads. LOL!

 

 

[Guest Grinr]

Please excuse the typos^^.....sent from my iPhone.

DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECT!!

[Guest NamasteMushroom]

Bwaaaaahahahahaaaaa!!!!

.......and that single sentence right there folks sums up this thread quite nicely,LOL.In fact,I'd say it sums up a good many of the foolish topics posted on this forum?

-Ban jets!!Their operators are inconsiderate aholes that put down MY fish,nearly swamp MY canoe,and erode MY riverbanks.

-Ban rafters,those drunk fools are having too good of a time!I come down to MY river to fish,not to have a good time.....just who do these clowns with their bikini clad girlfriends think they are,raising a ruckus,laffing and all?

-Ban dogs,they are running up and down the backside paths(trampled barren by anglers?)and eroding the banks.

-Limit and/or licence the number of guides on MY river....it's getting to the point that I can barely book 5 trips/week anymore cuz of too much competition.If this keeps up I might have to get a REAL job instead of getting paid $2500/week to go fishing.....waaaaaaah.

-introduce a drift boat etiquette course!!Why just yesterday I was walk/wading at Mallard Point and looking both up and down river I could see not only ONE but TWO drift boats on MY mile of riverbank!!One was lowholing me where I had planned to work a streamer back down thru later on,and the other was only 60 ft offshore from MY bank 300m upstream,obviously to screw up the water that I was working upstream towards with my dry.

-ALL spinfishers and 3/4 of the flyfishers on the far bank are POACHING!!

......and while were at it,let's initiate a Pelican suppression program,I have a sneaking suspicion that them big mouthed,overstuffed,white bassturd seagulls on steroids are eating far too many of MY trout!!

 

Really?You guys are hilarious!I mean,I tune in here to the FFC comedy network every other day or so to read up on Bow conditions and what not,maybe even stir the pot a lil,hehe,but the entertainment value of these ban,ban,ban threads alone is often worth logging in.Whine,whine,whine.......for chrissakes,you guys don't know how good you've

got it!Mind you,I've only lived in CGY for 15months now,so obviously I wasn't around to watch the population double over two decades and correspondingly watch the fishing,manners,etiquette and common sense go to he'll in a handbasket(?),but in my relatively short time here I've fished the Bow probly 70-80 times(?),both full days and short cpl hrs outings included?During that time I've walk/waded every inch of riverbank from LaFarge/Deerfoot to below

Chapparal/Inland,most of the bank between Hwy 2 and Policeman's,Must Be Nice to the powerlines a few times,and the mile or so above Highwood on several occasions,and NEVER ONCE in all those times have I witnessed a fraction of the BS that some of you would have us believe is a daily occurrence on the Bow in terms of ignorance and selfish aholes??What's up with that anyhow?Do I just have broader shoulders than most?Does bullshiite just flow off of me like water off a duck's back?Is it my thick skin,weathered from the Fundy tides,wind and salt??

You fellas go on and on and on and boast about the Bow and it's 1500 catchable fish/mile or wutever da hell the number is,yet if a boat drifts within 100m of where you are fishing,obviously they are trying to poach the very same trout that you are working right out from under yer nose?For chrissakes,ya'd think they was trying to steal the bite from right outta yer mouth?Seems like an awful lotta whining over a bunch old sewer trout that ya can't even eat anyhow?There's plenty a river down there boys....what.....70+ km of world class trout water below CGY?I don't have a drift boat nor even a pontoon,walk and wade for me,but I've never seemed to have any trouble finding some space to fish,and I sure as he'll don't biotch because over the FACT that 20 sum watercrafts with anglers aboard are gonna float past me during the course of a day?Have ater boys I say,it's only a drinkn old sewer trout anyhow,fill yer boots.

You biotchs want something to whine about,give great lakes steelhead trib fishin a go......now THAT is ugly!!Shoulder to shoulder combat fishin at it's finest,lol.Or maybe you should just NE thankful that you have 60 miles of blue ribbon trout fishing in your backyard where you can essentially launch a boat and fish anywhere and everywhere you damn well please,unlike on my homewaters of the Miramichi,where the main stem(the Main SW) is 90% privately owned,reserved for wealthy foreigners that are willing to pay $4-5K week for private stretches.Now that's something to bitch about!When you have the most productive Atlantic salmon river in North America,arguably the world(?) in your own backyard,where you were born,raised,worked and paid taxes all yer life,and some big feelin Yank tells you your trespassing in HIS pool!!

Yep,you guys don't know how good ya got it.

...........cry me a river.

 

 

I agree, mostly.. and like I said, people need to be reasonable.

 

It would be a lot less crowded if all the maritimers didn't move out here after raping and pilaging the East.......I mean really, just because you guys f*&^%$# over your little piece of heaven....

 

 

[Jayhad]

If this keeps up I might have to get a REAL job instead of getting paid $2500/week to go fishing.....waaaaaaah.

 

You biotchs want something to whine about,give great lakes steelhead trib fishin a go......

 

When you have the most productive Atlantic salmon river in North America,arguably the world(?) in your own backyard,where you were born,raised,worked and paid taxes all yer life,and some big feelin Yank tells you your trespassing in HIS pool!!

Yep,you guys don't know how good ya got it.

...........cry me a river.

Couple of things....

a guide only makes 2500 a week for a maximum 16 weeks, then you have to get a real job, or we could take a lesson from you folks and just go on EI for the rest of the year

 

Those aren't steelhead in the great lakes, they don't migrate to the sea and only a person who hasn't caught real steel would argue they are.

 

complaining on a public forum about the down turn of our fisheries is a positive step in the right direction and with advent of the internet and the ability it brings to empowering groups like ours perhaps our loved Bow won't go the way the fishery has on the Miramichi

 

with all the days you've spent on the Bow I would have thought you would know what way a boat traverses a river

[Guest Grinr]

I agree, mostly.. and like I said, people need to be reasonable.

 

It would be a lot less crowded if all the maritimers didn't move out here after raping and pilaging the East.......I mean really, just because you guys f*&^%$# over your little piece of heaven....

Oh really??And what is your heritage mushroomhead?Blackfoot?Sioux?Cree?

Or did your ancestors come from the east coast at one time like the rest of us?

I get a kick outta you clowns and your sense of entitlement and your "why don't y'all go back where ya came from attitude"....pffffft....if it wasn't for Maritimers ,you'd all be a buncha dirt farmers with a trillion billion dollars worth of oil buried in the sand and nobody to dig it up and refine it for ya....and yes,the capital of NFLD is Fort Mac .....we already did all our work,now we have to come out west and do yours for ya too so you can live tax free.....your welcome.

[softhackle]

Bwaaaaahahahahaaaaa!!!!

.......and that single sentence right there folks sums up this thread quite nicely,LOL.In fact,I'd say it sums up a good many of the foolish topics posted on this forum?

-Ban jets!!Their operators are inconsiderate aholes that put down MY fish,nearly swamp MY canoe,and erode MY riverbanks.

-Ban rafters,those drunk fools are having too good of a time!I come down to MY river to fish,not to have a good time.....just who do these clowns with their bikini clad girlfriends think they are,raising a ruckus,laffing and all?

Yep,you guys don't know how good ya got it.

...........cry me a river.

I am glad you enjoy fishing my river...LOL

[Guest Grinr]

Couple of things....

a guide only makes 2500 a week for a maximum 16 weeks, then you have to get a real job, or we could take a lesson from you folks and just go on EI for the rest of the year

 

Those aren't steelhead in the great lakes, they don't migrate to the sea and only a person who hasn't caught real steel would argue they are.

 

complaining on a public forum about the down turn of our fisheries is a positive step in the right direction and with advent of the internet and the ability it brings to empowering groups like ours perhaps our loved Bow won't go the way the fishery has on the Miramichi

 

with all the days you've spent on the Bow I would have thought you would know what way a boat traverses a river

Ummmm....have you ever even seen the Great Lakes??Newsflash for ya Jihad,they are a wee bit bigger than Sikome....like inland oceans?And as far as GL STEELHEAD are concerned,the GLs are the only ocean they've ever known......they are an anadromous fish.....no shame looking that word up being as you don't have ANY in Alberta.I suppose next you'll tell me that GL coastal transplants aren't actually "real" Chinooks,Cohos,or Atlantics neither?

Wutever.....

[Guest Grinr]

...oh yea,and btw Jihad,i'll assume judging by your blissful ignorance you don't know jack about the Miramichi,original land grants from the 18th century,riparian rights,or any of the other factors that have contributed to private water on MY river,so you just worry about your NON-NATIVE,eurotrash,imported brown trout and rainbows and let the Canadians that have lived on the east coast for 400 years before we founded Alberta worry about our Atlantics eh bye.