On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 16:37:45 -0400, "snakefiddler"
wrote:

(snipped)

i stood nearly waist deep in water, and was feeling good about my casting,
enjoying a few strikes, when a hiker came along with his dog. he saw me
eyeballing him, as he and his canine edged along the bank, as i got out to
change my fly, and he asked if i was still fishing. i replied in the
affirmative, to which he stated that he was hoping to see if his dog would
swim. i told him that would scare the fish away, to which he replied by
saying, "no more than you being in the water."

Sounds as if you both had a bit of attitude.

Fish will scatter. They will come back. I've watched experienced
fish who were ignoring me have flipping hysterics when they saw
another person standing on the bank. Gone. In ten minutes they're
back again or others have moved in. Seen it on a couple of fish
watching (and rod waving) occasions.

He was wrong about you scaring the fish off, though. As long as you
weren't outlined in their sight and weren't moving around much, no,
you don't scare them as much as a splashy dog would.

He shouldn't have been trying to have the dog learn to swim in moving
water, anyway. Ponds or lakes with gently shelving bottoms are best
for that. But if that was his choice, why not some other stretch of
water? Weird story. Unless he was as maladroit at pickup lines as
he was about dog training and was trying to hit on you?
--

rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Only a fool would refuse to believe in luck. Only a damn fool would rely on it.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli