has this ever happenend to you?

wrote ...
. 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.



I've always fished with a pooch by my side, or more likely, swiming through
the pool I was just about to cast through. My current pup is a French
Brittany and listens very well, and is learning to stay by my side just
fine. The fellow I met on the Lackawaxen Monday commented on what a swell
little fellow he was. Other fishing dogs have not always been such
gentlemen, though. And, I suppose, neither was the master.

One stream we used to like to fish was the Bushkill. A swell stream
well-stocked by the BSA, and a permit to fish could be had for a small
donation. The pool closest to the parking lot was always packed with
wall-to-wall sports, the next pool maybe two fishermen, and the rest of the
stream would be empty, despite miles of excellent water in beautiful
surroundings, and lots of trout.

On one visit, I decided to have a little fun with the first pool sports.
Half a dozen or so fellows were crowed into the pool, casting a little
frantically, trying to catch a fish in front of the other guys in some sort
of bizzare male dominance ritual. Somewhat type A myself, I decided to join
the fray. Dog and I stepped into the pool, and Rusty immediately went to
the center and shook himself with a great splash, which certainly got the
attention of the other fellows. I'm sure at this point they were admiring
such a handsome dog, and probably my vintage Wright & McGill Dandy rod and
Precisionbilt Mosquito reel as well, as these poor fellows had only new
shiney Orvis gear to play with.

I tied on a Spruce Creek and ripped it through the fast current at the tail
of the pool, and immediately had a nice rainbow on. After releasing the the
fish, I remarked, "C'mon Rusty, these fish are too easy to catch here.," and
we went upstream. I'm sure it made those fellows day to see such a pair of
fine fisherman as Rusty and me were. I don't believe anyone ever had a
finer fishing buddy than Rusty was.


One thing that does happen to me while fishing - them durn wimmins staring.
Let me point out that I'm not an attractive fellow. My last date used the
phrase "freak of nature". Picture the unholy love child of Mr. Bean and
Lurch, hit in the face by a truck. Now ugly it up a little. I'm nobody's
%$#@ dream date.

And yet, when I'm in the stream looking like I'm swatting bees with an
oversized blade of grass, women sit and watch. They stare. Groups of young
girls sit watching. Women in long skirts come seemingly out of nowhere into
the middle of a gorge and photograph us. They turn their easels around and
start painting us. The stop and make small talk. WTFF. When I meet a
woman in a normal social situation and ask her for a date, she screams "What
ARE You?!!" and runs away screaming and flailing her arms over her head.
When I've clearly got something more interesting to do - fishing - they come
crawling out of the rocks like hellgramites. Go away, I'm married to the
sea, dammit.

Unless, of course, she has a 4WD with a beach permit.

Timothy Juvenal

rw wrote in message om...

I made a joke about
scaring the fish, greeted his parents politely, and moved on,
more-or-less like the guy with the dog.

When I lived in Boulder, CO, people (and dogs) were regular
interruptions to fishing in the in-town portion of the creek.
More than once I had people deliberately throw sticks in the
pool I was fishing so their lab would jump in (we're talking
8'x10' pools here -- it's a creek). They never got a rise out
of me.

I agree that the best way to handle it is politeness if that's
all you can manage -- but friendliness a la rw above is even
better. There's always other pools to fish. If we fishermen
start "reacting" to the rest of the public, that'll be the
fastest way to get water in "busy" places closed to fishing,
and it'll be one more notch in the anti's campaign against
blood sports.

Another thing with fly-fishing in places with other people --
always be aware of your backcast. I've seen guys taking their
backcast right over busy walking trails without ever checking
for people. Bad, bad, image for us ffpeople.

Remember, you represent all of us when you fish.

Jon.

rw wrote in message om...

I made a joke about
scaring the fish, greeted his parents politely, and moved on,
more-or-less like the guy with the dog.

When I lived in Boulder, CO, people (and dogs) were regular
interruptions to fishing in the in-town portion of the creek.
More than once I had people deliberately throw sticks in the
pool I was fishing so their lab would jump in (we're talking
8'x10' pools here -- it's a creek). They never got a rise out
of me.

I agree that the best way to handle it is politeness if that's
all you can manage -- but friendliness a la rw above is even
better. There's always other pools to fish. If we fishermen
start "reacting" to the rest of the public, that'll be the
fastest way to get water in "busy" places closed to fishing,
and it'll be one more notch in the anti's campaign against
blood sports.

Another thing with fly-fishing in places with other people --
always be aware of your backcast. I've seen guys taking their
backcast right over busy walking trails without ever checking
for people. Bad, bad, image for us ffpeople.

Remember, you represent all of us when you fish.

Jon.

Jonathan Cook wrote

I agree that the best way to handle it is politeness if that's
all you can manage -- but friendliness a la rw above is even
better. There's always other pools to fish. If we fishermen
start "reacting" to the rest of the public, that'll be the
fastest way to get water in "busy" places closed to fishing,
and it'll be one more notch in the anti's campaign against
blood sports.

"blood sport" would be a perfect description of what kind of activity
someone who tossed a stick into a pool where james macdonald roberts was
fishing would become engaged in, and right away.

not that that's a *good* thing...

yfitons
wayno

I am, and I figured you had mutated long ago, but I believe that it involves
more than an additional toe.

Mark
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 22:47:10 -0400, "Mark H. Bowen"
wrote:

You've gotta actually get out and fish first Dickie!
And, are you absolutely certain about that guy thing. One never really
knows, medium
being what is and all that, ya know?

mark

I know what you mean...I've always suspected that you were really a
miniature poodle called "Francoise" that had miraculously learned to
type...

HTH,
Dickie
...hey, last time I had to count to 11, I was a guy...

I am, and I figured you had mutated long ago, but I believe that it involves
more than an additional toe.

Mark
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 22:47:10 -0400, "Mark H. Bowen"
wrote:

You've gotta actually get out and fish first Dickie!
And, are you absolutely certain about that guy thing. One never really
knows, medium
being what is and all that, ya know?

mark

I know what you mean...I've always suspected that you were really a
miniature poodle called "Francoise" that had miraculously learned to
type...

HTH,
Dickie
...hey, last time I had to count to 11, I was a guy...

wrote in message
...
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.

i don't know that we had attitude, but we certainly had our own agendas....


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.

that's what i figured




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?

well, if that were the case he would have done much better with a line like,
"god, you have a nice.....cast." ;-)

snakefiddler


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

wrote in message
...
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.

i don't know that we had attitude, but we certainly had our own agendas....


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.

that's what i figured




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?

well, if that were the case he would have done much better with a line like,
"god, you have a nice.....cast." ;-)

snakefiddler


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

In article ,
"snakefiddler" wrote:

i
thanked him, said i appreciated it, to which he replied, 'no problem."
so, who has the "right of way?" naturally, i think i do. i was there
first, and he could take his dog to another part of the stream.
any of ya'll had this happen- what did you do?

You must be one ugly chick. Slofly says you ugly chicks should just
kill yourself.

In article ,
"snakefiddler" wrote:

i
thanked him, said i appreciated it, to which he replied, 'no problem."
so, who has the "right of way?" naturally, i think i do. i was there
first, and he could take his dog to another part of the stream.
any of ya'll had this happen- what did you do?

You must be one ugly chick. Slofly says you ugly chicks should just
kill yourself.