I like to pick "paths" or "routes" down the river...meaning, choose an area of the river where I can fish down through a succession of varying types of holding water. Usually I find the distance covered can vary quite a bit anywhere from 1 km and up, sometimes way up... I will come to the end of this route, and step out and hike back up to where I started. Once at the beginning, I can opt to go through again or move on.
The interesting thing is, if you follow this pattern of fishing or anything similar, you never run into any problems unless someone who is parked in a spot, takes offence. Fishing on the move, you can vary the amount of time you spend on different types of water, and stay in sequence a suitable distance behind the anglers in front of you. Everybody fishes the same water, and nobody is bumping into each other...smooth.
Having said that, I have no problem with someone staying in one spot for the day. I do however, expect that if I can tolerate that way of fishing, then, in return, they should tolerate mine.
What really needs to be said here is, when fishing the vedder,
if your fishing "on the move", so to speak, and wanting to fish through a run with stationary anglers present, indicate your intent, politely and to the point. If you're staying put, fishing stationary, and see anglers fishing their way down to you, recognize they are fishing on the move, be patient, let them fish through, they won't be there long...
Then enjoy the rest of your day.
There have been days when I have fished stationary, usually it is when I have gone fishing with people that are very old or very young, or incapacitated in some way. Less suited to what can be a fairly rigorous style of fishing. In these cases anglers fished through and everything went smoothly. I would ask my fishing partners if they wanted to break for a coffee and out came the thermous. I'd then motion to those fishing on the move, to go ahead and fish through. In what usually lasts all of 5 minutes, and maybe 5-10 casts per person all of over the pool, rarely casting to the same spot twice, the anglers would work their way down and through.
It works just fine as long as anglers understand the difference in the styles of fishing, and regardless of which one they choose to employ, they recognize how things need to be done in order for the two styles to interact. As long as people begin to accept that, things will improve. Keep an eye on the anglers around you, recognize the style of fishing they are employing, and act accordingly. Don't be afraid to politely interact. Accounts of events after the fact, discribing so called heated confrontations on the river, more often than not are skewed in both directions, and do little good to solve the problem.
My 2 cents,
rib
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Topic: Vedder Etiquete (Read 16841 times)