i found myself in chilliwak on a rare occasion, i dont like fishing this area but the weather and situation seemd perfect to spend a couple hours swinging a fly.
I fished a skagit spey with a squamish poacher both in black and orange. I was getting excellent swings in the low water and it hought clarity was good. Air temp dipped drastically over the first hour to close to zero as the snow started falling.
I have a minor rant, or more of a curiousity. The run i fished was very long about 500 meters from riffle to tailout.
I noticed 3 guys fishing the middle part and one on the top. All of them were working their way down as i approached from the very bottom. I stood there at the bottom and as they got withing 200 meters, waiting for them to open up a spot at the top of the run. I was always taught to NEVER enter a run below a fisherman, especially when they are working downstream. Obvious right? common sense? right? fish are pointed upstream. So i hiked up above all of them to near the top of the run. i didnt go to the top just in case someone wanted to start the run above me at the same time. Instead, over the course of 5 min, 2 of the guys - with 500 meters of free run to choose from and keep going, decide to hike up and enter and fish right below me, with my swing almost hitting their legs as i am clearly working downstream along the run.
i have No questions as i dont suppose to understand inconsiderate people and it isnt a serious situation. but this baffles me as i went to every effort to give everyone their proper fishing room. It doesnt matter that they were gear fishermen, etiquette is etiquette and i fish baitcasters also but would never bud into a run.
So if I understand you correctly, some guys were fishing a run, you moved in above them and proceeded to fish the same run, and they decided to restart the run just below you, instead of going an extra 500m back up to the head of the run? And this made you mad, since they didn't go back up to the top and start again?
I know if I had just missed a fish, and someone started moving into the run I was fishing, I'd probably do what they did, and not go all the way back to the head, but go back up 50m or so and work through again, since most fish won't move that far when you miss them. I wouldn't begrudge anyone that did the same, infact they might have thought you the inconsiderate one moving in on the run they were working floggin away with your fly. They also might have thought the run wasn't a big 500m stretch, but broken up into several smaller sections.
Personally if someone is in a run, and I still want to fish it, I try to work around them as best as possible. They were there first, so I give them the right of way, and never assume they know about rotational angling, let alone heard of it before. Some people fence post, and don't mind you working through the run, especially if you ask, others might as well be fence posting for the snail's pace they that moving through a run, and others push through trying to cover as much water as they can as quickly as they can. You've got short floaters, fly flossers, float flossers, and all sorts of people out there with a different attitude and expectation. To each their own. Most just want to fish their little piece of water in peace, with whatever technique they are comfortable with.
Now if you were walking to an area, and some guys ran into the spot seeing you coming, not cool. If you're fishing a run and someone decided they need to fish on top of you, not cool. If you just hooked or missed a fish, and they move into your spot, really not cool.
Best bet, talk to them without the first words being "hey a$$hat". They may have no clue, or they may just be a jerk, or they might think you're the jerk.
Worst case it's a big river, with lots of places to fish.