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[canso]

I've heard that argument before, Sandman, but I still can't picture myself casting over the fish upstream.
Also, one would have to reel in /strip like a maniac to get any sort of gain over the slack/belly that will form with the line drifting downstream towards you. Not conducive to detecting bites if they occur.
Maybe on very slow and shallower runs...

nymphing is always done upstream.

[Silex-user]

 I wish more old-timers chimed in.
[/quote]

I not sure if I am qualified as "old timer" or not but what you said, Milo is  very straight forward and I can not say any better.

Being fishing the Chill-Vedder for steelhead for 32 yrs and I have seem lots changes. But attitudes  towards the fisheries is more conversation concern these days whereas, in my early days of steeheading crowds were less and there more fish to be catch. Limits was quite liberal, barb hooks was allow and for brief period wild steelheads was allow to be killed when I first started steeheading.

I go steelheading  not to prove to anybody that or brag about how many steelies I caught or how many hatchery clones I killed but to enjoy, relax and B.S with other friendly fisherman that is what steelheading meant to me. I do not take pictures of steelheads anymore and one that I do catch are in my memories that will last for long times.

Enjoy.


Silex-user

[fisher man]

okay I'm open for suggestions, but my opinion is the river is just to busy to have a syncronized system. I find old timers and newbie's breaking ettiquite. last time i was there there were people fishing from top of a run, people coming in from the bottom, people posting in one spot, people fishing from the bank from the other side, people fishing the opposite side going in opposite direction(around a poster), people fishing a run at different paces. This is just one spot.
I was at a spot as first light came and i guess i had a old timers spot so mr. ettiquitte stood 5 feet away from me and made sure he got his drift and told me young guys have no rules and what's the matter you think it's your river.
We ended up talking it out and we all got along,
It goes to show that if theres a known holding water, watch out ettiquite.

[blaydRnr]

i follow two very simple rules.

1 Never walk in below someone working a run.

2 Always leave ample room for the person below you and if someone is fence posting...ask to leap frog  (*reminder*)  there's 40kms of river that i can't possibly cover in a day.

[penn]

I think you may have missed the point of Penn's comments. I echo his sentiments in that the Vedder/Chilliwack is a river system frequented by a wide variety of fishermen both in experience and style/expertise as well as attitude. If you are going to fish a river system like the Vedder and expect everyone to use "conventional techniques" that demonstrate "proper etiquette", then you will always be disappointed.

I can't imagine fishing a river and coming away upset each time. Your experience on the river is what you make it, not what someone else makes it......

This is correct Sandman . I understand etiquette , it just is not practical(some of the suggestions being made here) all the time and there is no one-size fits all "rules" that apply everywhere . 
For instance , I never said I fish a run backwards as some seemed to understand my post . I pointed out that often guys end up hiking UPSTREAM and fish as they go . Do you or any others who object to the idea only ever hike downstream ? What if you went a mile downstream and you don't have a return vehicle waiting at the bottom , do you walk all the way back with no fishing ? Or do you walk to the top end of every run , no matter how long it is , and fish it top to bottom and then do every run that way all the way back up steam for a mile or more as you are returning? Do you ,if you should see a guy 500 yards upstream go all the way up even if he's at the very top of a stretch and stand 50 feet above him and follow him down ? For that matter what if there's a guy 500yds above you and you walk all the way up only to spot another guy up past him and another past that guy , where do you start ? Go home ?This is the Chilliwack and these ideas more often than not , don't work here and you might as well go home if you follow these rules to the letter .
 Sometimes common sense comes into play is what I was trying to say . There are other reasons for hiking upstream too such as the fact that as the river winds around in some places , you have to do this , to get to certain areas due to the geography. Who goes a mile or two upstream with out fishing at all - no one I've ever seen at the Chilliwack . Every single guy I've observed does this in certain spots , unless they are racing to a specific spot . But generally guys go upstream and then return  , fishing both ways as they go .
No I don't low-hole guys and that is not what I'm suggesting , even though it happens to me all the time . Had it happen to me yesterday many times . When guys are doing that to you  , then just leap frog them back and don't worry about it . Like wise guys who are fence posting .Nothing unethical about fenceposting either BTW , kinda boring , but up each guy . I've run into some old timers who fence post because they can't walk far any more and some who like a certain spot to wait for fish to move through , nothing wrong with it .
As far as me referring to "rules " instead of etiquette , the way some have presented it , that is exactly the way it comes across . Some saying things like ," no matter how slow a guy moves downstream you don't pass him , you just sit down and wait " comes across as just that , rules , and smacks of elitism not etiquette .

[Sandman]

Penn, I was referring to your comment "Good luck with your enforcement of these rules."  As I said, etiquette is a set of conventions, not rules to be enforced. As such, they are much more beneficial on crowded rivers than on less crowded rivers (if there is no one else around, then it really doesn't matter how you fish, does it?).   By practicing good etiquette, you can ensure that everyone enjoys the day on the river.  The approach that we see practiced on the Vedder is, in a word, selfish (as long as I get my drift in, screw everyone else).

As for your comments about working a river upstream, I want to point out that the whole concept of rotational angling is in reference to specific runs, not about kilometer long sections of the river (which likely contains any number of separate runs, riffles, and pools).  There are very few "runs" on the Vedder that are 500 meters long (that would be 5 football fields).  While you can certainly start fishing in between two anglers fishing a kilometer long stretch of river, I would hope you would not step into the same "run" below another angler.   

It really doesn't matter to me how you hike the river, but I personally will often hike back up a couple of kilometers to my car without stopping to fish water I have already fished. Like wise, I have hiked a kilometer up the river to fish back down to my car (there is a spot mid river where I do this all the time).  While I am fishing specific "runs" I almost exclusively fish down the flow, especially if there are other anglers fishing the same section as they will most likely be fishing in the same direction as I.  Even when I am alone I will fish a run from the riffle to the tail-out, and then walk back up if I want to work it again (maybe dead drift it this time with a floating line).  Perhaps the fact that I fly-fish plays a factor in the number of times I work upstream against the flow (it is simply easier to work the run from top down, stepping down a couple of feet every couple of casts).

[milo]

nymphing is always done upstream.

Really? I know that you cast upstream, but I didn't know you also work your way upstream. 
You sure of this?

[dennyman]

Working a river upstream is done usually on smaller streams or creeks while trout fishing.  If you approach trout walking upriver, there is less chance of you spooking the fish and taking them off the bite. Now with Steelhead you have to think a little differently. The fish has come into the river to spawn. They are not going to be  taking residence in a prime lie of the river. Therefore fishing for them while working a river downstream makes a lot of sense.

[penn]

I'm all for etiquette Sandman don't get me wrong . When I'm commenting on "rules" I wasn't directing it at stuff you commented . Some of the other stuff being passed off as etiquette I don't see as such , as I already pointed out above . Some guys saying stuff like "no matter how slow a guy is moving along " I got an issue with . If you are a guy who wants to work a long run one foot at a time on crowed river and it takes you an hour to get through it , and you are expecting all that water down below you to be your own exclusive water , you are not practicing etiquette ,  just  elitist selfishness under the guise of etiquette , and are nothing more than a fence poster wanting a whole run for your self in reality .
That's what I'm getting at and if you are like that , like I said , good luck with your enforcement and have a nice day doing it .
One other point , if you want guys to start above you , give them some reasonable space above you , like move along or expect they are going in below you . Don't expect hog large stretches for yourself . If I see a guy way at the very top end of a large stretch of river and he occupies that space for any length of time , I'm not sitting down waiting .
I don't have confrontations at the river . I ask guys if they are moving down etc. , most say go ahead past if they are being slow in one area . I myself move along pretty fast . Like some have mentioned,guys do move at different speeds , common sense and courtesy go a long way most of time .

[canso]

Really? I know that you cast upstream, but I didn't know you also work your way upstream. 
You sure of this?

Yes walking up stream casting in front of you is common practice for trout.
Vedder is a different story.
Just pointing out not all fishing is downwards.

[opwins]

I see a lot of folks taking 3 or 4 casts and moving down the run almost running it seems.  I personally like to stay for a good 10min, sometimes 15min and working my way down a run covering all the water I feel is right according to the river situation.  Im not sure but I guess Im fence posting according to this thread, but its what I feel works for me and I feel satisfied about covering the water im fishing.  

I think everyone has a different pace and what is right or wrong is debatable,  but its amazing how far a simple "hello" or "hows it going" seems to go to keeping the peace so to speak....

[milo]

Working a river upstream is done usually on smaller streams or creeks while trout fishing.  If you approach trout walking upriver, there is less chance of you spooking the fish and taking them off the bite. Now with Steelhead you have to think a little differently. The fish has come into the river to spawn. They are not going to be  taking residence in a prime lie of the river. Therefore fishing for them while working a river downstream makes a lot of sense.

Yes walking up stream casting in front of you is common practice for trout.
Vedder is a different story.
Just pointing out not all fishing is downwards.

Thanks for clarifying, guys. 
I don't chase trout in moving waters, only on lakes, so I wouldn't know.

[penn]

I see a lot of folks taking 3 or 4 casts and moving down the run almost running it seems.  I personally like to stay for a good 10min, sometimes 15min and working my way down a run covering all the water I feel is right according to the river situation.  Im not sure but I guess Im fence posting according to this thread, but its what I feel works for me and I feel satisfied about covering the water im fishing.  

I think everyone has a different pace and what is right or wrong is debatable,  but its amazing how far a simple "hello" or "hows it going" seems to go to keeping the peace so to speak....

That's probably about the pace I do for a good run , I wouldn't think of you as a fence poster . But I have seen guys way down stream from  me,I'm working the water at a pace like you describe and get upto the guy below me with out detecting a single step down . Ask him if he's moving down , only to have him tell me he is , when I can't see any . That IMO is fence posting and will move past him leaving him decent space of course , but he don't own all the water below him . He's just trying to be a hog , unless of course he says go ahead move past , that is .

I had a couple guys doing just that , stayed in one spot for a long time because they had caught a fish there , but they did tell me to go ahead past . I was probably about 100 yds downstream when I caught a fish , and suddenly they started moving down stream too , but made no move until I caught one .
But like you said all was good because everyone involved was polite .

[Matt]

nymphing is always done upstream.

That isn't correct.  Can be done downstream, across the current or upstream.

[islanddude]

I started fishing for steelhead on the vedder in 1966.There was a lot more fish and less fisherpeople.Moved to Vancouver Island in 1978.I returned to fish  the Vedder-chilli. system up untill 1992.More and more people fishing and less room to fish.I fish with a center-pin so casting space is about 15ft. between fisherman both upstream and down stream from me.I had a few altercations with people trying to fish between the person above and below me.If they won't listen to reason,a float or sinker bouncing off there head drives the point home. Call me what you want over that statement. As for the rest of the water you can fish above me or below me.If you catch a fish and have to chase it downstream to land it do people give you back the area that you were fishing iin? That is my question for you who have to fish in ever increasing crowds.