Bassblaster
Active Member
It's sad when a day of fishing is ruined by the actions of others and I've seen many posts on this site regarding boating courtesies. But the three experiences I was either part of or witnessed make me wonder what's happening to not just the manners of our society in general, but especially those in the fishing community where we supposedly have a stronger common bond.
Case in point: my wife and I were out the other morning on the Campbell River fishing for Pinks. As newcomers to the area this was our first experience with fishing a river when, and where, it seems that the rest of the city is fishing it with you.
We found ourselves a bit of elbow room and began enjoying a morning's fishing when a really nice pink took her line through some rocks and snapped it off.
While we were resetting her rig, not 5 feet from the water, three teenage boys and a father came down the trail. Upon seeing no-one standing there with a rod, even though we were right there, the boys charged out into the river and promptly took our spot.
We were stunned. But even more so by the fact that the father, while practically stepping over our rods, wished the boys luck and carried on down the river without saying a thing!
If I had done that to someone as a teenager my father would have pulled me into the bushes and set fire to my A**!
We moved to another area after walking down stream and finding some early fishers leaving with their limits opening a space on the bank. Luck was not with us though and we left empty handed.
But this is just the start.
I returned later in the afternoon after taking my wife to work only to watch an angler snag an elderly ladies line while she was playing a fish. The rod was unfamiliar to her as it belonged to her son and she was having difficulties with it.
While she tried to get the reel to work so she could land the fish the other angler brought the rigs to shore and took the fish! When her son challenged him he rolled the line into a ball and threw it at the son saying, "It's my fish, hers came off!"
But the best was still to come. This same son and mom had brought the kids too, two boys probably twelve and fourteen. The twelve year old had caught a pink and the fisherman next to him was cleaning his catch and offered to clean the boys as well. The father and son thanked the man and the group continued to fish. When they turned around the man was gone, along with the kid's fish!
What the H#LL!! What kind of people take a fish from a kid?!
I'm all for teaching kids to fish and teaching them about wildlife management etc. But for Gods sake teach them some ethics too. And while we're at it lets take a look at how we all behave too. You're never the only one on the water, and if you are, someone will be there behind you.
Extinction is Forever
Case in point: my wife and I were out the other morning on the Campbell River fishing for Pinks. As newcomers to the area this was our first experience with fishing a river when, and where, it seems that the rest of the city is fishing it with you.
We found ourselves a bit of elbow room and began enjoying a morning's fishing when a really nice pink took her line through some rocks and snapped it off.
While we were resetting her rig, not 5 feet from the water, three teenage boys and a father came down the trail. Upon seeing no-one standing there with a rod, even though we were right there, the boys charged out into the river and promptly took our spot.
We were stunned. But even more so by the fact that the father, while practically stepping over our rods, wished the boys luck and carried on down the river without saying a thing!
If I had done that to someone as a teenager my father would have pulled me into the bushes and set fire to my A**!
We moved to another area after walking down stream and finding some early fishers leaving with their limits opening a space on the bank. Luck was not with us though and we left empty handed.
But this is just the start.
I returned later in the afternoon after taking my wife to work only to watch an angler snag an elderly ladies line while she was playing a fish. The rod was unfamiliar to her as it belonged to her son and she was having difficulties with it.
While she tried to get the reel to work so she could land the fish the other angler brought the rigs to shore and took the fish! When her son challenged him he rolled the line into a ball and threw it at the son saying, "It's my fish, hers came off!"
But the best was still to come. This same son and mom had brought the kids too, two boys probably twelve and fourteen. The twelve year old had caught a pink and the fisherman next to him was cleaning his catch and offered to clean the boys as well. The father and son thanked the man and the group continued to fish. When they turned around the man was gone, along with the kid's fish!
What the H#LL!! What kind of people take a fish from a kid?!
I'm all for teaching kids to fish and teaching them about wildlife management etc. But for Gods sake teach them some ethics too. And while we're at it lets take a look at how we all behave too. You're never the only one on the water, and if you are, someone will be there behind you.
Extinction is Forever
