Fly Fishing & Etiquette

One of the 5 major catagories on the oral portion MCCI exam, is ETIQUETTE. It joins the topics of, CASTING, TACKLE/EQUIPEMENT, TEACHING, and FISHING.

This morning a message came through to me from Al Crise's Study group. It consists of some questions by Al on FISHING and STREAM ETIQUETTE. The answers, from Gary Davison are very good....... worth sharing with all of you. Questions are in blue type. Gary's answers are in bold black. Al's comments follow in brown type :-

From Gary

You are going to fish a good trout stream in Yellowstone park. The stream is 30-40 ft wide.

Clear banks back to 25 ft were the trees start. Most of the creek is 4-7 feet deep. With a few logs protruding into the easy flow.

1) What should you have done before you got to the stream? Put my waders on, prepare my rod and figure out if I am going up stream or down stream for the day. (General rule of thumb, Up= Dry fly on top, Down= wet fly down deeper, However do not limit yourself to the rules, experiment and explore all the possibilities). Picked out what patterns to use for the day based in the time of year and conditions.

Buy and carry a license. Was there an bear activity in the area you are headed?
Know your local and state regulations. Do not trespass.

In high country you will need one more bottle of water then you normally use. Take extra. Did you "File a Float Plan" Telling someone where you are heading is just a good idea. Some anglers will place a note on the windshield telling how many, which way and about when they expect to return.

Was this a Barbless waters, Lead is not allowed.

Some areas of the park are closed at times for spawning. Other rivers for water that gets to warm They close them at noon to fishing.

Be sure you know the local Ethics as well as the Law.

2) What tackle would you use?

Rod: 4 to 7 wt mid flex rod. Probably rated at 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 of which 10 is the stiffer tip flex rod.

Line: up stream 5 to 7wt. WF-F, Down stream WF-F with sink tip or weighted line.

Leader: Depends on conditions. Clear gin water is the norm with light to delicate presentation up stream with dry fly would have a tendency to use a longer leader if dictated 12 max. 7 1/2' least. Down stream leader would be 9' to 7 1/2' length. Range of 3 X to 6 X leader depending on fly.

Rule of 3 or 4

Fly: 10 to 18 hook on average could go up or down depending.

3) How would you make your first cast? First I would make sure no one is fishing or reading the water I plan to fish. Once I determined that no other angler's were there, I would then spend some time reading the water. I would be looking for pockets, riffles, seams, or edges of the stream I would like to fish before casting. This would all be done at some distance away from the waters edge so as not to spook any of the fish in the stream.

From My first cast would probably be from the bank. Reason being I would not want to spook any of the fish closest to the bank by just rushing into the stream.

To: I would cast to the closest area to me from the bank that would appear to harbor a safe haven for the fish.

What else: Then work progressively back from the bank until the entire area from near bank to far bank was explored by me and my fly. I would then enter the water and begin my track either up or down steam.

This is one of my pet peeves. Traveling miles to fish the best of waters. The angler jumps in his waders stomps to mid-stream and starts casting. Most likely putting most of the fish down or to the next pool. Take the time to Stop, Look, Study and Then fish the waters you are thinking of standing in from 2 rod lengths away.

Note if I saw another angler viewing the same area of the stream and he or she was there first, I would yield the stream to him or her based on being there first and having rights to the waters. I would then move to a safe distance as not to disturb his or her fishing either up or down steam.

4) Describe the cast(s) you might use. All of them! (This is my only short answer Al ;o)

Make each cast with as little disturbance and keep 'the fly first'

Also be thinking of or planing how you are going to be fighting the fish. Where are you standing, (Often the banks along the rivers in Yellowstone have tunneling under the banks. Stepping in one of these or breaking through can sure end a fight.)

Fast water and wet rock can make for poor footing. Plan the fight and landing.

Be a little bit of a 'story teller' if you want. Have fun with this one

Depends on the condition, area surrounding you. Is it windy or do you have restrictions around you to limit your back casting. Weigh your options, analyze the possibilities and implement.

Terrain will change as you move along the river. Some high banks would dictate roll casting or single hand spey casts to meet the challenge. Over heads with very high trajectory would be a must in many cases, to cast over a high banks of brush behind you. Casting up and down the river due to steep bank of trees or bluff behind you at which point you would then pull around and make a single spey cast to the target. Thank God these options are open to us, if we explore them. Stringing a couple of cast together like the example above will be a necessity to meet the challenge of the river. That is why Al has you casting in extremes to meet the challenges that confront you. What we call your bag of tricks will keep you in the game. That is why it is imperative to practice, practice, and then practice some more until these casts become second nature to you.

Right on

5) You have hooked up a strong running fish.

Tell about the Fight: Saviour the moment but not too long. Especially if catch and release is your plan. Do not over work the fish if release is the plan. Maintain the 90 degree rod angle to fight the fish. Maintain adequate drag on the reel for the fight. Give and take and let your rod do most of the work. They were designed for that purpose.

The 90 degree rule is from the rod butt to the fish. This keeps the rod from damage and put the rod where the tip is able to take the shock of a sudden run or change of direction.

Landing: If terrain permits you can beach the fish if you plan on keeping the game, if not then the net will be needed. If netting the fish, I usually take the rod in one hand once I have control of the fish, and push the rod back away from me while I dip down and net the fish in front of me with the other hand. This allows you to maintain that 90 degree rule or angle with the fish without putting undue stress on the rod.

Releasing: It may take some time to revive the fish after capture. Maybe longer than the time it took you to catch the fish. Try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible. Do not over due the picture session if so inclined. Work the fish back and forth in the water until the fish is revived and has enough strength to swim away from you on it's own power.

6) You encounter another fisher what do you do?

They are:

A) Standing watching a run: Move down or up steam giving him or her plenty of water to fish with out disturbing their waters being fished. They were there first so they have water rights. You need to respect their space and the fact that they were there first.

B) Walking down stream. If I am fishing up stream I have right of way. Those fishing down steam should leave the water a good distance up steam from me and walk down steam a good distance away from the bank to a good distance down stream from where they can then enter the water. If I am down stream fishing and not moving fast enough for them, they need to leave the water and move down stream to a decent amount of distance and re-enter the water. However they should let me know out of courtesy that they are moving down stream from my position.

C) Making repeated cast on a Riff. As above exit the water and move down river or up river accordingly and enter at a good distance so as not to disturb the anglers waters.

Note: Steelhead fishing as an example: Usually down stream deep water fishing, Normally in a river setting if wide enough you can fish a stretch of water that many anglers want to fish. Under these condition it is traditional for a lot of anglers to line up in the river and make a cast and fish out the cast, and then take a step or two down river to make your next cast. They do this until they fish out the stretch of water. This is the process for all the anglers in that stretch of the water. Once you have fished through the section you can move back up stream to the starting point and fish the section again and again during a day of fishing. It is considered poor etiquette to stay over one spot for more then one cast. You should make your cast and move on down the river so other anglers to have a chance. Just thought this may be of interest.

D) Fighting a fish. If you are in an area where another angler above or below you is fighting a fish. You should reel in your line and exit the water until the fish has been landed. Once landed you can return to the water where you were locate and continue your trip down or up river or stream.

Note: with the example above for Steelhead fishing the person that catches a fish has to exit the water and take care of his game. Once he has left the water with a fish he or she can not enter the river again to fish. Etiquette dictates that they should return to the starting place in the river stretch and wait their turn to fish the waters again. However if they lose the fish in the fight they do not lose their place in the river. They may return and fish out the waters at their original position in the river.

All the best

Gary Davison