duaneredford.com   "Fear No Water"

Hey Folks,

The South Platte is being a bit cranky this week with a lot of shelf, anchor and sheet ice.  I stayed off it this week, but thankfully added another day guiding pheasant hunters. Won’t be long before we start seeing the “big midge”, then Blue Wings, then Caddis.

Can’t wait.  With good weather, plentiful bugs and good flows comes anglers.  Not just any anglers, all anglers.   The hard core guys will simply transisition from less crowds and skinny water, to hordes of river users and run-off.  We’ve all done it before.  Preachin’ to the choir.

Since we are all using the same hymnal, I gotta ask a favor.  Can we all make an effort to educate those around us on river ettiquette?  Anglers, guides, tubers, waders, kayakers, everyone needs to practice better ettiquette. 

I can’t begin to tell you how often I get high or low holed, pinched or proded to leave a run.  I also see anglers and other guide services setting up shop in one run all day.  Do that for a couple days in a row and it destroys the run.  I watched that happen all last year. People catching the same fish twice, foul hooking on purpose,  poaching, walking through runs after they fish it, smashing redds, leaving crap on willows (flies, tippet), trash, I could whine about it all evening.  I know you folks are adding to my list.  Thing is, we all see it, we can all do something about it.

Last fall, being careful to not throw my shadow on the water above a fly fisherman, I politely asked him which direction he planned to fish the river.  He responded, “Right here.”  Ok, I looked at my clients, mustered the politness up again, and said, “I understand, we are trying to determine which way you plan to fish so we give you plenty of room.  He said, “Right here.”  “Suit yourself”, I said as we walked down stream to my favorite run and proceeded to whack fish below this guy. Had he a hair of sense he would have overcome his arrogance and locked up the run he was in and the one below.

I try to give folks the entire run they’re in the straight above or below it (if I can discern which way they are going), and the next bend.  It’s river dependent, but that’s what I try to do.  I (and other guides I know) will do our best to rotate through runs, it’s not unusual to bypass a small seam or two every now and then to try to give the fish a break.  It’s common sense.

To promote common sense it starts with education, and it begins with us.  A few things to remind other anglers about are:

• Proper fish handling (rubberized net, wet hands, quick, pinch barbs)
• Pictures (quick, no gills, don’t put them on rocks,snow,ice,grass,etc)
• Watch released fish swim away
• Try to keep tangled leader, tippet, etc
• Pack it out
• Give folks a smile, and some damn room
• Don’t cut-off,pinch, or high/low hole
• Don’t “camp” in a run
• Stay off redds
• Don’t disturb fish habitat
• Report poachers
• Calm down, fly fishing is fun

Feel free to add some of your own, I’m sure I’ve missed something.  At the end of the day, we need to educate others on proper ettiquette, because nobody else is.

If you get bored the next time the snow flies, check out my videos on youtube.  Just google search my name and youtube.  As always, let me know what you think, and share this with your friends!

Fear No Water!

Duane