American Report for 1-12-13

[Mark Kranhold]

Well said Rippinstreamers! Some days can be a little frustrating but then again we all need to be thankful what we have in our backyard.

[Rherrjr]

@rippin
that was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time lol thank you! Especially since I have yet to get one on the A this year and have been feeling rather silly complaining about that fact, yet I am still snap T'in til the sun goes down lol

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

My friend Al Perryman always said that the Lower American River is where we can hone your skills and learn how to fly fish on a river for several species of migratory fish.

Then when we travel to distant rivers with larger runs of fish we will have a better chance to catch something on a fly.

You are very lucky if you live near one of our nice valley rivers so you can go out more often to practice, learn and possibly catch something.

There are several good fly fishing instructors now in Sacramento who teach different aspects of fly fishing on the Lower American River.

http://www.kiene.com/instruction/

.

[Jed Peters]

To be high holed though seems a little harsh of a statement, which direction were you fishing out of the boat? These were fly fisherman? I managed to fish almost every day last week and only saw other fisherman when I went to go check out the circus up river, again it is inevitable. Most folks dont even know that they are doing wrong, go up to the hatchery and they gang up on the fish shoulder to shoulder hoping to assist their buddies catch. As far as the uber cool spey dorks go, I am a spey fisherman and that seems a little harsh too. What happens on your encounters with these cool kids, do they give you a hipster look and tell you that they are better than you? I enjoy swinging flies on the american because a lot of the water is perfect for it, not because I think I'm cool. Folks do it to follow tradition on their quest to hook these special fish too, not to try to be better than anyone else because the results are typically the opposite. with all that I will end in this.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7620...uy-v-swing-guy

We were backrowing through a run when a guy basically walked in right to the water we were fishing and "essentially" told us to f-off, that the water wasn't private, blah blah. Yes, these are fly fisherman.

The spey guys I've seen that are newbies (I fish probably 4 days a week lower river--between sun up and 8:30am--and it's pretty much always the same crew of old school guys) that totally have the flat-bill-hat-bro-brah attitude. Yes, when in a boat chucking bobbers it's nearly always the attitude. If you spend time on rivers you can feel it, and know it when you feel it.

FYI, the american sucks for swinging flies. However, like you, it's the way I fish as well. The bobbers come out a couple times a year when fishing out of a boat, or going with family, or the like. But because I 2hand fish I don't have attitude. When I was fishing last year in montana on various rivers I didn't think i was better because I only fished the dry, etc.

I'm seeing the bro-brah thing more and more with our 2hand brethren, and it is worrisome. That's all.

[lee s.]

Hummmm.....
Guess this thread is proof positive that the Creator did indeed screw up at least once. He seems to have absolutely created many more horse's asses than He did horses.
.....lee s.
P.S. You don't necessarily have to go or be fishing to find them.....they're everywhere, I tell you.

[rippinstreamers]

Sorry Jed if my reply came off the wrong way, not trying to chose any sides here, thanks for your explanation. I believe I know of the kind of guys you speak of, the river gangsters, making sure that you know that they look like skagitmasters while standing in the river. sorry for the bad experience out there, I think we have all enjoyed one of these special moments where people really need to fish that same spot you are. lee, good one.

[Steelin' Time]

[QUOTE=Jed Peters; that totally have the flat-bill-hat-bro-brah attitude. .......I'm seeing the bro-brah thing more and more with our 2hand brethren, and it is worrisome. That's all.[/QUOTE]

[B]Jed, in all seriousness, what does this mean? Thanks in advance for your reply.

I reply to a post on this forum about as often as I fish the American River, maybe twice per year. I do steelhead fish a fair amount,though, generally between 20 days and 40 days (full days, 9-10 hours each day) per winter season. I fish solo from a full-sized DB and pass a fair number of bank fisherman, both conventional and fly fishers, in any given season.

My experiences are 99% positive will all shore anglers. Last week, on the SFE, I passed by 4-5 spey fishers during the week and spent some amount of time chatting with each of them. None of them had any type of attitude, other than being pleasant. Most trips to the SFE, I run into Jason Hartwick with a couple of spey anglers greatly overpaying Jason to float them around in his raft. We always visit as we pass and fish just fine together in a given stretch of river. I didn't see Jason this past week, come to think of it.

Last week, I also had a visit with a fellow with a single-handed rod and an indicator and another with a 13-14 ft. rod with a center-pin reel, pitching a dink float with two glo bugs under it. Everyone, even the unwashed bait fisherman in DB's or on shore, was pleasant. Of course, lots of active steelies will do wonders for everyone's countenance!

I am closer to 60 than 50, at this point in time. I appreciate my time on the river more at this stage of life than ever before. How long will I be physically able to run my DB all day while fishing? 10 more season? 15 seasons? 3 more seasons? I think part of the reason I get along so well with everyone I see on the river is because I love to be on the water, I enjoy every minute of it and it shows. If you greet everyone with a smile and a hello, most will respond in like fashion. The others? Not my worry.

I hope to fish the American this week for the first time this season. I will take along an old-timer from church, who is 82 years old, who joins me for a couple of steelhead outings and a couple of evenings of shad fishing every year. We will have a good time and lots of laughs, we will cook some bratwurst in my DB for lunch and will likely get a fish or two. Looking forward to it!

[the_gnarwhale]

The spey guys I've seen that are newbies (I fish probably 4 days a week lower river--between sun up and 8:30am--and it's pretty much always the same crew of old school guys) that totally have the flat-bill-hat-bro-brah attitude.

Jed, honest question, how long have you been spey/steelhead fishing? If I rolled up onto someone only to realize it was Zane Gray reincarnate himself, I wouldn't be all that friendly.

[Mike R]

Here's the deal. There isn't enough water for everyone. I feel like I'm beating the same drum here but when you are fishing any of our small, urban rivers (F,Y,A) you have to carry a different set of etiquette with you.

1. You probably won't be able to have the whole run to yourself. Don't expect that you'll never be low holed, high holed, or low and high holed.

2.You are going to have run-ins with drift boats. Work together to stay out of each other's hair. So what if you fish the same water. They're gonna be gone in a few minutes. Move UPSTREAM, they can't.

3. You are going to have run-ins with shore anglers. If you are in a DB, don't float a run in front of them and then backrow up to float it over and over. You have the ability to cover a lot more water than them, so do it.

4. It doesn't matter if you've been fishing for 87 years and were best friends with Lefty Kreh, you have no more right to be there than some newb in a flatbilled cap who can't spey cast his way out of a paper bag. YOU DON'T OWN THE RIVER. Age and treachery do not give water rights.

5. If you're the newb in a flatbilled cap who can't spey cast his way out of a paper bag, maybe shut yer pie-hole and listen to the guy who's been fishing for 87 years and was best friends with Lefty Kreh, you might learn something.

Ok, I'm done.

[WinterrunRon]

Ok, I can't help myself...

Mike R, I like it! Only thing I kind of disagree with is that there is water for everyone, but like most things that are public, you have to be willing to share. And the river is a very public place.

It's funny how we fishermen label other fishermen into categories of how we dress, what gear we use, what type rod we use, what length of rod we use, whether we use bait or spinners or flies, whether we stand on the bank, wade in the river, drift in a boat, fish guided or unguided, fish above redds, below redds, over redds and the list goes on...

Labeling really isn't fair, honest or accurate. In my fishing experience, the ONLY conclusion I can draw is considerate people are almost always considerate and idiots are almost always idiots... and my guess would be it's pervasive in every aspect of their life and not reserved for the river. And, by the way, I've been in each of the categories I mention above at one point or another, so I have no idea how I would be labeled anyway.

Every year beginning January 1st, I try and fish daily at some point throughout the month of January. I almost am never there more than two hours, but I may make more than one trip/day to the river (I'm blessed to live close by). 99% of it is at Sailor's Bar from the bank. And I'd simply like to state in defense of the people I come into contact with, that most of them I meet are cordial, easy to talk to and considerate. But honestly, most of the time I don't speak a word to anyone. We just seem to coexist in harmony at the river's edge without a spoken word. And every type of fisherman I listed above is present, on both sides of the banks, daily!

Coexisting on the river isn't rocket science, it's common sense stuff, just like everywhere else. You fish the way you want to, others will fish the way they want to, if you cross paths with an idiot or don't like what you see/hear, my advice... be patient until they leave/pass, or simply move above them, below them or leave the river for another stretch or perhaps come back another day. If they are doing something illegal, report them.

They are not going to change who they are, or who they think they are, between the ears, for you.

Ok, I'm done too.