Low-holers WTF!!!!

[Blueracer]

Gary,
You've been fishing the rivers in Nor Cal for a while now?
You sound sincerely surprised so maybe not. Either way the forums are alwaysa place to vent, plenty of us feel and relate to your frustration.

[alcimedor]

I have fished a lot on the Olympic Peninsula (before I got married ), some in Oregon, and a lot in California. Low holing etiquette is a lot different from area to area. On the Peninsula except in a very few fall hatchery run spots, If a boat or angler is in the middle of a run, no-one would fish below them without asking. They would pass between you and the bank if safely possible. If you were at the top, a boat might make a few casts while drifting thru the tailout.
The rudest low-holers and jerks I have seen were in Oregon. On The Chetco, a boat would anchor right below you if there was enough physical room. While fishing fall steelhead on the upper Rogue above Shady Cove, I drifted down to one of my favorite ledge rock spots and got out to wade and swing flies. Guided drift boats had their clients cast flies with big indicators right over my line, or even closer to me, and then rowed back upstream and repeated the drift multiple times. Aside from a few casts which I splashed in the water very close to their boat which they seemed not to notice, I avoided other worse temptations.
I don't know how the establishment of what is OK happens, but there must be a way of pushing things back in the right direction before it drives us away, or deteriorates into combat.
One of my favorite runs on the Eel River has almost no good water on it I have never seen another angler there as I enjoy the solitude steelhead fishing.

[Scott V]

Wait til a boat does it to you. Happened to me the other week. 2 older fly guys saw me catching shad and anchored right below me on top of the fish.

Not many motorized boats with fly guys in them on the American. So if your reading this, which you probably are. YOU FREAKING SUCK!!!! PISS OFF YOU MF'ING JERKS!!

They didn't catch a damn thing while I continued to hook up.

[Sheepdog8404]

Gary,
You've been fishing the rivers in Nor Cal for a while now?
You sound sincerely surprised so maybe not. Either way the forums are alwaysa place to vent, plenty of us feel and relate to your frustration.

Thanks Brian. I'm actually native to northern California but still green when it comes to fishing the lower American. I have felt crowded on some trout streams up in the Sierras. But what I have experienced on the American lately during shad season is just unreal.

[bigfly]

I've been on the lookout for paintball filled with capsaicin pepper.....
Just to help with some non-lethal feedback when low-holing looms.....
Maybe get a couple of orange cones Caltrans uses....for up and down the bank.
Although...that may be too much.

Jim

[John Sv]

Lol!!!!
Slow down for the Cone Zone ya low-holin' jacka$$es!!!

I've been on the lookout for paintball filled with capsaicin pepper.....
Just to help with some non-lethal feedback when low-holing looms.....
Maybe get a couple of orange cones Caltrans uses....for up and down the bank.
Although...that may be too much.

Jim

[itsbenlong]

I've been on the lookout for paintball filled with capsaicin pepper.....
Just to help with some non-lethal feedback when low-holing looms.....
Maybe get a couple of orange cones Caltrans uses....for up and down the bank.
Although...that may be too much.

Jim

Orange cones may be too much, but that would be funny as hell. Reminds me of living back home in San Francisco....I used to carry 2 orange cones in my trunk because I would often have to return to a place. I would put the cones out and come back to my parking place. Every once in a while they would be thrown on the sidewalk or stolen, but the city is full of them for the taking.

The boats that sit on your spot are the worst. However, I have been lucky this year and have not had any in my way.

I don't mind if they are close by as long as I can still complete my swing. There have been times mainly on the Feather where I have had them pull right down below me and then row up through my section. Or at least try too.....When they are rude like that, I just change to my "big ugly" fly and start casting over there lines acting all apologetic until they leave.

When boats are moving down my way, I just bomb my casts out far and hope it forces them towards the other side and past me. It works most of the time.

All in all, I have learned that communication goes a long way even if I am the only one doing the communicating. I love it when they act like they don't hear me......

[JasonB]

All in all, I have learned that communication goes a long way even if I am the only one doing the communicating. I love it when they act like they don't hear me......

Had to chuckle on that one, we've probably all been there. A couple weeks ago we had a guide in a drift boat start rowing for a nice little seam ... he pulled up anchor and started rowing when we were about 10-20 from him (we were already well on our way to the same spot). Apparently he couldn't see us, as he made zero acknowledgement that we existed, and as he pulled directly into the slower water almost bumping us out of "his way" he still didn't seem to notice or make any comment in our direction. Then it became unclear if they were or were not going to fish that particular seam, it looked like was still trying to decide. I made the communication to ask what his intentions were (and gently hint that he had just blatantly cut right in front of us), as honestly I wouldn't have really cared that much if he had ASKED if he could have the spot we were so obviously heading to. His response was pretty weak "um, yeah ... I'm working", but even so I'm glad we did communicate, and we just left rather than argue or share water with a jerk. We ended up finding plenty of fish, and with less company (and friendlier company at that).

I do have to say, that it's really not worth getting too upset while shad fishing imo, as it's hardly an experience of solitude. I've accepted that, and I have plenty of fun chaos and all... just have to lower expectations (a lot). Now if someone did that sort of thing up in the mountains on a more secluded trout stream, that's a whole other story! Not sure why some folks are just plain oblivious, nor do I understand the mentality of those who do know better but do that kind of crap anyways. I fail to see how much fun it would be, no matter how many fish I caught if I knew that I had caught them while being a total ass to some other people. Not my idea of a good time...
JB

[SeanO]

nor do I understand the mentality of those who do know better but do that kind of crap anyways.
JB

JB,

I am convinced the rude guides/boaters/anglers are immune to their rudeness and simply want to fish in their comfort zone that held fish last year or yesterday. Sounds like you did the best you could and took the high road.

Take care,

[ZWhit]

Had a young man, nice guy actually, ask to stand next to me as I started to reel a couple in. Literally, he stood only a few feet into my back cast (Skagit). (By ask, I mean he came down stream without hesitation or waiting for an answer.) Because he seemed nice when I talked with him, I gave him some pointers and moved up into the prime spot he just left and scored many shad!! My question is: does that make me a high-holer? Lol.