Each morning, I go through the emails that have accumulated overnight, at least the ones where I’m a subscriber. Green Deane’s newsletter, Survival Punk, GunsAmerica Blog, The Survival Podcast, and others all post regularly, and I look forward to seeing what they have to say.
This morning, I was reading another such newsletter from The Online Fisherman Team at theonlinefisherman.com. This newsletter covered fishing with shrimp as a live bait, how to set a hook, 10 Tips for Catching Largemouth Bass, and one that caught my attention, Fishing Courtesy.
The article stated everything I believe in, and sadly, don’t see often enough. I’ve had several run-ins with folks that either were raised by jackals, or simply just needed a several refresher lessons in manners. Either way, they were NOT goodwill ambassadors for any outdoor sports. They made us all look bad.
Once, I was in my kayak, fishing a concrete wall 100 yards offshore, the remains of an old boathouse. The exposed part of the wall was no more than 20 feet long, but with all of the submerged rubble, made for an excellent place for catching sheepshead and mangrove snapper. As I sat there, I realized someone was wading up from behind me, heading towards the wall. No worries, the far end from were I was offered plenty of fishing space. The knucklehead (in my mind, I call him far stronger names still) proceeded to climb the rubble pile on the far end, then walk out the wall to right above were I was obviously fishing. He smiled right at me, less than 20 feet away, and dropped his line right on top of mine.
Lovely. I packed up and left, my moment of peace and solitude interrupted in a very abrupt and rude manner.
Another time, while snook fishing from a local catwalk under a bridge, I was having a banner night, one of the nights you dream of when you plan on going fishing. I was in The Zone! The catwalk had 20 or more people fishing live bait, “soaking mullet” as I call it, and not catching much of anything. I was using artificials, casting across the shadow cast by the overhead bridge and its lights. Snook, being an ambush feeder, were waiting for mullet to cross into the light and become disoriented just enough to become dinner. I would catch a fish, or at least get a strike about every five minutes, single-handedly having more action than everyone else combined.
At one point, as I was unhooking a snook, I stepped the three feet to the other side of the catwalk to pick up a pair of pliers from my tackle box sitting out of the way. Turning back to the spot I’d been fishing, an old grumpy guy with a perma-scowl on his face had stepped over to my spot was was fishing it.
I shrugged, and stepped over to where he had been fishing. On my second cast, I hooked and landed another snook. As I held it up before tossing it back into the water, I look right at him and said “Oh, look they’re here too!”
He left five minutes later, empty handed. I caught 28 snook that night, and took one home to eat. Karma is a great thing, when you are on the proper side of it.
You hear of folks doing this kind of thing often. Why is is that they think they can get away with bad manners? Is it the lack of consequences? Is it poor upbringing? Either way, I find it unacceptable. Don’t let me catch you being a knucklehead.
I expect better from my readers.
I remember on a trip to a river once, that I had waited for over two hours for a group to move so I could get into the place I wanted. Once there, I was having a ball, catching strippers, walleye and various other fishies. Then here comes this group of young men and one sets right next to me and starts to cast over my line! Now, I can overlook that for a time or two but after getting snagged in his line about the tenth time in less then thirty minutes I begin to get hot under the collar! So, I cast out again. Sure enough here he came right on top of me again. I slowely reeled in my slack while watching him out of the corner of my eye. I noticed he had a tight line, I tugged a few times on mine and he thought he was getting a bite. When he jerked his line, I jerked mine. He was so busy fighting his “fish” that he didn’t notice that I was the “fish” he had hooked. I then put all my weight behind my pole and gave a god almighty jerk. He ended up in the river! When he realized what had happened, he and his buddies decided to move on down the bank. My husband laughed his butt off and still tells our granddaughter tales on her nana. Manners when fishing are VERY important to me, and I hope they are now, to that young man! He did learn one lesson, never mess with a Granny bent on fishing!
Sadly its becoming more common. Hopefully we can reverse the trend….
I have a little tale to share. My Dad’s retired,he loves fishing and gave up a cabin in the “Northwoods” to own a little spot on the upper Mississsippi. We were having a Great day fishing from the pontoon,just slaughtering the bluegills & pumpkinseeds. Then we had to go back to the dock to pickup his wife to come out&fish with us. No big deal. We went back to our previous spot&anchored. I resumed my previous honeyhole catches, and the older people did not. All of a sudden Dad’s wife hits a button,raises the anchor and decares its time to drift. Sure sh*t the boat drifts, and she’s in my spot catching the fish I ‘would’ve’. No big deal, I dealt with it & resumed catching fish in a new spot.The fishing dried up for the older people,and THEN the “wife” pressed the button to raise the anchor,declaring(once again) that it was time to ‘drift’…The anchor goes down in a spot where she’s catching the fish I would’ve. I would never be disrespectful to my Dad,and knowing if I mentioned the “coincidence” he would never hear the end of it. I spent the rest of my time fishing just kinda hanging out. I think he was alittle irritated-because he knew it as well as I did,but then again,knew better. P.S. we went in when it was declared not by nyself,or Dad, that it “was time”.
Not to defend your father, but I live by “Happy Wife, Happy Life”….
But I’d not be fishing with her again…..even if I was him! Once might be funny, twice your swimming home.
LOL!! I KNOW!!