Friends. Who did you meet, along the way?

[maxima12]

What happened to you? Believe this, a very important topic. Lets put all the other stuff aside now. Friends, friendship, loyal, honor, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle.

Most important, What makes friends! I do not think we really have a topic on this. A good one!

You know the friends you made fishing, some in touch, many by a brush of time! How about that brush, you could stroke you beard with this, Beard Brush, Then use it on tails for flies.

Boy,i met some Doosies and some dontsies!

Never did find a bad person in life that was a fisherman!

 

[giantsjim]

Funny that you post this topic today, Maxima. And I readily agree with you about meeting a bunch of good people along the way while fishing.
This morning though, I had a most unusual encounter with a gentleman angler while gearing up to fish Valley Creek in the Chesterbrook area. He was walking in my direction towards my car as I sat on the back of my van putting my boots on.
I said ‘morning’ but he didn’t respond and as he got closer I saw that he was a bit older and had a Bluetooth in his ear so maybe he didn’t hear me. I repeated ‘morning, and he gruffly said to me ‘mind your own business’ as he walked past.
I was a bit taken aback and said ‘sorry?’ like I didn’t understand him and he followed with ‘don’t bother me and F*** off’. I said ‘Wow’ to myself and then asked for blessings upon him. And also hoped he would treat any fish he caught a little better.
Whether he is a bad person or not, I don’t know. Just isn’t the way I interact with people and probably won’t become a fishing buddy anytime soon.

 

[Prospector]

I fish alone a lot of the time and out of courtesy I tend to give other anglers a wide berth. I always chat when it is appropriate. I’m amazed at how many guys open their box and give you flies, totally unsolicited. Even the ones that just openly show you the fly that is working also go over and above. I’d say 90-95% are super people.

Some of the youngsters haven’t quite figured out how to be courteous yet and other people don’t realize that if you are fishing wets or a streamer that the fly fisher is always moving. Some will cut you off. I’m never sure if that’s intentional or not.

It’s nice when your vacation time to streams coincides with other people’s plans. You can build a good bond seeing them year after year. On Kettle in the old days that would be the likes of Bob Runk. Always looked forward to him. Another guy was Harry Shummel, a great Midge fisherman. People that camp near you on a repeat basis soon become friends. One such acquaintance offered to take me on a float trip on Allegheny River this year but I couldn’t make it.

There are also people you would rather not see again. I fished Little J last year for first time for a few hours one day after spending the morning on the Spruce public sections. On LJ I parked at a spot with no cars, walked to the creek and someone was fishing there. So I headed upstream looking for a fishy spot which was 300 yards away. I gave those anglers a very wide berth. Well ended up their car was close by. So I’m fishing to about 10 risers but some are super long casts. So when these anglers came upstream, one headed to the car and the other guy walks right down and proceeds to position himself where he could cast to at least 4 fish in my little perimeter. Needless to say I left shortly after, so his effort was rewarded.

I made one particularly good friend on a chance meeting on Kettle. We parked near each other and happened to quit at the same time. We both shared a love of trout fishing and turkey hunting and talked for an hour and exchanged numbers. He has become a great friend and sometimes joins us on Kettle.

I guess that applies to many people I’ve met on this site. I’ve never fished with anyone here but I feel like I know people quite well just from reading their posts. A great group that is respectful of others, helpful when asked and very knowledgeable about the sport. I came closest to fishing with Maxima. We exchanged some dates in Potter which didn’t line up and then we ended up being there for a few days that overlapped and didn’t know to look for each other. A missed opportunity for sure.

 

[coyoterahn]

95% of my encounters with other fishermen have been good encounters. One I won’t forget was years ago on a somewhat famous creek. My buddy and I were taking a break eating some snacks when a man drove by and stopped. We talked for awhile, he was a fisherman also. Later on in the conversation he asked me if I knew who’s property I was parked on. I replied no but said I have parked here for a few years. His reply was “well, the guy who owns the land is a a real s.o.b. and a little nuts. He then proceeded to tell me, follow me and come park at my cabin. Park there anytime when you want to fish this area! What a great encounter.
Sadly I learned a few year later he was killed in a car accident. I think of that gentleman every time I fish that area. I wish I would have got to know him better. He was a good person and a real gentleman.

 

[wbranch]

I've met hundreds of guys and gals while fly fishing these past sixty years. Everyone I have met and chatted with has been pleasant and I enjoyed our break from fishing.

The person I remember most was at the time my fly fishing idol, Joe Brooks, author of many of the earlier books about fly fishing and he has had a column in Outdoor Life for many years.

I was about 27 years old and was on Armstrong Spring Creek back when it was free to fish. I was doing very well in a section just above the entrance to the creek and I looked up stream and saw Mr. Brooks just standing there watching me. Talk about pressure! I caught one or two more and he called down to me "You seem to be having a very good day, what are you using?" Imagine my idol asking me what I was using!

Well I got out of the creek and walked up to him and showed him my fly. It was a #16 Loop wing emerger that had been developed by a young fellow I had befriended on the creek and it was deadly. I believe it was so deadly because it was the first fly (to my knowledge) that depicted the PMD on the surface with the wings still encased in the covert.

We chatted and I told him I was spending the summer there and he asked me if I had my fly tying equipment and if I did would I tie him a dozen loop wing emergers. I said "Sure, Mr. Brooks, where can I give them to you?" He said he planned to fish Nelson's in a few days and I could meet him there and give him the flies.

So I tied them as best I could and met him on Nelson's and when I gave him the flies he asked me "How much do I owe you?" I said, "No charge". But he insisted I take some payment so I said "Hmm, $10.00 is fine".

I'm the hippie in the middle of the picture and my good friend is on my left. Mr. Brooks wife, Mary, took the picture. The rainbow was caught on Nelson's the day I gave him the flies.

Oh, we are all using cane rods, Mr. Brooks had an Orvis, my friend and I were both using Leonard "Baby Catskills" 7' #4.

 

[Dave_W]

wbranch wrote:
I've met hundreds of guys and gals while fly fishing these past sixty years. Everyone I have met and chatted with has been pleasant and I enjoyed our break from fishing.

The person I remember most was at the time my fly fishing idol, Joe Brooks, author of many of the earlier books about fly fishing and he has had a column in Outdoor Life for many years.

I was about 27 years old and was on Armstrong Spring Creek back when it was free to fish. I was doing very well in a section just above the entrance to the creek and I looked up stream and saw Mr. Brooks just standing there watching me. Talk about pressure! I caught one or two more and he called down to me "You seem to be having a very good day, what are you using?" Imagine my idol asking me what I was using!

Well I got out of the creek and walked up to him and showed him my fly. It was a #16 Loop wing emerger that had been developed by a young fellow I had befriended on the creek and it was deadly. I believe it was so deadly because it was the first fly (to my knowledge) that depicted the PMD on the surface with the wings still encased in the covert.

We chatted and I told him I was spending the summer there and he asked me if I had my fly tying equipment and if I did would I tie him a dozen loop wing emergers. I said "Sure, Mr. Brooks, where can I give them to you?" He said he planned to fish Nelson's in a few days and I could meet him there and give him the flies.

So I tied them as best I could and met him on Nelson's and when I gave him the flies he asked me "How much do I owe you?" I said, "No charge". But he insisted I take some payment so I said "Hmm, $10.00 is fine".

I'm the hippie in the middle of the picture and my good friend is on my left. Mr. Brooks wife, Mary, took the picture. The rainbow was caught on Nelson's the day I gave him the flies.

Wow! What a great story and pics to go with it.
Check your PM wbranch...

 

[wbranch]

Just one of dozens and dozens of stories and anecdotes from spending four summers Montana chasing wild trout before fly fishing became de rigueur.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Made a good fishing buddy recently while fishing my local lake. At the time I was spin fishing as the crappie run (spawn) had been pretty spotty. This guy was catching fish on almost every cast with his fly rod and truth be told I fly fish probably 90% of the time if not more so I was intrigued.

He showed me what he was using and I returned and did quite well with a Muddler knock off of my design. Since, we have fly fished several times including recently when he was doing a piece for the local VA Healing Waters project. I showed him my walk in spot and we had a blast on large Blue gills. He wrote a nice article and gave me more ink than I probably deserved.

There have been numerous other positive encounters with fly fishermen but only a few negative ones. By and large they seem to be greedy guys that assume if you are catching fish, it's because you are in the magic spot. When I was young and a beginner some of the experienced guys were more than happy to help me out and I have tried to return the favor. Helps to approach quietly as opposed to yelling across the stream; something that seemed to be common sense to me, even at an early age.

 

[maxima12]

Well, frankly, i am stunned, i finally hit gold on a post. Friends!

Yes, these stories touch my heart deeply. I am glad i am not alone.

Thank you! Friends. Hope i have the chance to make many more!

Giving a little, were we all not taught that, right from the beginning.

A handshake and a smile, thank you and good bye, till we meet again!

Thanks fellows, aka---------Friends!

 

[govtmule]

My “fishing” friends are family...

 

[mcarney99]

Me and a friend who’ve spent a good amount of time on valley over the years have also encountered this #censor#. Probably the rudest human I’ve ever seen. I once saw an older woman taking a picture from a distance of the creek and he was in the background and told her “stop taking F-ing pictures”. Same old guy Chesterbrook and Bluetooth. Anyone know who this guy is?

 

[LetortAngler]

Great story WBranch.

 

[sgrim]

mcarney99 wrote:
Me and a friend who’ve spent a good amount of time on valley over the years have also encountered this #censor#. Probably the rudest human I’ve ever seen. I once saw an older woman taking a picture from a distance of the creek and he was in the background and told her “stop taking F-ing pictures”. Same old guy Chesterbrook and Bluetooth. Anyone know who this guy is?

This thread reminded me that I too encountered this clown maybe two years ago. Similar deal... I said hello, he snarled something. I immediately forgot he existed.. Which I suppose is really the worst way to insult someone.

 

[DaveKile]

Matt thank you for sharing and added to the blog.

 

[afishinado]

dkile wrote:
Matt thank you for sharing and added to the blog.

Yes, very cool story, Matt.

You can read the unabridged version of the story here.