O.T.Cell phones on trout streets

[pete41]

are like boom boxes in libraries.
Gps and other fishing finding devices are even worse than portable radios in the campgrounds.
Bah humbug to the electronic age.
Give me bamboo,silk and gut.
However I may be a throwback[mossback] what say thee??/
Are we losing something with each new step forward.
Or are these the good old days.
The one about a survival kit and suggestions to carry a cell phone shocked me.Believe me its invigorating to have to resort to your instincts to survive but than there is something to be said for doing so.[Been a little confused at times]
:-o

 

[tomgamber]

The good news is that most of the places I fish..I get no service.

 

[pete41]

see I confused streams and streets-be honest-did you catch it?

 

[ryanh]

i did, i was going to make a smart allek reply. Isn't the road near Benner springs called Trout run? My bro Josh wanted to borrow it.

I 2nd Toms response. There is an inversely porportional relationship between trout fishing water quality and the number of bars you get on your cell.

And then if you fall in you run the risk of killing your phone......I am not naming names....although I could.

 

[pete41]

I wasn't really picking on cell phones or users just wondering out loud if we don't lose a great deal from being one with nature to being an intruder.One person can slip quietly along and see the deer,bear ,mountain lion,bobcat and others but two people sound like an army coming through.The wilderness as a Cathedral I suppose is losing out.

 

[ian_brown]

Generally, I agree; I get annoyed when my cell phone interrupts me while I'm working on my house or watching TV, let alone fishing. That said, I've been able to take a few last-minute, last-hurrah outings over the last few weeks, even though my wife looked like she could give birth at any moment. She would have been much more reluctant to let me go if I'd been completely unreachable.

BTW - The twins arrive tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how things go.

 

[Bruno]

Pete:

Look at the other side. A cell connection lets me work anywhere. I spent many a friday this summer planted on the porch of my camp working. In fact I spent today sitting on my deck at home working. All made possible by the celly tower down the road. When I am at camp I can close up shop and be fishing in 5 min.

Ya just have to remember to shut'em off from time to time

 

[Maurice]

I carry my cell everywhere I go because it was supplied by my employer so they wouldn't feel like they were bothering me at home. :lol: Seriously...thats what they said. Although I could count on one hand the number of times I've been called in the last two years. But when that call comes...I'll be ready. Although it is a Nextel serviced phone so......it is likely I won't have service even if I am in my lazyboy.

I carry it fishing, even with the risk of drowning it because...get this, it is my clock. Even without the service, the clock works. Although I have to charge it every 27 hours if I don't use it and even more often if I do. It is like one of those teenage pregnancy reality dolls. I have to carry it constantly and feed it often. When it goes in and out of signal it beeps. Not that you could make a call when it beeps....its not enough for a call...just letting you know it found a tower.

Anyhoo, I carry it on stream. It is my clock as I said. I guess I could get a watch but i guess I am too lazy, besides, I have about 6 that the battery has died on sitting on the microwave. Again with the lazy....OK, when I am on the stream in the zen like trance stalking a wily trout...speaking to it...."come on fish....eat it, EAT IT!" and the phone beeps on volume level 7, I about puddy in my pants. Its back to reality...back to insanity, buh dda dum, buh da dum. And then I go back to the fish...." come on you bastard fish......eat it.....

Oh yeah...and after I have been on stream and out of service for several hours and once I get service back...it takes about three hours for my messages to come back to the phone. All I can say is good think I am not a paramedic or a heart surgeon. :-D

 

[jaybo41]

I can count the number of times on one hand I've carried a cell phone to a stream with me. The only time I will do that is when I'm cutting out of work a little early. I've had one maybe two calls that I had to answer, but it got me out on the water earlier than I could have without it.

With that said, I much prefer to leave the cell phone in my vehicle. Anyone that's looking for me can get voice mail until I get back and can return a call. I much prefer to fish uninterrupted. When I'm fishing in remote waters with my buddy, we carry 2 way radios that have a 12 mile range. They come in very handy when we want to cover lots of water. Fortunately we've not had to try and use them for an emergency. Other than advances in fly fishing gear, that's as much technology as I want when I'm fishing.

 

[pete41]

Well my Son carries his everytime we good fishing and averages a call an hour plus he calls out.Very tempted to turn the canoe over-oops.
Saw one today-a kid[under 50] riding one of those scooters which are getting a rebirth talking on the phone at forty miles an hour.There ought to be a law if there isn't .lol

 

[CAMBYSES]

This is a tough thing to make a statement on, good or bad. Many of you have stated great points, that the cell phone allows you to get out on the water were you wouldn't have otherwise and on the other hand that damn thing ringing and people talking on them while I'm out enjoying mother nature drives me insane. I love technology and have studied comp sci in undergrad, but I cant say that I want it with me while I'm out in the woods trying to find fish and often myself. Fishing and even more so with fly fishing is something to be done for an almost meditation not a social or business outing!!!

 

[tomgamber]

I have been taking it more often than not lately though...it has a camera...and replacing this phone is cheaper than replacing my camera.

 

[ian_brown]

"Saw one today-a kid[under 50] riding one of those scooters which are getting a rebirth talking on the phone at forty miles an hour.There ought to be a law if there isn't .lol"

Would you settle for a theory instead of a law? Because this is natural selection in action.

 

[tomgamber]

You can weed out all the dumb kids you want but the parents will still breed.

 

[jaybo41]

I should add that anytime my cell is on me, it's on vibrate. I hate ringing cell phones. The only time the ringer is actually ON is when it's sitting on my table or desk at home. There's nothing more obnoxious than a cell phone ringing, IMHO.

The camera in the phone does come in handy when taking pictures on the stream.

 

[buckbarrett]

I work for myself and every phone call is important, so I do carry one. I also use it as a clock like Maurice. I do understand your point though. Everywhere I've been this year I havent seen anyone else on the stream with me, and many of those streams didnt get reception. So, I have no guilt.

 

[albatross]

People under 30 years of age no longer wear watches because they always have a cell phone with them anyway.

I tend to carry mine on the stream. Happily I almost never have service where I fish. My wife likes me to call on the way home so she knows when to expect me.

 

[jayL]

It's just something that my generation doesn't leave home without.

To be honest, it's not always a bad thing. When I'm at valley til 8:00pm on a saturday, I'm usually finding out where to meet for beers once I get home. I keep the conversations under 30 seconds and make it clear that I'm in no mood to talk when I do get a call, and I've never made a call of my own out there. The phone is on vibrate though, I promise.

I have dunked two cell phones while fishing. Once in the susqy, I fell in and the phone got wet. I checked to see if it still worked, and it did. I felt lucky. Since everything was soaked, I gave it to my friend to carry. He fell in about 45 seconds later, and that was it for mr. phone.

Another time, I put it in my vest pocket and forgot to zip it. I was landing a trout and the phone fell out. Bonked the trout on the head and stunned (hopefully that's all) it pretty bad. That phone never worked again either. I'd leave it at home, but I use it for videos and pictures all the time.

 

[fritz]

A few years ago some hikers in a national park (forget which one) got lost and called the park rangers on their cell phone. They were so lost they could not describe where they were. GPS is a good deal, but for me--I will still have a map and compass in unfamiliar territory.

Pete, generators and diesel truck engines are most annoying in campgrounds (for me).

I have yet to see anyone with a cell phone on a trout stream. I leave mine in the truck and prefer to be "out of touch" when I'm fishing. I would take a cell and keep it on if I would be expecting something.

 

[JoeE]

I’m a 27/7 365 guy. Heck, I even sleep next to my blackberry and the thing buzzes in the middle of the night I look at it or answer. Its on vibrate 99 percent of the time and I have to be in a pretty weird place not to get service.

Joe E