Respecting Comps on Public Waters

[NewSal]

Hey foxtrapper, I fish a 10.5' 3 weight and often fish hotspot walts worms, hope your blood pressure is okay

 

[foxtrapper1972]

Sal- You got me all wrong.
I'm down with all kinds of hot spotted worms and pink beads and big rods and stuff!

By the way ryansheehan is so tall he makes a 10 ft rod look like an 8 ft rod.

 

[SteveG]

CLSports, you do realize you're on a form of social media, which also happens to have a blog, right?

Gotta love fly fishing's rich history of "tradition" and elitism. I wonder if the English "dry flies to rising trout only" group called The North Country wet fly crew some antiquated version of "flatbrimmer".

 

[JackM]

Etiquette for tournament scouts:

Rule 1

When approaching a non-competing angler on public water, greet them pleasantly. Make a little small talk. As you begin to depart their company, pleasantly inform them there is a competition taking place and offer an apology in advance if competition anglers should share the stream with less than normal everyday courtesy.

 

[afishinado]

Boo guys fishing classic dries

Wet fly afishinados with glass rods

Euro/highstick nymphers with long rods

Streamer strippers with meat flies

Frank with his spinners counting fish

As well as fly guys that comp fish

EDIT: Even Tenkara Fishers!

^ All good, no problem, let every one enjoy fishing in their own way.

As long as each are courteous to each other and respect each other's space as well as method of fishing, there should never be any conflict.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Thank God, you didn't mention Tenkara!

 

[afishinado]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Thank God, you didn't mention Tenkara!

^ooops.....made edit...thanks for reminding me!!

(Have a great time this weekend in God's Country, fellas!)

 

[The_Sasquatch]

afishinado wrote:

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Thank God, you didn't mention Tenkara!

^ooops.....made edit...thanks for reminding me!!

(Have a great time this weekend in God's Country, fellas!)

I prefer the original text as opposed to the edit ;-)

Can't wait to get up to Potter, and the COOLER WEATHER! Wonder if we'll run into any comp fishers on Lyman Run!?

 

[jkilroy]

Ok, I'm giving full apologies for anyone who was told to leave the stream. The comp guys shouldn't be doing that. They should be treating anyone with respect, spinfishers included. Some/most take it very seriously. I think most advise what's going on because the water is going to be fished real hard, and there is Normally lots of other water available. I was in the comp this weekend and it was a lot of fun. I totally understand if you drove from a long distance to fish your favorite spot and to find out a bunch of people will be fishing it. I'm sorry about that. That would suck bad. But we to have just as much right to fish it as anyone. We have a 60 day permit process to go through to get approved and they don't always get approved.

I challenge anyone who thinks they can out fish a comp guy by entering a comp. it's not as bad a you think. We have lots of rules, a very limited amount of space and time to fish a beat, it all C&R, barbless hooks only. No split shot or indicators. 18" between flies. And limited leader length. Fish are landed as soon as possible and released quickly because fooling around wastes time.

Another thing to add the competitive scene has given us the super effective methods for catching fish that normally would leave you fish less. George Daniels book and the recent video that is out is all from comp fishing. It's far beyond the indicator. Most comp guys are TU members are very concerned wild trout and the streams they inhabit. I think it's just a bad perception as with most things. I had the same perception. I must say your learning curve spikes when you take this on.

To each is his or her own and you are entitled to still hate us. I hope in the future you won't encounter a problem on the stream.

 

[redietz]

jkilroy wrote:

Another thing to add the competitive scene has given us the super effective methods for catching fish that normally would leave you fish less.

There's no doubt that the various Euro-nymphing techniques were entirely developed for competition fishing.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, since I don't Euro-nymph.

I agree that it's unlikely that very many people are going out fish a comp angler.

 

[bigjohn58]

redietz wrote:

jkilroy wrote:

Another thing to add the competitive scene has given us the super effective methods for catching fish that normally would leave you fish less.

There's no doubt that the various Euro-nymphing techniques were entirely developed for competition fishing.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, since I don't Euro-nymph.

I agree that it's unlikely that very many people are going out fish a comp angler.

That depends on the stream and the home team advantage...

 

[FarmerDave]

Maybe it wasn't even a comp guy. Maybe it was a comp groupy, or maybe a comp guys mouthy little brother.;-)

 

[foxtrapper1972]

Well if your goal is to "outfish" people then have at it.

I don't think these events should be allowed on public waters. Just my take.

 

[rrt]

Kudos, Foxtrapper 1972.

 

[krayfish2]

I'd like to see one held on the Letort, one on the Yough and one in the Lehigh gorge. You can bet you 18' 2wt they would be awesome.

 

[tomitrout]

to each his own, it's a shared, multi-use resource. Plenty of water in this state to share and explore, live and let live...

That said, for easing of attitudes, if when the 'ambassadors' politely ask you to yield the water, it might be a good idea if they could recommend a nearby option..."Well, since you're here on the Kish, have you checked out Honey or Tea Creeks?" Of course, then some local will get all bothered because now they're also spot burning or some such...

 

[outsider]

If I fished to out-do someone else on the stream, it would suck the joy out of fly fishing for me. Same thing with keeping a count of number of fish, fish per hour, casts per fish, etc.

 

[moon1284]

If my goal was to catch as many fish as possible id use spinners like frank make trout champion angler and document everything.

Imo, comp guys are missing the forest for the trees. The idea of being forced to fish a "beat" would drive me insane. Best of luck to you though. If I saw a comp on the Delaware I'd most likely anchor 70' from shore and pound the banks of the "beat" with a streamer.

 

[outsider]

For years I got a laugh out of the bass tournaments on tv. Grown men dragging a bass across the water as fast as they can on 12 lb. test, weighing it, and throwing it into a live well. Wow, what a fishing experience example to show young anglers. Laugh? No, IMHO very sad.

 

[ryansheehan]

redietz wrote:

jkilroy wrote:

Another thing to add the competitive scene has given us the super effective methods for catching fish that normally would leave you fish less.

There's no doubt that the various Euro-nymphing techniques were entirely developed for competition fishing.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, since I don't Euro-nymph.

I agree that it's unlikely that very many people are going out fish a comp angler.

Remember it's just an arbitrary set of rules they play by(no shot, leader length, indicator, etc) It's not the most effective way to fish, if that's your goal.