Talkers and walkers

[Maurice]

I don't run into alot of folks on the stream, mostly because I fish during the week. I am a walker, meaning that I cover alot of ground usually fishing beats from 1/4 mile to a mile or more of stream in a few hours. I am a courteous angler who approaches others with caution not to disturb them (Unless I am there with them then I may step right in next to them and fish in their back pocket) :-D

Sometimes I'll run into a guy who just won't stop talking. You know the ones...sometimes young, sometimes old, over enthusiastic, talkative blokes. Sometimes you can hear them from around a bend carrying on a conversation with someone else. Once they have someone in their grasp...they sink in their Chatter and don't let go. I just look for a reason to walk away without being rude.

Don't get me wrong...sometimes I can be annoying with the chatter when I go to the stream with someone. But I try to give others their space.

So what are you...a Talker or a Walker? Share your story...

 

[JackM]

Not always, but I am usually the one trying to break off the conversation with someone encountered on stream. I usually say hello and move on, but will stop and share info if the other person engages in something more than a return greeting. I have also been known to walk and talk at the same time-- Maurice, with some practice, you could learn to do this too.

 

[dsleader]

I find myself fishing, as you do, during the weekdays, and rarely run into others. Part of fishing for me is getting away from people, phones, traffic, work and dare I say, the wife.

That being said, I'll occasionally go out with my neighbor and he is the same way. We'll talk non-stop to and from a stream, but once we are there, it's like we're strangers. We both do our own thing and meet up every hour or so.

On the other end of your topic, I can't understand the people you come across along a stream, and act as if they don't even see you. A simple, "Hello, how's it going" couldn't hurt. (unless they fear you are a chatter-box)

Dale

 

[Padraic]

I like to fish Clarks, which is a stream that makes either approach easy.

The banks are pretty well wooded, and if you go just a few yards into the trees and move softly, you don't have to let anyone know you are there.

There are almost always other fishermen in the special regs area, so if you feel like it you can pretend you are running for office and spend the day going up and down the line grinning and shaking.

I appreciate the guys who are low key. Don't mind the occossional chatter. What drives me bannannas is the guy who comes up behind you and yells "SO WHADDAR DEY BITIN ON??" It's enough to put a leak in your waders! :-o Let a guy know you are there before you scream at 'im! :evil:

 

[PaulG]

I ran into one of those talkers last week, he never shut up untill I moved away. Then he must have put his hook into someone else because I could still hear him talking.

I like to say hello to people I meet on the stream and if they want to have a short chat thats fine with me, just don't like loooong talks

I meet a guy last week on the Gun Powder that was 98 years old and still fishing and doing a little wading, he had a gentleman with him to watch over him. I had a nice talk with him in the parking lot after we had fished, I couldn't get over how good he looked for his age, even gave him one of my Ants to try. Didn't mind talking to him, lots of stories to tell!

 

[live2fish]

I'm a walker. The stream I fish most I'll fish a 1/4 mile upstream then work my way downstream at least a 1/2 mile down from where I parked the car and back up. I usually say hello and ask how they are doing to others on the stream fishing. Just to be courteous and to see how my catch rate is compared to theirs. Although if it is someone I've talked to before or have seen there regularly than I talk to them for a while. Just to see how they are doing and how their fishing has been. About five to ten minutes. The whole time they keep fishing while I stand there talking them. When done I'll move 25-30 feet away before I resume fishing again.

 

[tomgamber]

If i'm fishing, I mean REALLY fishing...i'm a walker. I'm usually a walker. But sometimes you have those days, like with anything else, you're kind of doing what you're doing half @$$ed. On those days I can be a talker. If I see someone who looks kind of lost I can be a talker. If the fishing is too easy or too frustrating I can be a talker. The key for me is the distraction. If I don't get distracted, and stay focused, I can be a rude walker. A lot of times, if I see someone working a really interesting piece of water...I will be a watcher. Out of the way, off of the water, but watching. If a someone else is a watcher first, I don't mind later if he is a talker. Because that means he has watched long enough to begin a meaningful conversation. Otherwise talkers usually just sound like the Sportscenter version of their fishing day.

 

[ryanh]

I get so few chances to go, and the time that I go is so limited that a "talker" is the worst possible thing for me to run into in the woods.

I would fall into the walker profile. Especially on a new stream. I will only hit the fishiest looking spots until I consistantly get into fish. then I my cover the water more evenly. I fall prey to " I wonder whats around the bend" syndrome.