“Perhaps fishing is, for me, only an excuse to be near rivers.” Roderick L. Haig-Brown author of A River Never Sleeps.
The definition of etiquette in the Webster’s English Dictionary is the form of conduct or behaviour prescribed by custom or authority to be observed in social, official or professional life. I think I heard what that word meant at the dinner table eons ago but I hear it more and more when I go fly fishing.
It is autumn now, and it is my favourite time of year to fish. The days into September have been arid and hot and the leaves have turned into burnt oranges and yellows. There has been a trico spinner fall and there are so many dead mayflies in the river it almost looks like a paste. Below me I can see the odd sporadic rise of a trout taking a bug from the surface. A stiff breeze comes up and blows the leaves into the Bow River where I am fishing with my friends Tyler and Chris.
Not too far down the river I could hear the muffled roar of a jet boat approaching. I was hoping for them to choose the other side of the river but instead they did an S-turn through the dry fly water below me and ripped through good fishing water above Chris. They were fly fisherman too and they never waved hello or anything. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and shake my head. Maybe they were late for dinner.
There was another incident that took place, and this one had a better outcome. One place I like to frequent is the dog park in Cochrane. Not only do I enjoy the excitement of the mutts, but the fishing below the River Avenue Bridge during hopper season is darn good. Grasshoppers abound in the heat and find themselves close to the banks of the Bow in early fall, and the trout will key on this.
Eventually, I made my way to a section of the river known as Griffin’s Bend.
Just off the bank there was a guy fly fishing and I wanted to fish above him. The kicker was that he had a baby in a child carrier backpack and was casting at the same time. I thought this was multi-tasking at another level and was quite impressed. Whenever you want to fish relatively close to someone, especially below them, it is a good idea to say hello and ask if it is kosher to do so. Anyways, we ended up chatting for several minutes and he let me fish the corner above him without any problem.
I would like to say that my table manners are a little more refined than they used to be but I still eat like a caveman at a Chinese food buffet. And if you ever see me on the river, I will surely say hello.
