I gout our for a few hours this afternoon with Dad. We fished from 2:30 till 6 pm. I got bubkus. Nothing. No hits. Hell, I didn't even hung up on anything. Dad had one hit on his Rattle Trap...and he landed a nice carp. I kid you not. It was like the carp went to see what the hell was swimming by because he hooked it just above the eye. That fish fought like there was no tomorrow. I did not have a scale, but I will very conservatively call it 10 pounds. The thing looked prehistoric.
On another note, while we were landing the fish, another boat came into view upstream from us. It was clear that we were fishing the bank downstream. These guys went around us and proceeded to hop right in front of us and jumped the stretch we were fishing. It is a big river, I thought that it was odd for them to have done that. I did not say anything (Dad is 76 and did not want him to see me get pissy) and just went way down stream. I thought it was poor etiquette. Am I wrong to think that way? Honest question.
One more thing...when we first got to the launch I saw a guy at the boat launch holding an alligator of a pike. This guy was beaming. I took a few pics for him with his phone.
Charlie
On another note, while we were landing the fish, another boat came into view upstream from us. It was clear that we were fishing the bank downstream. These guys went around us and proceeded to hop right in front of us and jumped the stretch we were fishing. It is a big river, I thought that it was odd for them to have done that. I did not say anything (Dad is 76 and did not want him to see me get pissy) and just went way down stream. I thought it was poor etiquette. Am I wrong to think that way? Honest question.
One more thing...when we first got to the launch I saw a guy at the boat launch holding an alligator of a pike. This guy was beaming. I took a few pics for him with his phone.
Charlie
Yeah you'd be surprised what carp will eat somedays..from crayfish to leeches to anything that strikes their fancy sometimes. Or it may have just been unlucky enough to swim by lol..real strong fish though, lotta fun.
Your not wrong, as far as manners and etiquette go. While no one owns a swim or spot, unless they do indeed own it heh, it has always been a bit of an unwritten rule that fishermen will give each other space to fish ad not infringe on each others spots, even if they are hot. We anglers have always had a certain respect for each other and while, competitive by nature, have striven to maintain boundaries. As in anything there will always be assholes if you will though, pardon my language but it is early and I've not had coffee yet
That said, manners in society ( and yes this is a generalization on my part based on my experiences over the last few years specifically) have been on the decline. I constantly have to get into altercations, minor ones anyway, with people who feel they can simply sit right next to me and proceed to cast over my lines. Or who think they can simply walk up to me and I owe it to them to teach them every bit of what I've learned...
Simply put, in my opinion a bit of manners go a long way. A simple "Hi, how are you. Catching anything?" instead of just "What you using? How you make that?"
In my opinion they should have slowly passed you, maybe ask you what you caught and how the days has been..then given you at least some breathing room if they were going to fish the same area..and by no means have cast anything into the swim you and your pop were fishing. To have stopped in front of you or even anything resembling close to you and start casting, without even asking if you minded, is indeed rude.
Your not wrong, as far as manners and etiquette go. While no one owns a swim or spot, unless they do indeed own it heh, it has always been a bit of an unwritten rule that fishermen will give each other space to fish ad not infringe on each others spots, even if they are hot. We anglers have always had a certain respect for each other and while, competitive by nature, have striven to maintain boundaries. As in anything there will always be assholes if you will though, pardon my language but it is early and I've not had coffee yet
That said, manners in society ( and yes this is a generalization on my part based on my experiences over the last few years specifically) have been on the decline. I constantly have to get into altercations, minor ones anyway, with people who feel they can simply sit right next to me and proceed to cast over my lines. Or who think they can simply walk up to me and I owe it to them to teach them every bit of what I've learned...
Simply put, in my opinion a bit of manners go a long way. A simple "Hi, how are you. Catching anything?" instead of just "What you using? How you make that?"
In my opinion they should have slowly passed you, maybe ask you what you caught and how the days has been..then given you at least some breathing room if they were going to fish the same area..and by no means have cast anything into the swim you and your pop were fishing. To have stopped in front of you or even anything resembling close to you and start casting, without even asking if you minded, is indeed rude.
Thanks...that is what I thought too. I thought about maybe saying something, but if none of the 3 had a clue...or maybe a care...that it was not right, it would have been a losing battle.
Can I ask you a carp question? Are they territorial or just move from spot to spot looking for food? I had no idea what they ate so thanks for that info. If the lure weren't so close to his mouth I would have assumed a snag. Then again that could have happened. And yes, he was strong. He actually opened up the treble hook a bit.
Charlie
Can I ask you a carp question? Are they territorial or just move from spot to spot looking for food? I had no idea what they ate so thanks for that info. If the lure weren't so close to his mouth I would have assumed a snag. Then again that could have happened. And yes, he was strong. He actually opened up the treble hook a bit.
Charlie