As our waters become more and more crowded it is important that we all show a little common courtesy on stream. Boaters should always give shore anglers a wide berth and be careful not to disturb the water they are fishing. It has probably taken them a lot more work to get there than you and they were there first. Pay attention as float down stream and leave them not only the water they are fishing but leave them some unfished water to work with. They may only fish a couple of hundred yards of river in their day, while you have miles of river accessible to you. Sometimes on smaller rivers you may not be able to avoid shore anglers completely, try and stop upstream of them and wait until they notice you and wave you past or at least until they have had an opportunity to work the water. Sometimes it is not possible to avoid their water without getting quite close to them. In cases like this communicate to angler that you are going to pass quite close to them, even behind them, so as not to disturb their water, they will appreciate the courtesy.
One time while floating the Castle River in Alberta, in a section where you would normally not find shore anglers, I came through a chute between rocks that offered no downstream visibility. Much to my surprise as we came out into the pool below the chute there was an angler working the pool. I moved to the far bank as quickly as I could but I basically floated right through the best part of the water. As we swiftly floated away I shouted an apology to the angler, who, if he heard me, didn’t acknowledge us in any way.
The next day, while doing the same float, we encountered the angler in the same spot. This time I was ready, although I was sure that there wouldn’t be someone there two days in a row, I took a different line and was able to get into shore when I spotted him. I got out to apologize for the day before. He told me that he hadn’t had a bite up until we floated through the pool the day before, but right after we did, the pool came alive, he said we must have woken them up! He appreciated our courtesy but asked us if we would kindly float through the middle of the pool again when we left, which we gladly did! A little courtesy, commonsense and communication goes a long way in life as well as on the stream.
