They have finally invaded small rivers

skyriver

skyriver

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No, not stripers. And not carp in this river, but those probably are in the bottom mile...

No, I mean F*&%ing paddle boards. I knew it would happen one of these days. It's here.

I was fishing the Cedar tonight to check for shad, which have not invaded yet this year, and saw a really nice trout rise under some overhanging trees. I had already gone through with the shad jig and was now slinging a crayfish since that's pretty much all I brought besides the shad gear. I was only about 3 or 4 step-downs from having him in range and here comes clueless Jack & Jill down the river on their boards. Now, I realize it's a small river, but this was a hole that there was plenty of room to go behind me. When Jack was still in a position to try I said "you think you could go behind me?" He either didn't hear or was confused. He finally focused on me and was like "I'm sorry, what?" I said "Never mind, I was hoping you would've gone behind me since I'm fishing." He didn't say a word just a blank stare not too far from the infected people on Last of Us. It was weird. He obviously has NEVER fished a river.
He proceeded to go right over the fish. And then Jill came following and went in front of me, but at least didn't go over the fish.

I didn't get mad since I was just out for a shad scout and was slinging a big crayfish. There was a pretty decent mayfly hatch going on. If I would've been trying to match the hatch on that feeding fish I would've made more of an effort to have them go behind me. And would've been more...vocal if they hadn't.

So...should paddle boarders be expected to go behind people fishing if safe to do so? Like, does the paddle board crowd, if there is such a thing, understand that? Having people go too close in the lake is one thing. Coming right down the prime lie in a river is another.

Btw, no pfd on either Jack or Jill, but I know that's probably normal for the SUP crowd. Hopefully, they didn't get stuck in any of the many log jams. People man...
 
Bummer. The only moving water I like to paddle board is the Tacoma Narrows (close to shore, at the right tide stages, always with a PFD) :). I was swinging a shad dart in that river on Monday and connected with a nice fish while three other fly anglers and skateboarder looked on lol. It was pretty surface oriented and threw the hook, but I swear it had a big forked tail, so who knows.
 
Maybe you were standing right on their line and they were bummed they had to go around you. :p

Point being the river is for all users. You are probably right that they hadn't fished before and didn't know they were messing you up.

Just think of more river users as more advocates to keep the river clean and accessible.
 
skyriver said:
So...should paddle boarders be expected to go behind people fishing if safe to do so? Like, does the paddle board crowd, if there is such a thing, understand that?
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If you don't fish you don't know. They were probably focused on not hitting you.

Might want to think about joining them. It's a great way to fish.
 
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If it makes you feel any better I’ve been run into fishing on my local river by drunk people on convenience store inflatables who don’t even carry a paddle let alone a PFD.
 
If it helps at all....

I've done a ton of river snorkeling. I can promise you that someone passing right over the fish on a SUP isn't going to phase them at all. Even if it stirs them a bit, they'll go right back to what they were doing prior.
 
Bro, just check out my abs and maybe sign up for my paddle board yoga class. You fatties in waders could use it. You're projection of such non enlightened chip eating energy is out of control. I mean you're out here torturing fish for your enjoyment! Like I'm supposed to give way for that shit? I don't think so. I got every right to be on this river and I intend on exercising it along with a shirtless lifestyle that exudes balance both physically and mentally. That's why I didn't comment back to your fascist request and micro aggression trying to control my vector in this life. My girl thought you were a total buzz kill. Until next time keep your shirt on pal and maybe don't box my Subaru in so I have space to lift my board into my Yakima brand rack with logo wind deflector. Shaka bro, shaka.
 
IHFISH said:
Bummer. The only moving water I like to paddle board is the Tacoma Narrows (close to shore, at the right tide stages, always with a PFD) :). I was swinging a shad dart in that river on Monday and connected with a nice fish while three other fly anglers and skateboarder looked on lol. It was pretty surface oriented and threw the hook, but I swear it had a big forked tail, so who knows.
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I was shadding the river two days ago and hooked a nice rainbow on my shad dart. It was in a really deep hole and I was 100% sure I was shadded up until I got the fish close. Not a bad bycatch, though. No shad encountered.
 
If they are going be drunk a-holes I at least like the entertainment of those giant unicorn rafts that some stores starting selling a few years ago.

Alternatively, when I take my kids to the river on hot summers days and the guide boats would stop in the eddy right in front of us to re-tie their clients bobber rigs my youngest son would run up behind them and either sing the happy birthday song or the ABC's at the top of his lungs. They'd be out of there in a hurry without so much as a wave. I got in the habit of pointing them out to him because he enjoyed it so much.
 
SovDog said:
If they are going be drunk a-holes I at least like the entertainment of those giant unicorn rafts that some stores starting selling a few years ago.

Alternatively, when I take my kids to the river on hot summers days and the guide boats would stop in the eddy right in front of us to re-tie their clients bobber rigs my youngest son would run up behind them and either sing the happy birthday song or the ABC's at the top of his lungs. They'd be out of there in a hurry without so much as a wave. I got in the habit of pointing them out to him because he enjoyed it so much.
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I like your kid already
 
Yard Sale said:
Maybe you were standing right on their line and they were bummed they had to go around you. :p

Point being the river is for all users. You are probably right that they hadn't fished before and didn't know they were messing you up.

Just think of more river users as more advocates to keep the river clean and accessible.
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Haha, yeah I was definitely not in their line.
And I'm all for more advocates. In this case, their foam flip-flop floating a minute ahead of them doesn't give me much confidence in Jack & Jill.
Also, Google is free. Seems people don't research stuff like this. Maybe they will now.
 
skyriver said:
Haha, yeah I was definitely not in their line.
And I'm all for more advocates. In this case, their foam flip-flop floating a minute ahead of them doesn't give me much confidence in Jack & Jill.
Also, Google is free. Seems people don't research stuff like this. Maybe they will now.
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Did they have leashes on? That’s a big clueless no-no that people are doing and need to stop. SUPing woody rivers with a leash on. Not smart. There were two fatalities on the Snoqualmie in 2023 because of that behavior.

Swimmer drowns in paddleboard incident, Bellevue Fire warns against wearing 'leash' | FOX 13 Seattle

After receiving and confirming reports of a swimmer who drowned, the Bellevue Fire Department has issued a statement of warning to all swimmers.
www.fox13seattle.com www.fox13seattle.com
 
Re-establishing the CCC could diminsh rude behavior . . . Courtesy, Consideration, Common sense. It seems all three are absent from many different venues nowadays.
 
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